The start of my new bass from Andy

OK Gang, I give you Ernie! Now as you look at the images, you will no doubt see many areas where Andy cut corners, and where the bass has taken a few dings. Keep in mind that Andy basically slapped this together in one day many years ago when he wanted to see if he could quickly throw a bass together, and this was NOT a serious attempt at making a great bass. Fortunately, Andy is a luthier of such high-caliber that the bass came out really solid for the most part, and it only needs some tweaking and TLC to get it perfectly dialed.

I am not certain what the wood is, but I know that Andy prefers walnut, maple, and mahogany. Take a good look at that neck! Hand built from the ground up!

















So now we move on to finish routing and sanding, installing the electronics, building and installing the trem, and doing the final staining of the body before slapping it all together.

Man, that's cool. Funniest P/J routes I've ever seen, though.

yeah ... those pickup routs are a bit misshapen ... but who cares.

for just shooting for function, this bass has a good starting point to work from ... better than most p.o.s. i see for sale at guitar center. its just simple (kinda plain actually) and quite pedestrian ... but its what your gonna put on and in the bass thats gonna make it.

i love the neck!

so are you gonna go for some crazy tripped out finish or just gonna clear coat it when your done?

I think I'm going to have Linda's mom draw me out some sort of cool Celtic thing that I can then burn into the wood. Then I'll have Andy help me stain and finish the thing.

Those pickup routings are actually more deliberate than you might expect. Since this was going to originally be just a beater bass, Andy used the only bass pickups he had, and they were this weird P/J set that were tiny, and sounded like garbage. Weird as they might appear, the pocket routings were all necessary to drop the pickups into the wood, since each pickup housing had three supports.

Those routings are definitely going to be re-done, as the pickups I want to use are much larger.

Yeah, the neck is like butter. Thin and narrow, with wide fret spacing. It's really easy to play on.

Oh yeah that neck does look really nice. I like the way it's mounted to the body as well.

dear lord how does that neck stay on.

Good question, TK! Andy used one of those threaded metal insert thingys and a really large bolt. I think he did this just to test the fit without intending to leave it like that. But when I first messed with the bass, it had a bridge and was strung up, so I can tell you that it does stay on. Now of course, I'm not about to leave it like this. I am going to put on a proper neck plate with four bolts, and I might even go for six bolts. But to Andy's credit, he routed the neck pocket so precisely to fit the neck that it took me about ten minutes of carefully wiggling the neck back and forth to pull it out. The seam is by far the tightest neck fit I have ever seen on any bass. So when I install a neck plate, and do my usual wood glue treatment, the neck won't move at all.

But yes, the first time I saw that single bolt holding the neck on, I went "WHAAAT???"

Ibanez *cough* *cough*

Ibanez?

Do they have a neck attachment design that I should see T?

That neck looks nice.

It is! Hand-made by the master himself! Andy certainly has the skills and the history to back up his credentials, since he built guitars for Zakk Wylde and Prince. And every single guitar that Andy plays he built himself. I don't think I have ever seen a "name brand" guitar in his hands. Not even once.

I can't wait until we can get this bass all dialed in!

I think T-bone means that it looks a lot like a Soundgear. It does and it looks rad.

Ah! I see!

I really like that headstock.

Just reminded me of and ibanez SR... I hope its getting a trem lol

Oh, it is! Andy is taking a custom guitar tremolo he hand built, and converting it for use as a bass trem for me.

That is....when he gets the time.

Wait... Andy who?

Wonder if a SR would be able to get a kahler, seeing how thin the body is.

Andy Beech, the guitarist in my original band Alien Probe. Andy worked as the guitar tech for Zakk Wylde when he played with Ozzy Osbourne from 1991 until 1996. Andy has built hundreds of guitars for many famous players including Zakk Wylde and Prince. Ever see the movie Rockstar with Mark Wahlberg? Zakk played the role of the lead guitarist in the band Steel Dragon, and Andy built the Demon V that he used in the movie. Also, Andy built no less than 31 guitars for Prince, including the symbol guitar that Prince played during the Super Bowl. Andy has traveled the world many times over with Ozzy and Zakk, and on top of all that, is an incredible guitarist.

Andy has hanging on the wall in his house a platinum album from Ozzy Osbourne for the No More Tears album. Both Ozzy and Zakk signed the album for Andy. Zakk wrote "thanks for all the help, buddy!". I still trip on it when I go over there to practice. Andy just shurgs, and goes "dude, it's just a friggin' album!"

Andy and Zakk are still close friends. Whenever Zakk comes into town, Andy disappears for about two weeks, and comes back with tales of debauchery.

Anyways, that's who Andy is.

He no longer plays with you guys?



Anyways, cool story!

No, he does T. Andy is the guitarist in my band. He no longer works for Zakk.