I couldn't afford my dream bass, so I built it ⚡️
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- Опубліковано 7 тра 2023
- When I really wanted a classic Guild Starfire Bass, I couldn't afford one, so I created this weird semihollow bass hybrid. I think it sounds pretty cool! This is the story about what this bass is and why it exists.
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They're a secret weapon in grunge/shoegaze. That tone with fuzz is unmatched
Yes!
@@philipconradmusic congrats on an amazing Frankenstein creation. Sounds fantastic
consider that most of Down On The Upside by Soundgarden was done on a Hofner, with some Mosrite as well.
The fact that your dad helped you with the project will be your standout memory years from now!
Cool video!
This is so true. I was thinking about this as I watched. My dad helped me with so many guitar projects from when I started to play in 1973 right through to when he passed in 2019. Everywhere I look in my music room I see his hand
Fam keep pushing the channel, it has the potential to be huge. Your content feels so personal and unique, it’s quite the vibe.
Thanks so much! I am going for it. Thank you for your support; can’t do this without you all! Much love from Atlanta.
This is by far the best bass channel in UA-cam! Every video is a treat. Thanks!
Thank you so much! Glad to have you here ⚡️
That’s a cool looking bass! Being able to spend time with your dad and customize your own instrument is also pretty awesome. My dad was very interested when I built a parts guitar since I couldn’t afford the one I really wanted, and talking with him about it was always a lot of fun
Great work. Your videos have a vibe and the authenticity comes out. Very appreciated!
My first though was "oh, it's a modified Hofner Club bass; nice!", but it's even better. It sounds (and looks) amazing, congratulations!
Starfire's are truly a dream, I remember seeing Justin Meldal-Johnsen playing one with Beck and loving that, well, hollow sound. And yeah, semi-hollows are amazing. I used to play some prog rock and jazz with a Hofner a friend lent me and it was a lot of fun (I really regret never buying that bass from my friend). I'm starting to digress... Great video, as always!
It’s so wonderful to see you grow as a creator! Awesome video Phil!
Thanks so much! Glad to have you here ⚡️
Beautiful bass! There's no better feeling than to play something that you took part in creating!
Appreciate your story on your semi hollow. And especially nice you got to do that with your Pop. And great advice on not modding a precious instrument. I made that unfortunate mistake twice and learned a hard and valuable lesson about leaving certain basses as original as possible. Lastly, “Rockstar” is a great song and is a total ear worm! Love it! I can’t wait to see y’all playing the forthcoming album here in Atlanta!! 37 Main in Avondale/Decatur would be an awesome venue for your album release party/concert. Thanks for being badass at what you do!
My #1 bass is an Ibanez AGB200; a dual humbucker, short-scale semi-hollow. Strung it up with flatwounds. Bought it about 5 years ago in the now discontinued Violin Burst finish. Not only does it sound amazing, but it's absolutely gorgeous as well.
By the way, great mod-job on that Epi. And love the channel.
I love the content, angle and pace of your videos. I like your storytelling. Thank you for this!
Thank you for watching!
Cannot wait for that juicy pbass story! Another great video, production quality here was superb 🎉 kudos.
Thanks so much Jacob!
I bought a Guild Starfire II a few months ago, and I love it. Semi-hollows are great. Your poor man’s Starfire sounds just as good and you must feel very connected to it having made it a one-of-a-kind bass of your own. Also yes, please tell the story of your 60s P-bass. You’re just as solid of a storyteller as you are a bassist. Keep up the great work!
What a great bass! Sound and look... You honestly did a nice job on this one! 🤘🏽
Thanks so much!
Modding is a blast and super rewarding. Yours came out great. A lot of folks swap out the bridge on those and the Jack Cassidy basses for a Hipshot bridge. Swapping tuners to nicer ultralight tuners can be a worthy upgrade as well. I had a 5 string Squier modified Jaguar I got used for like $225. Original electronics and preamp were horrid. I tore it down to the wood and repainted it with auto grade hotrod paint I found in rattle cans then replaced everything on it, bridge, pickups, wiring harness, tuners, etc. I was stunned by the results. I expected it to be better but not nearly as good as it turned out. It's one of my go to gig basses now. I built a second bass after that using Warmoth parts and hand picked electronics. It came out amazing as well. I've been digging the starfire pickup and contemplating a build that uses one in the near future.
