Description
Building a Solo DIY bass guitar kit can be a rewarding experience. You’ll not only create a custom guitar but also gain valuable skills throughout the process which can be applied to other guitars. Since all the challenging parts such as drilling, shaping, fret leveling and dressing are already taken care of, you’ll just need some basic tools and finishing supplies to complete it.
Manuals: Assembly / Wiring
Recommended Tools: Bolt-on Assembly Kit
Finishing Options: Nitro, Stain, Oil, Dyes, etc
Kit includes:
- Unfinished Ash body with poly sealant
- Unfinished Maple neck with 2-way truss rod
- Maple fingerboard with block inlays
- Machine heads
- Bridge & neck pickup
- Pre-wired pickguard
- Pre-wired control plate assembly
- Full size potentiometers
- Neck plate
- Chrome hardware
- Chrome knurled knobs
- Strings
- String retainer
- Strap buttons
- Setup adjustment wrenches
- Guitar cable
- All mounting screws
: Solo JBK-10 DIY Electric Bass Guitar Kit With Ash Body
: JBK-10
Disclaimer: Kits can only be returned in virtually untouched condition and in original packaging
dormerdave –
Recently received this bass as a gift…couldn’t be happier. The shipping was fast. The packaging was solid.
The quality of wood with the precision, pre-drilled holes was virtually perfect. I had intentions of upgrading the hardware and pickups to customize the bass, so I wasn’t too worried about their quality. All the stock parts work well, but I would suggest upgrading the machine heads. All in all, the value of this bass is fantastic.
David F Calello (verified buyer) –
The gang at SOLO does it again!! What a guitar. Plays great right out of the box! These kits come fast, well packed, and ready to go. All parts are included and the information these folks give you is outstanding. You can do this…..everyone can do this……I did this and I’m a drummer. I’m limited to my guitar playing ability, but the guys who played this bass love it. I have 2 bass guitars…..one kit with no instructions that was more expensive and took forever to build, and this kit which was less money and took a long time to finish, but goes together in hours. 3 solder joints and a ground wire….plug it in…..JAMMIN’ Throw away the doubts and buy one and you’ll see the difference SOLO offers. You will probably get another one when you see the ease of assembly, and quality that shows right out of the box. My son, his friends, and all the folks who play these guitars say that their very nice instruments. THANX to the gang at SOLO for a fine product at a great price!!!
Andrew Marr (verified buyer) –
My first SOLO kit was at my door in about four days…everything well packaged. In addition to the excellent instructions, I took my time reviewing all sorts of vids on the net before I started sanding and painting…a learning process as I went along…SOLO was always quick to respond to any questions. Painting was a bit harder than I expected, but persistence on getting it right eventually paid off. Installed the hardware, tweaked the neck, and plugged it in….something magic about hearing those first notes from something I created from a bunch of parts in a box. …I learned much during this process and like many others who have enjoyed the SOLO experience, will order my second kit first thing next week…
marcosaluz1 (verified buyer) –
I recently purchased my first SOLO kit and this was the one. It took me some time to assemble it, but you can tell that all pre-drilled holes are very well placed!
I can see that all hardware parts are not top shape, but I too would really suggest changing only the tuners, I changed all other parts including pick ups and made this baby active by drilling an extra hole on it.
Be just careful, the pre-drilled holes are for the parts that come with the kit. The pickguard for example, is not a standard fender-like pickguard, so if you buy one somewhere else, be advised new holes will be necessary, which for me was not a problem.
Instructions for the actual wood parts and simple hardware are pretty straight-forward. Wiring in another hand could be more clear, though, for a passive instrument, you can’t go wrong with the soldering.
Simple oil in the wood, some sanding and drilling skills might be required
I totally recommend buying this baby…
revjerp (verified buyer) –
Neck slotting was perfection. Sealant was easily sanded off and finished up nice. Three piece body, but good grains throughout.
Pickups aren’t good. They were and have been replaced. I went with EMG passives that came with pots. They cost almost as much as the kit, so yea, they sounded better.
The nut is a bit high. Precisely, the nut seating or slot is too shallow. Easy to fix.
