1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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jonathanelyashiv
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1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:01 pm

I decided to finally build my dream instrument: a Bass VI with 1961 specs. I wanted to share the process and to help anyone else who may be trying to do this too. Here are some links for hard to find parts:

• Body + Neck: https://www.soundguitarworks.com/ They can not rout for the 1st gen pickups with is a bummer but I am using the WD pickguard as a template. Also the headstock came as a blank so I'm using a template from Faction guitars to get the shape.
• Pickups: https://www.curtisnovak.com/shop/bass-vi-1961/
• Pickguard: https://www.wdmusic.com/ They can do a 1961 bass VI cut if you email them and special order it. Same price as the squire one listed on the site
• Master Control Plate (volume/tone/output): https://ruttersguitars.com/ I emailed him and he sent me a pdf with 3 VI control plates and I believe that #2 was the correct one. Will confirm later

The rest of the hardware I have is standard stuff. 250k pots, vintage style wire, jaguar switches, jaguar knobs, vintage style kluson tuners... etc

Here is what I have so far:
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Last edited by jonathanelyashiv on Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:36 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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jonathanelyashiv
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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:13 pm

This is my reference for this project. I actually got to try this bass the other day and it was a dream. I have a ton of reference photos, send me a message if you're interested and I'll send them to you

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:37 pm

I am looking for a 1" wide bass VI bridge with 7.25" radius. Staytrem stopped making them (I emailed him twice already, even about custom ordering). Would rather not use mastery because I love the look of the older ones, but if that is my only option I'll take it. If anyone has any leads on this, it's the last piece of the puzzle. Would love a vintage one with the ashtray cover but I know how rare they are.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by N0_Camping4U » Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:07 pm

Super interested. Wish I could help with the bridge. Can't wait to see pics.
"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master."

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by Insomnicide » Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:51 pm

Awesome project, looking forward to seeing this!

Re: Bass VI bridges, Descendant makes a design that's inspired by the Staytrem, you could try emailing them to see if they can make a bass VI sized bridge.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by JVG » Thu Oct 06, 2022 3:36 am

jonathanelyashiv wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:37 pm
I am looking for a 1" wide bass VI bridge with 7.25" radius. Staytrem stopped making them (I emailed him twice already, even about custom ordering). Would rather not use mastery because I love the look of the older ones, but if that is my only option I'll take it. If anyone has any leads on this, it's the last piece of the puzzle. Would love a vintage one with the ashtray cover but I know how rare they are.
I reckon the 9.5” radius Staytrem would be fine. You’ll most likely need to jack the bass side of the bridge up a tad higher anyway, to reduce fret buzz on the chunky strings, so i reckon you will struggle to notice the supposed mismatch with the fretboard radius.

Funnily enough, i have a 7.25” on my VI build, but sometimes i wish it was 9.5” so i could lift the low E string higher without raising the middle strings too much.

That said, there have been some emotional threads on this forum about matching saddle radius to fretboard radius, and although i’m not overly fussed, i understand if you really want them to be the same.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by kick_the_reverb » Thu Oct 06, 2022 11:30 am

jonathanelyashiv wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:01 pm
Here are some links for hard to find parts:

• Body + Neck: https://www.soundguitarworks.com/ They can not rout for the 1st gen pickups with is a bummer but I am using the WD pickguard as a template. Also the headstock came as a blank so I'm using a template from Faction guitars to get the shape.
Very cool project!
Thanks for providing the source on the body and neck. I don't see it on their website so I assume it was a custom order. Do you mind sharing the costs? The neck might be good fit for my BariSaz project.

Thanks and looking forwardto seeing the progress,
Ran

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by Zork » Thu Oct 06, 2022 11:51 am

jonathanelyashiv wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:01 pm

The rest of the hardware I have is standard stuff. 250k pots, vintage style wire, jaguar switches, jaguar knobs, vintage style kluson tuners... etc
Wow, cool project! Best of luck! This bit got me interested: Did the '61 version originally have 250k pots? If so, I wonder why they went straight all the way up to 1meg then in '62. I changed the pots to 500k vol + 250k tone on mine because the 1meg were waaaaay to bright for my taste and I think lower values suit the VI much, much better.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:10 pm

Thank you for all the support! I'm excited to start shaping the headstock and extend the rout for the pickups tomorrow.

I checked out the Descendant site and their FAQ says they do not do a Bass VI at the moment, but it couldn't hurt to send them an email...I think haha

And interesting regarding the 9.5" radius bridge on a 7.25" neck! I'm definitely not opposed to it! I could always buy one and sell it if it doesn't work out. I wish you could adjust individual saddles like the original, although that might increase the potential for rattling. That gorgeous fiesta red 1961 that I played was perfect with the original bridge, no rattling. Set up and played better than any instrument at the shop. It was perfectly plunky and expressive sounding with the La Bella flats it had, and I'm a bit afraid these new bridges would take away from that. I realize I'll never be able to recreate the magic of that original '61 though

I'm happy to share the cost of the body and neck! You are correct, I had to email them to custom order it! I asked for flame maple neck so it was an up charge, but before that the total cost for body and neck and shipping was $520 (Body 195, neck 290, shipping 35). I ordered a paddle headstock so that i can cut the exact shape, their normal shape is not authentic. I also ordered clay dots with was an up charge of $28. I believe the flame maple was an extra 85 because my neck ended up 375 with the flame and clay dots.

Yes the original ones had 250K pots! I can confirm this because Curtis Novak sent me close ups of the pots and electronics of his original 1961! Its funny that none of the schematics out there have this! I think when the switched to the Jag pickups, they just matched the pots to what was going in the Jags. The guy who owned the fiesta 61 was telling me about how these sold so poorly that they couldn't justify having their own type of pickups which is why they had to switch to the jaguar ones. But this apparently was the way Leo Fender intended the bass VI to be before having to compromise.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:16 pm

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Zork wrote:
Thu Oct 06, 2022 11:51 am
jonathanelyashiv wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:01 pm

The rest of the hardware I have is standard stuff. 250k pots, vintage style wire, jaguar switches, jaguar knobs, vintage style kluson tuners... etc
Wow, cool project! Best of luck! This bit got me interested: Did the '61 version originally have 250k pots? If so, I wonder why they went straight all the way up to 1meg then in '62. I changed the pots to 500k vol + 250k tone on mine because the 1meg were waaaaay to bright for my taste and I think lower values suit the VI much, much better.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by snarf » Fri Oct 07, 2022 3:44 am

Absolutely sick. I’m still waiting for my neck. Put in the order a couple of months ago with them for a bass vi neck too.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Sat Oct 08, 2022 6:34 pm

Finally got to do the woodworking today! Shaped the headstock and got the body routed.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by kick_the_reverb » Sat Oct 08, 2022 10:23 pm

Looks great!
Ran

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by rbrcbr » Sun Oct 09, 2022 10:41 am

Looks sick. Could you not maybe get a 9.5 radius staytrem and just file the notches til you get a 7.25 radius out of it? I feel like you can probably work from flat to round, if it was a rounder radius bridge needing to be flat it would be harder to compensate.

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Re: 1961 style/1st gen Bass VI build

Post by jonathanelyashiv » Sun Oct 09, 2022 1:16 pm

rbrcbr wrote:
Sun Oct 09, 2022 10:41 am
Looks sick. Could you not maybe get a 9.5 radius staytrem and just file the notches til you get a 7.25 radius out of it? I feel like you can probably work from flat to round, if it was a rounder radius bridge needing to be flat it would be harder to compensate.
I think you might be right! It's looking like that might be the best option for me. I need to figure out if I need 55 mm or 52 mm spacing though

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