Great insight! Thanks for sharing and for watching ⚡️
As usual Philip, a very ‘hands-on’ and useful episode… and it helps that I also have an Epi Allen Woody bass that is my go-to. It’s not perfect, but it’s ‘my’ sound (which is also imperfect) and I just may now consider a similar pickup change. Between the Allen and my Fender Jazz all my immediate needs are covered. Thanks again for the truly meaningful stuff you do.
Your muting technique is fantastic. You really get the best tone out of that axe. I love using a plectrum on my semihollow- it gives a British Invasion vibe, especially thru' my old Bassman amp.
This isn't just a great video, it's a beautiful video. I really dig the aesthetic and presentation. Thank you for making this and sharing it! Gorgeous bass you made, a very special instrument indeed! Older epis had some magic to em.
Hi Lobster! Thanks for watching. I actually subbed to your channel a few weeks ago and have found your videos fun and helpful. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment; it’s means a lot! ⚡️
Love your video’s and the way you tell your stories. Interesting and informative. Keep them comming.
Thanks so much for watching! ⚡️
Looks and sounds great. Love that you took it down to the wood and left it natural. You should create a logo and put it on the headstock. Loved that you kept the outtake with Penny. You could call your signature bass "The Penny".
Such a sweet sounding bass! What a great experience that must have been with Sean right before Born and Raised came out.
Absolutely! Thanks for watching ⚡️
One of my all time favorite bassists, Dallon Weekes, plays p-basses and a semi hollow. The tones he gets with the semi hollow are absolutely massive.
Great tone and please, more stories. Thanks!
That instrument sounds so cool and it is an inspiring backstory! I looks badass also! :)
Yes, more videos like this please! Looking forward to your story on your P-bass. I use an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow in my band the Desperate Executives. It sounds amazing with effects like fuzz, overdrive, chorus, phaser, and flanger. I use it on all the 90’s rock stuff. I originally bought it to play and write original songs and was going for an indie rock vibe at the time. That, and my Fender Jazz are my two main basses and I love them both. I also own a fully-hollow Gretsch Electromatic LSB with LaBella flats that gets used for older tunes that require a certain mojo. 😬✌️
I saw that bass in the Rockstar video and when I heard the bass I said "what is that bass?" I knew it looked kind of like a Rumble Kat but I had never seen one in a natural finish and the pickup placement was off. And of course it didn't quite sound like one either. Now you have answered my questions. That bass sounds great! I modified my 89 MIK Squier Jazz bass by replacing the pickups with Fender Vintage 62's and it made a huge difference on the sound. I don't regret my choice, although I wish I was better at installing them. I kind of messed up the pickguard and the pickup covers when I installed them. You can't tell from a distance, but up close it is noticeable.
Thanks for sharing and for watching! Glad to have you here
wicked cool. thank you for sharing this!!
Great video as always phil- good job
I just saw you playing that in Rhett's video and was like, wow that's a cool looking bass, thanks for making it. Reminded me of this old Washburn AB-20 I used to play 25 years ago.
Props for the epic naming of it.
Love it! Thanks for sharing
Your original semi hollow video is what bought me to this channel, I love a diy build!
I ended up going for an SX JBass with dimarzio ultra jazz pick ups and a new bridge and couldn’t be happier with the result.
If you’re thinking about doing it, it really only takes two or three UA-cam vids, a solder and you can easily build your own special thing
Absolutely! Thanks for watching dude 🤘
I watched the new video just before seeing this. I’m not a bass player but I said out loud “what is that bass?? It sounds amazing.” I could tell there was a fuzz on it. But the sound was fantastic. I love taking cheap guitars and /or kits and building a fantastic sounding instrument for not a lot of money. Good job on that thing.