Worth every penny. More maple necks please!
ted1 (verified buyer) –
This bass is everything and more than what I expected. I added EMG JV pickups…I have been using EMG since 1988 and would highly recommend them…You will have to router out a battery pocket of you go with this type of active pickup system. This is a heavy bass but it puts you right in the sound with Geddy Lee, Flea & John Paul Jones who put the J syle on the map for Rock…also in the likes of Jacko for Jazz. The only problems that I had was that the heel of the neck was high in the neck pocket. I picked up a Shim which solved the problem. I did have to file down the nut to get the action closer to where I personally like and had to file down some of the uneven frets. Not much work though and this is again, due to some of my personal preferences for my feel of the bass so DO NOT let that deter you from this build out. This is far and above a great value…I record for a living and this is now the first instrument I try in the studio. You get a distinct sound with the Ash body with a traditional feel. LOVE it…I just can’t make up my mind on what to build next!
crublee81 –
I received this kit as a gift. Loved the building experience. Everything fit without any problems. Great value for the price. The pickups work as expected. This was the first experience I’ve had with any DIY kit. I recommend it if you want an easy Jazz / J styled bass.
carter.fulford (verified buyer) –
Routed and predrilled holes for non-standard part sizes. Do not recommend if you plan on ever upgrading the parts to standard jazz bass parts.
Kit was good quality, but having to fill and redrill the bridge holes for my Hipshot kickass 4 bridge is really inconvenient. The holes are so close that it’s not like you can just drill new holes and leave the old ones either. The bridge pickup is also not a standard jazz bass size (Didn’t fit Dimarzio Model J). It’s not incredibly difficult to change the route with a chisel, but it looks bad that the route has these gaps now. The stock parts aren’t that bad that they NEED to be upgraded, but it’s nice to have the option.
drmf (verified buyer) –
Preparing an ash body was not easy for me. Lots of sanding, painting, resanding several times over. Painting it black was a decision I regretted, My bad.
Assembly went smooth except for the wiring. Diagram and actual wire colors did not match. Solo bad, but they returned email and helped me through it.
All in all a fun project to duplicate a Fender Jazz Bass I had many years ago. Planing on a tele next, but not in black. Thanks Solo
jammer007 (verified buyer) –
Not my first bass, but what a KIT!!! I made mine into a Geddy Lee tribute. I to tried to paint it black, took me to times to get the finish right. small blemish on back. I upgraded to pickups to Geddy Lees, MAN its like i’m onstage! I agree on the tuners though currently looking for upgrades. only downside to kit is the tuners IMHO.
brad.hussey (verified buyer) –
Love, love, love this kit. It’s an easy build imo. Finished the body with 12 or so coats of lightly thinned Tru-Oil, and did the neck with a pseudo-Music-Man approach (3 coats of highly thinned Tru-Oil with 2 coats of wax). It’s my favourite neck of all my guitars. Also upgraded the pickups to Fender Pure Vintage ’74’s, so this thing rocks nicely. Only thing left to do is replace the tuners — they aren’t terrible, but not great. Not enough of an issue to lose a star, however. For the price, this is a great deal and a whole lotta fun. Also, I am selling my Fender P-Bass now 🙂
hawkmfg1 (verified buyer) –
Love this JBK10 Jazz Bass kit. The neck was perfect… nice and straight.. just a little touch up on a few frets and it was ready to go. The Ash body was a nice piece of wood, lots of grain… very heavy though… I stained it a black cherry and it looks beautiful. I bought upgraded tuning keys pick ups and bridge… it’s better than a new one. I will be buying more kits from Solo.
Denco (verified buyer) –
This is a very good kit, overall. I upgraded the tuners w/Fender tuners (kit units were a tad stiff and uneven). I upgraded the pickups to Fender Noiseless jazz units, shielded the cavity with copper tape, and changed the pickguard to a color that complemented the stain color I used. I’ve got a Fender hi-mass bridge on order and looking forward to that upgrade.
The bass plays really, really well. Only a minor tweak to the truss rod. The neck fit into the body perfectly and the ash body took the stain well. This bass weighs in at 11.5lbs once built which is heavy, but it’s well-balanced and is comfortable when standing while playing.
The electronics are already soldered and installed on the control plate so only minor soldering to add the pickups to the circuit.
I thought about gifting this bass to a friend, but now………I think I’ll keep it. 😉
rickanglin053 (verified buyer) –
Very happy. There were very sharp fret ends I assume due to some shrinkage of the maple. Very easy to fix. Works great.