Description

This S30 bass is short scale and based on a combination of Stratocaster and early Precision basses.
The body I used for this model was brand new, as are all the conversion parts I have fitted. Please see the photos.

The bolt-on maple neck has a vintage tint and has been shimmed slightly to fit the telecaster neck pocket. On this build I was unable to source a shim material in surf green so I had to use black and paint it by hand to match. The close up photo shows the shim and paint. It is not perfect but it is only really noticeable when you know to look for it. Oddly, that particular photo looks quite blue. The others are a more accurate representation of the Surf Green.

The bass is equipped with my Ultralite tuners (it has little or no neck dive) and 18mm bridge and has a Retrovibe 12K humbucker pickup in the bridge/middle position. The single knob is a tone control as I thought this would be more useful to players than the volume control on the Joe Dart bass. But this is not just a tone control, it is a variation on the Peavey T40 tone control which, when fully clockwise, gives an open single coil signal from the humbucker. Then, as the knob is turned anti-clockwise the signal changes to an open series humbucker signal then has a tapered treble roll off via a 0.047u orange capacitor. This single knob gives the bass a remarkable range of tones from a biting finger-style treble to a deep thump with everything in between.

It weighs in at around 8.5lbs, which means you can play for longer without tiring. Little or no neck dive with a textured strap but shiny nylon straps are not recommended. 

It currently has a very low action which can easily be raised according to your taste. Strung with a brand new set of Rotosound RB45 strings. (45, 65, 85, 105)

It sounds like the love-child of a Precision and a Jazz with a surprisingly wide tonal range, making it a very useable bass.

All the parts need to convert your own Telecaster or Stratocaster 6-string into a short scale bass are available here on my site.

Specification
Body: Basswood
Body Colour: Surf Green
Controls: Tone (<- I love that)
Bridge: Retrovibe 18mm 4-string P-style
Pickups: Retrovibe 12K humbucker
Neck: Maple, bolt-on construction
Fretboard: Maple
Frets: 22
Body thickness:40mm
Scale length: 777mm (30.6 inches)
Width at nut: 38mm
Markers: Black dot
Tuners: Closed type
Weight: Approx. 8.5lbs