Last year I had developed the itch to pick up a short scale bass.
Watched some videos, did some forum digging, ended up deciding to buy and modify a cheap bass.
Went and found a Squier bronco on Facebook marketplace and started going to town.
Stripped it down, reshaped the body and headstock, did the shielding for pickup cavity and installed a new pickup (G&L MFD) and pots and 3-way selector. Sanded down and refinished the neck and did a home brew fret job. Slapped some flats on it. Repainted it.
Man, it is my favorite bass now. Like your video says, the punch of these short scales is superb in a mix.
Being kinda handy with tools sure helps. But I encourage anyone to try their own method of modifying a cheap guitar and see what fun you can have.
Cheers!
Great content brother
That thing sounds amazingly beautiful! Curtis is a pickup magician. I have the Curtis Novak Mustang Fat in my Mustang and it's the best pickup purchase I've ever made (and there's been many both for basses and guitars).
+1 on doing the P bass story
I love modding my basses. Bought a Squier Jag Short Scale, replaced everything but the tuners. Hand shaped a TusqXL nut, etc. Played that bass for 6 years. Recently treated myself to a 30" scale Fender Jazz MIJ.
Couldn't part with the Jag, so I converted it to a fretless! (Now learning to play it.) Super happy with the way it turned out.
Great vid man! I have modified probably every stringed instrument I’ve ever owned. One bass I really miss and wish I still owned was a 70’s Univox es-style semi hollow in green burst which a friend gave to me in much a state of disrepair. I fixed it up and played it for years on recordings and live but as it may or may not happen, time’s get tight. Hope the person that picked it up is doing their thing to it to make it theirs. I’ll find another at some point one day and well, put my spin on it.
Awesome video, I love semi-hollow anything, ESPECIALLY basses. They're so unique sounding and they always look super cool.
My dream bass is kinda insane but I really wanna have a bass w/a Rickenbacker neck pickup, a p-bass pickup in the middle,, and either a j-bass pickup, a musician pickup, or a wal pickup in the bridge. It'd probably be crazy expensive but I wanna make it a reality sometime in my life.
Great video man! Yeah, let’s hear the story about that old pbass!!!
Great VID!
I would love to hear about that vintage P-Bass too
Dude this thing is sick. Very cool vibe and love the story. I’m a “semi- session” bass player in Nashville. Would love to catch the band or hang and talk shop if y’all ever find yourself in town! Definitely got a new subscriber. Love the content
Really a beautiful instrument man, congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us! I also appreciated your general vibes
And since you're such an advocate of people taking on projects to achieve the sound they want within their means, I'll share mine? The plan is (I think) to get a cheap p bass that's a good player (an old squier or no-name or something, but one that feels good in the hand and resonates well, pickups/electronics/hardware etc. can be changed). Then, down the line, ultimately the plan is to put a better p bass pickup in the middle, and a gibson EB type humbucker in the neck. (or, now I've watched this, maybe I'll try a bisonic instead...)
I'm a guitarist who's moving towards bass (dabbled before but I want to start playing properly), and I don't have the space or the cash to get a bunch of basses, and I think this one instrument should give me almost everything I need for a while (and when I'm rich, I'll add a 2 rickenbackers, 1 fretted one fretless to my collection too of course haha). I do find it kind of funny that I stumbled onto your youtube channel today though, and the two sounds I want to achieve in my build are the two sounds that you talk about being essential in your studio arsenal! Kind of encouraging actually!
(And I know that a p bass with a bisonic or a mudbucker, or other similar type pickup in the neck isn't going to sound the same as a semi-hollow like you have here of course, but it's the same ballpark more or less! And I think I could get some really recordable sounds out of blending the two pickups too.) Any thoughts anyone?
Great idea and execution on this bass! Couple of points worth noting from an old guy: What you ended up with is actually closer to a Guild M-85, which were never as common as Starfires, so probably go for even more $$$. The Nordstrand BiSonic pickups are terrific; they might not exist if not for the work of Fred Hammon, who reverse-engineered and improved upon the original Hagstrom design for his Dark Star pickups in the mid- 2000s. We all owe a huge debt to Fred for that! Lastly, you don't mention in your video that in addition to being semi-hollow, the fact that Starfires and Allen Woodys are short scale contributes a lot to the sound. BiSonic pickups always sound great, but to my ears, they really work their magic best in a shortscale format.
