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Hi all , So, I just got an order for building a bass to an old friend of mine... As you might know I have only built acoustics so far. But it´s all so amazingly fun so I could not resist when he askt me...
The problems are these... I´ve been looking over the prices for electronics etc etc. and as to what I can see it will cost around 2000 USD just for the material and thats not my time included ! can someone help me to see if my calculations are way off or not ???? He´s now playing on a Nobby Meidel bass
http://www.warwick.de/modules/produkte/produkt.php?submenuID=14667&katID=22131&cl=EN
The shape will be my own but he want it headless / tuners of any sort in the back. and all super quality material.

Below are my estimates.

Electronics. MEC
M 60201S Jazz Bass® neck pickup, black 159.00 EUR
M 60209 Twin Jazz Bass® neck and bridge pickup 4- & 5-String 269.00 EUR
M 60023-09 3-way electronics for active pickups (9 Volt) 349.00 EUR
knobs etc 30 USD

Tuner system
Hipshot headless or similar 350 USD

Body
Mahogany down 120-150 USD
Curly or burl redwood top 120-150 USD

Neck
5 piece maple or walnut or mahogany neck ?? 120 USD

Truss-rod 20 USD

Frets
gold alloy 20 USD

Fretboard
Jetblack Ebony 30 USD

CNC Inlay
signature LS-guitars + personal inlays 200 USD

Strings
Warwick EMP 38200 M 30 USD

USPS to Sweden around 100 USD

Total around 2000 USD.

Electric instruments are expensive to build but can be put together quickly, although they are hard to sell for even what the parts cost.
Used hardware and pickups are an option, but essentially you would be building a pre-used instrument.

Acoustics are cheaper to build but more time consuming. The return on the time and parts investment is more reasonable.

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Whoa!
That sounds like way many bucks to me.
I can keep the cost down to about $400-$500 for an electric 6 string non bass.
Maybe bass stuff costs more?
Pickups $200, tuners $100, misc pots and pans and stuff $60,
wood $?
Am I missing something here?
Bass players seem to be fussier about the neck, and playability than git players.

Wow, that is a lot of cash.

When I made my first bass, I made a spreadsheet to help me track expenses and find the best deal. I sourced materials and parts from several vendors. Here's a screenshot of the spreadsheet:



The green X's just indicate that the part had been delivered.

Don't be afraid to shop around for better prices. Not counting the tools I needed but didn't have, it came to just above $800 with parts shipped.

Thanks alot you all . I am fairly sure he will want brand new electronics etc. So that will take away that posibility i am afraid. Is there an "as good" but not as expensive electronics I could use ? Chris you mentioned Bartolini, SD:s are they as good ? what are the pro´s cons. ? my friend´s a country music player. he´s the one they use when one of the big boys come to Sweden to play without his whole band ! But he himself doesn´t know much about pickups etc, he said to me "most people I´ve talkt to like the sound of my bass", thats why he wants me to install the same kind ! Personally I feel its boring to build a abass with the same specs as the one he already have .
Also I am not gonna charge him alot for the work as its my first "bass" and also that he will be using it alot around the right people, so I also see it as good advertisement .

HaMMerHeD : thanks alot for theat list, will come in handy...

Lars

Nice spreadsheet. The first thing I noticed was the huge difference between the cost of wood from guitar suppliers compared to the hardwood store I go to (http://www.kjpselecthardwoods.com/). For example, last time I was there they had a bunch of drop tops that looked like this that they were selling for $15 each.

Here some cost estimates for those pieces there:
Figured maple top: $15
Maple body blank: $37
Wenge neck blank: $25
Madagascar rosewood fretboard blank(lmi): $68
Veneer(lmi):$4
Total:$149
When you take away the shipping too that's a difference of about $125.
So definitely worth checking to see if you have a lumberyard in your area.

Very true, but,,,,
when I buy wood from a lumberyard, I won't use it for a very long time.
Moisture content, movement, etc.
I might take a chance with it for a git for me,
but not for a customer.
Then again, it might be risky buying from an instrument grade seller!

Wood cost can be all over the map - what I do know is that the only woods I buy that are guitar-specific tend to be tops, acoustic back/side sets and fingerboards. Everything else? Lumber yard. Mahogany is relatively easy to find in (even in NL, although not crazy easy. All african varieties are cheap and easily sourced), maple very easy, and cheap, walnut pretty much ditto.

Electronics are expensive and there's no real way around that other than buying second hand and looking closely at eBay and the like. I would also place responsibility for selecting appropriate electronics squarely on the player in this case, particularly since you don't play and this is the first bass you're building. For hardware, also take a good look at ETS (google it). Their website isn't great, they can be slow, but the quality is top notch. You can order direct or via BassParts.de (for example), headless bridge/tuner costs less than 200 euros in any given finish, headpiece runs about 30 euros unmachined and unplated. I don't see much reason to buy from the US unless prices are very significantly cheaper, given the import duties. It's always a very individual sort of consideration...

The main cost here is the MEC EQ and pickups. MEC everything is ridiculously priced, you can buy Delano and Magnetics over in Europe for 1/2 the price, both are far superior as far as I am concerned. If the customer wants the MEC's then you have to quote him what the costs are, and let him decide if he wants $1000 worth of electronics. Being he is a Warwick guy, this may be his desire, your numbers are correct.

ETS, Excellent quality hardware, but yes they are slow. You will not find better stuff than the "Tuning Fork" bridges, and their headless stuff is awesome, but order it at least 3 months before you need it, as they are a very small shop, and are always busy.

If all of your woods and hardware choices are set in stone, then you know the cost you are looking at, and have to discuss with the customer the cost to build. If you are in agreement, you can go forward.

As to the cost of basses as opposed to guitars....yes, Bass players are immensely pickier as to the construction and parts used as opposed to guitarists. The Bass playing community is the greatest crowd of "Trendy" based everything. You generally cannot get by using low cost parts for bass builds because everyone wants Hipshot, Bartolini, Fancy tops, curly necks, etc. etc. Where as with guitarists, they just want something that looks decent and plays great, there are many more options, and acceptance of multiple types of hardware. My average cost for a 5 string bass with active electronics, brand name pickups, hipshot hardware, and high end woods is usually between $900 and $1000. I could do the same with standard woods, electronics(asian preamp), my stock hardware for $500 cost to me, but bassists want the Wenge/Morado 7 piece neck, or Curly Maple/ Birdseye and Wenge neck. They want the high end Burl or 5A Maple tops, they want DeLano pickups, and Glockenlang preamps, and of course hipshot hardware, so the cost goes up.

Yeah. It was my first build. I didn't know about many sources for wood yet. I could make the same bass cheaper now.

Awesome info... thank a lot my friends... I will look up all the brands and info... will talk to my buddy around the 24th and go through it all, I will keep you all updated ..
I know I priced the wood choices a bit high but I was thinking its better to have it on the high side rather than to have to tell him - sorry, but it will cost more ..

All the best Lars.

I'd say talk him into passive pickups. I always liked the sound better, it's easy wiring (can't imagine trying to fix a preamp circuit that isn't working) no batteries needed and if he plays country, it's more authentic anyway.

And I'll echo cutting your own wood. The last guitar I built was from flamed maple and cherry that I found on shipping pallets.

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