Madlad Instruments Ash Rear Route "Session Legend" PP Bass Precision Bass PBass Style Body - Reverse Bridge Route (custom made with pride in north Texas)

It's been said that we should "revere old men in jobs that are known for killing young men" -- and one of the best tells of an old man with a lot of wisdom is a nice fluffy beard. Which brings us to legendary session bass player Lee Sklar whose very own modded PBass is the source of inspiration for this very body!

Built in collaboration with Madlad artists wanting to walk in the hallowed steps of the Sklar-man himself, the "Session Legend" Madlad PP Bass takes the already popular Madlad PP and bumps the neck pickup route just ever so slightly closer to the neck. In fact we used reference photos of Lee's actual bass to line everything up juuuust right.

Add in some tabs for the pickup routes to settle in a nice set of EMGs (or whatever other pickups fit your fancy) and you'll be pretty much there for your very own homage build to a bass that has tracked more songs than...well...it's late and I can't come up with a punch line for this one. you get the picture though!

All bodies come with a grain-matched rear cover plate, machine screws, and threaded inserts for the holes so you don't have to do the toothpick trick down the road!

Shoutouts to @dunderwovvy on Instagram for letting me use his killer build in the listing photos!

The impact of the Precision Bass (or P-bass for short) can’t be understated. As a workhorse instrument known for its versatility the P Bass has been putting down beefy bone-humming bass lines on everything from jazz to post-hardcore and everything between. If you‘re ready to build your own workhorse then this body is the one for you!

Here's the TL;DR (high points):

• Vintage Inspired P-style body dimensionally accurate to ~2mm (~8/100ths of an inch)
• Body is made from 2 pieces of Ash which is sourced from a local mill here in McKinney, Texas
• Most bodies clock in at around 6-8 lbs -- depending on what the tree had for dinner the night before it got chopped
• Each body is made-to-order and combines CNC for the milling and hand finishing done by yours truly
• Each body is sanded to 320 grit (as a builder myself I want to save your wrists and your time)
• Double P pickup route with reversed bridge pickup and rear control cavity routing
• Outlined neck holes that can be drilled at no extra cost (in case you want to use a different neck screw layout)
• outlined “helper holes” for easier pickup mounting and drilling. these holes can be hidden under the pick guard too if you end up using a different shape
• Can be grain filled with a choice of different colors for that extra pop! (I can do clear too)
• Built with care by one builder in his garage and proceeds help small businesses and the local music scene here in north Texas

Here's a bit more about how this body came to be!

The MadLad Vintage Inspired bodies are all made to fit the original specifications of their decades-old counterparts. This particular body follows the design of vintage Fender P-Basses and each dimension is accurate to ~2mm (~8/100ths of an inch). And yes... there was a lot of calipering, checking dimensions, and singing sweet-nothings to my CNC machine so it can hold that kind of tolerance. I hear from all the cool bass-playing cats out there that the reversed bridge route tightens up the bottom end. So this body has all kinds of sonic sauce built right in.

What that means for you is you get the most dimensionally accurate body I could possibly produce and this body will accept the standard Fender tapered neck pocket with a rounded heel.

Please keep in mind that Fender neck pockets are a TIGHT fit - and while my neck pockets are routed to spec and hold a solid tolerance some necks may need a little sanding to get the heel to make it into the pocket itself. You want this joint to be snug-as-a-bug for a number of reasons so don't worry if it doesn't fit initially. That's by design and can happen pretty regularly. Just sand the sides of your neck heel evenly and it'll make it's way in.

The body itself is made from Ash which I source from a local mill not 10 miles from where I live. Ash is a gorgeous wood with beautiful striations and grain and I inspect each piece of lumber to at the mill to find the best grain and patterns I can. I personally love the way Ash grain "rolls" over the contour/relief cuts and gives you this beautiful contoured look that you don't get with veneers.

All production is done locally in my home shop and with the desire to make your guitar building journey as fun as possible.

As a builder myself I know what parts I dread in the body fabrication process so I've done all of those for you ahead of time! Each body is sanded to 320 grit for an ultra smooth feel. Ash however is a very porous wood so I'd recommend grain filling it for that nice glass finish when all is said and done. I can do the grain filling for you as well for just a couple bucks extra.

The part that does kind of bum me out is that our craft and instruments are made from wood. Which means a tree somewhere had to fall for us to make our beautiful tools of the trade. Not wanting to leave the story there a portion of each body purchase goes to support reforestation charities so we can still have fun with our instruments and the next generation still gets the natural beauty of our tall and green friends :)

When you buy MadLad you support me and a host of local businesses that I source parts from such as my local lumber mill. I also make it a priority to use some proceeds to go support local artists who are on the rise here in the DFW area. It's probably not a huge selling point in the grand scheme of things - but you can maybe find a bit of joy knowing that while you're getting a great guitar body the local scene is also thriving as a result of that purchase too, so thank you!

If you've made it this far a big thank you for listening to my rambling - As a small operation presently working out of my garage I know how valuable time can be so thank you for giving some of yours to check out the listing and see what we're all about. Whether you're pulling the trigger right now or we look at getting you something down the road, I hope you'll consider becoming a MadLad yourself!

All the best,

Drew

Head Madlad @MadladInstruments