CLICKBAIT? When I see “I made this” with an arrow pointing at a guitar, I anticipate seeing lumps of wood being transformed into an instrument. So … not an accurate depiction. Boo.
I’ve been a guitar player my whole life and just got a p bass. You’re inspiring to keep at learning it properly/having fun with it.
Score! Thank you for sharing Philip, so so cool. And timely as I'm looking around for semi right now. Sideways question, interested in your take on action - some folks like to 'fight' the bass a bit but the strings are often so high I find their basses really hard to control and can't hear much of a difference in tone for having to work harder. Maybe it's a hand strength thing (or just what they've gotten used to playing)? Low action, flats on my 63P are home for me.
Thanks for posting this! I have an old Framus TV Star bass from 1966. My brother gutted it, so I have to replace the pickups. It's already been a challenge. Its a hollow body and sounds great even as an acoustic but I want to get it life again.
Awesome video. I’ve been eyeballing the Ibanez Agb200 for same reasons. Something about that hollowbody tone. Most important: I love how your chill and keep that cool vibe. Other bass creators can be over the top. Btw… this music is everywhere shit is super soft.
Thanks so much for watching and your support! ⚡️
Very Nice DIY Bass, and sounds great. That 60's Pbass...maybe someday!
I like the way you tell a story., and would love to hear more about the P bass.
Cool story bud. I’m glad that you were able to find/modify something that ended up doing it!!!!
Thanks dude!
I love that bass!
Awesome bass you made! It sounds great. The bassist on Jonny Lang's Lie To Me album and Buddy Guy's Heavy Love album told me he used a Gibson Les Paul Signature hollowbody bass on most of those albums. I love the sound. I've searched high and low for one but to no avail.
The tone of your bass is really awesome!
Thank you!
Dude, I love this. Ive been playing bass for a little over a year and i literally started my journey building my own bass from scratch and by hand. I just watched every guitar build on UA-cam and went for it. Its a combination of a Music man and a jazz bass. It was the first bass I ever touched. It turned out really good, but i didnt know that then, so I ended up buying a cheap little Cnz mini jazz bass to mod and compare since I've never played a bass before. Then I bought a Sire P5 to have a better quality bass to just learn on and kind of compare the quality and that's when I realized my bass build wasn't that bad lol. The mini jazz bass is pretty good too, its go great bones for a mod platform
What a story! So great result. I also started heavily modding my first bass not so long after I got it. Even if you don't know all the stuff you need to do there's bunch of tutorials now on the web, and worth putting in the hours. Even if the quality is not a high end super expensive bass, it is much more personal and unique! Next project is to somehow mount a magnetic pickup on the acoustic 5 string... :D
This is a beautiful bass ! A soul machine.
Thanks!
That Bass sounds fantastic.
Tremendous sound and a great story
Very cool, nothing beats a proper neck pickup
As Allen Woody is still my #1, I loved all of this. Cheers to you, and this made my heart smile.
Thanks so much for watching!
I'm still looking for a good P Bass, and now I guess a semi-hollow bass.
Seet sounding basses you play, and thank you for the video.
The new single is fantastic. Looking forward to hearing more from Noah & Co.
Thanks for your support Scott!
I built a Ric from almost scratch...bought a throughneck from a cigar box guitar company, made the wings from maple, checkerboard binding, bought some Joe Barden Ric pickups, got various bits and bobs on the interwebs, and made a great sounding and playing Ric instead of buying a cheap Chinese knockoff. Really satisfying time well spent.
Although little fish really fits you, the Snorlax is definitely one of the coolest basses I've seen around, it sounds great too!
Also. Have you ever tried a Danelectro bass? I hear they're really something!
Love Guild Starfire basses and guitars. Jack Casady, Chris Hillman and Phil Lesh used them. There’s a few other semi hollow, and even full hollow basses, out there too that I want from Epiphone, Gibson and Gretsch that I would love.
i got myself a D'Angelico Excel semi hollow and I absolutely love it. its discontinued now, but if you get one, so worth it
Nice!
I bought a 20 year old MIM P bass off Craigslist for 300 bucks that had stickers all over it. Removed the stickers, replaced the bridge with a Bibicz and put in DiMarzio Relentless pick ups...and now it's my #1 and sounds awesome!
Excellent! Thanks for sharing
This is so funny- I just got done watching the guitarist of your band and saw your video in my recommended- didn’t even know you were the bassist in that band!
I had no idea that they make semi hollow basses. Thanks for the education!
My dad has a Hofner 500/1 that I love to steal every once in a while, it sounds killer with flatwounds, very fun and easy to play for a guitar player like me
Awesome!
My first bass was an affordable cheap beginners bass, but it was the perfect platform for me to start experimenting modding instruments.
As of right now i modded it from passive to an active circuit and man, I'm able to get so much more out of it now!
So yeah, great advice, don't be afraid to mod cheap instruments!
when you came in with that first slide the tone blew my socks off lmao, this thing sounds killer
Thank you!
Love bass stories! I Definitely have the same connection with my Jazz bass =)
Would love to hear the story of that P bass!
Definitely interested in the P bass story, and any other stories you wanna tell 😊👍🏻
You should check out the Ibanez AGB 200. It's another great budget semi-hollow bass. I've taken it to a bunch of gigs and recorded a few tracks with it and I love it. I enjoy having a bridge pickup on it to make it more versatile, but most of the time I use the neck pickup.
Nice! I’ll have to check it out.
Cool video. I’d love to hear the p bass story.
I’ve also learned how to do everything short of refret. Very valuable skill to have
Awesome video!! Would love to hear the p bass story
VERRY cool bass guitar!
Thank you!
Thanks for the nice yarn from your life. All the best.
Thanks for sharing on that. Have an Epi Jack Casady amongst my cut price bass collection. It's great to have something outside the P or J world for special occasions. I use it way more than people would think. Down the road I may pick up a second one but go down the bisonic pickup road having watched this. Also own one of the new Embassy Pros, what a bass. Thunderbird sounding vibes without the weight and all that neck dive.
P Bass story please if you get time 😎
This is a super neat story. I've played bass for fifteen years and never really paid attention to these.
Also I would love to hear about your P bass
Reminds me a bit of those old Harmony Hollow-body basses that I love. I’m a guitar player with bass aspirations so I got a Fender JMJ….love it. Still wish I had picked up that old Harmony.
Phil,please do a video on the best order (specifically an envelope filter) along with a preamp pedal.Especially live,when running direct to the board.Some preamp pedals have effects loops,and others have built in compressors.Envelope filters can cause such peaks and valleys to a bass' sound wave,what do you recommend? i.e. the playing live with a regular sansamp driver di with a compressor pedal and envelope filter and running the di to the board and the thru to the power amp of (insert amp of choice).
I love the Jack Casady bass, Ibanez makes some great semi-hollow basses too. For something inexpensive, Harley Benton has the HB60 which is hard to beat for the price.
Great story! So cool to get a private lesson from Sean Hurley! What did you take away from it in your playing style?
Would love to hear your p-bass story
😍 love it!
Philip, there are several things I enjoy about your sharing. Your super round, fat tone was not my " go to " when I was a young bass player. When I heard the Cure's Fascination Street, I adored that tone. That led me to Justin from Tool and I pursued that tone. Sure, it was heavier rock stuff. Being around a lot of small club gigs, I learned that as much as I liked my tone ( SVT4 pro, 8x10, Music Man Stingray, pick or fingers) it did not always translate well- if at all lol. I know it was good- sometimes I'd would get the cab miked up and a DI lol. I have found a deep appreciation for older and classic tones. Thanks for reaffirming that I was not listening to what was actually needed for the band at times lol. I did become a student of listening to the band or song. "Stop being the ( insert instrumentalist) and start being a musician. Listen to the song". Not matter what genre.
Love that you and Dad worked on the bass. That is so special.
Super happy to see your channel grow. You are authentic, both musically and personally. Big hug, best wishes.
I absolutely love semi hollows and hollow bodies. The current apple of my eye is a Hagstrom Viking bass
I love the RK and your mod has me scouring the used sections all over. What process did you use to strip the paint? I hope you’ve documented it as it would further add to some great content… that’s a mod I’d love to do!
My main bass for about 40 years is a 67 Gibson EB-2c in Sparkling Burgundy. Learning to tame the mudbucker was fun.
Nice! Thanks for watching ⚡️
I would add two jazz pickups near the bridge. It will make the bass much more versatile.
German made Hofner 500/1 are major secret weapons! 🙌🏼
Awesome sounding bass! So you had a look inside. How hollow is this thing actually? Is it similar to other semihollows with a center block and hollow on the sides? I'm thinking of getting one, there's a used one for sale nearby. And regarding modding basses: I agree 100%! I also modded the electronics of my 5-string MM/J bass to make it more versatile. It was just a small change to the wiring, but this already made a huge difference. Now I'm considering upgrading my Aria RSB Standard with a new bridge and pickup, maybe I'll also change the capacitor. But for heavy modding, you should first try on a cheap instrument. I also did that many years ago with my dad on his old Jolana guitar. We messed it up, but we learned a lot, and experience, the time spent together on this is worth a lot more than the loss of value, even though you could consider this a vintage instrument.
Harley Benton basses & kits, other brand of bass kits, secondhand stuff like Squier / Ibanez, etc can be found pretty cheap on local sites or pawnshops are good ways to find cheap basses to tinker with that aren't rare or have sentimental value.
I couldn't find any in stock kits that wouldn't have been crazy to import to Canada, so I've been working on setup and mod skills on a HB PB 20 SBK, a cheap enough bass that if I somehow really did mess it up, it's not a major cost. This has lead to enough confidence to poke at my Ibanez SR405EQM and refine the setup someone else did on it that wasn't that great and make it play much nicer.
Apparently now I also need to add a hollowbody bass to my collection as well as a fretless ;)
Last year I bought 1970 made Hofner 500/1B with build in bass boost. It’s so great thing. Love it.
Nice!
Any friend of Rhett is a friend of mine. This video is great and that bass is awesome… SUBSCRIBED
Thanks for watching!!
Sounds great and looks very nice with the new finish as well. What strings are you using? I ask because of the different silk colors, I'm guessing part of the tone comes from the choice of strings. Great video and thanks for sharing your experience.
I feel bad that I can’t give you a straight answer. They are really old flats, but I don’t remember 😅
Yes We want to hear the story of the Pbass!
Had no idea you were in Noah and Rhett’s band! Loved that first single!
Thanks dude!! Yeah been playing with those guys for 10 years now. Thanks for listening and your support! ⚡️
I've got a rumblekat stock just with flats and it's beautiful for a lot of projects and has a great feel to play. The stock pickups are nice, but there's not a lot of versatility since the mid position and neck humbuckers aren't very different. They sound great, but they're just great at one thing which may not be good for everyone. I've also got a couple of heavily-modified p basses. Same deal as your snorlax - I was trying to capture a sound on a budget. Both started with cheap bodies, 1 is a Squier, one is a no-name knockoff mahogany. They're fitted with better necks and genuine fender pickups and components. One is in standard with roundwounds, one is tuned down to B-E-A-D with flats for the functionality of a 5-string without the wide neck of a 5-string. I also added a neck pickup on that one out of a Hofner violin bass and the added neck pickup with the low tuning and flats is a wonderful option to have and I would recommend. If you're going to add another pickup to a p-bass, in my opinion a neck pickup is miles ahead of adding a bridge pickup like so many do with PJ setups. The cheap body means there's low risk in routing a new cavity.
Great insight! Thanks for sharing ⚡️