Do you need four strings or five? Where do you feel most comfortable?

Do you prefer a four-string, but really need a low B? Maybe we should talk about building you a 4 strung B-E-A-D. This is a custom bass made just for you.

Choosing a tone wood combination is where you get to choose the underlying voice of your new bass. Pickups will pick up that voice but it all starts with the wood itself.

Since every LEH comes with a quartersawn maple neck, it’ll be the fingerboard and body woods that shape your tone. The fingerboard is what most influence a note's fundamental, so let’s start there.

The three most common fingerboard woods are Maple, Ebony and Rosewood.

Maple has a quicker sharper attack with a more defined treble response. Rosewood has a rounder, warmer response than maple, with a slower bloom. Ebony sits in between (but closer to maple) with a sharper attack than Rosewood, and more bloom after the initial attack than Maple.

I also use Figured Maple and Pau Ferro for fingerboards. Figuring is purely aesthetic. Birdseye and Flame Maple fingerboards retain the tonal characteristics of unfigured Maple.

Pau Ferro is a common substitute for Rosewood, in that it shares all of Rosewood’s tonal characteristics, but with a slightly punchier attack. This is ideal for someone who likes the sound of rosewood but wants a fingerboard that can take them into new territory.

While the fingerboard is the foundation, the body wood is also extremely important. At LEH, I tend to choose the fingerboard first, then choose a body wood to complement the fingerboard.

Alder pairs most often with Rosewood because it's warmer sound and pronounced bass response complement similar characteristics in Rosewood. Ash pairs most often with Maple because its brighter sound and more pronounced highs enhance the Maple’s immediacy and sharpness.

But those are only the most common combinations––other combinations work too! My favorite is Alder and Maple. In that combination, the note jumps off the fingerboard––quick, sharp, and percussive––but the Alder softens the highs, resulting in a more nuanced sound. In the case of Ash and Rosewood, the Rosewood will retain its slow bloom, but the Ash will sharpen its punch.

Ebony is paired frequently with both Ash and Alder. Ash highlights the punchiness of its attack and Alder highlights its warmth and bloom. But Ebony is also paired often with a third body wood: Okoume.

Okoume is a relative of Mahogany and is the warmest compliment to any fingerboard. Okoume is rarely paired with Maple, and is too warm for some tastes when paired with Rosewood, but it’s a great compliment to Ebony. An Okoume body gives the instrument a warmth and softness, while the Ebony gives it clarity and definition.

And now it’s time for electronics …

Since LEH builds in the Fender Style, the most logical place to start is with two classic sounds: JJ and PJ. This is all about what works for you. Please feel free to reach out with any questions you might have, but if you’ve been playing long enough to consider a custom build, you probably know what you like.

Let's talk over some options for each.

We’ll start with my favorite: PJ. A J pickup can add some treble and versatility to a P bass, but a P pickup sounds so big and fat that it can overshadow the J. To keep that from happening, I set the P pickup much lower in the body. In that case, the pickups remain balanced, but the P pickup sounds a little less like itself.

For that reason, when I build a P/J, I like to use a BigRig or a FatStack in the J position. The BigRig has a wider magnetic field, which makes it fatter sounding,, and the FatStack has a taller magnetic field, which makes it more focussed, but both can go toe-to-toe with the P pickup. The result is an instrument with the versatility of a P/J, and an uncompromising, authentic P sound.

But what if you want a classic J-bass sound? Many players swear by the classic J-pickup, and the gold standard for tone is still the single coil J. Despite sounding amazing, Single Coil pickups can be noisy, and that isn’t ideal on some gigs. Hum-canceling J pickups are an option, but In order for a pickup to be completely hum canceling, it must have two coils of equal size. If you have ever played a bass with hum canceling pickups that still had slight directional single coil hum, it was because the coils were uneven. This isn't typically a problem with 4-string pickups, but think about the majority of Fender’s 5 string pickups: the P pickup has three pole pieces on one side and 2 on the other. Under the J pickup cover, the exact same thing is happening.

LEH uses Nordstrand pickups. If you peek under the cover of the Nordstrand P5 pickup, you’ll see that the coils are identical in size with a “dummy” set of pole pieces hidden under the treble side’s cover. The FatStack and the BigRig also have coils of equal sizes and therefore remain dead quiet.

FatStacks in particular are a great option because they combine the articulate punch of J pickups in JJ locations, but are wired with a coil-cut mini toggle so you can use them as single-coil or hum-canceling, depending on what you need. These are my go-to 60’s JJ style pickups.

And whether you go with the P/J or J/J configuration, no matter the pickup, you have one more choice to make: 60’s or 70’s bridge location. 70’s location is 0.40” closer to the bridge, and therefore a bit brighter because the string’s vibration is narrower and tighter the closer that you get to the bridge.

5 Strings are available in 3 widths.

1 3/4” (1.75)

1 13/16ths” (1.8125)

1 7/8ths (1.875)

So far I have only build 4 strings with a 1.5” nut. If you want something a little wider or narrower, let me know.

I use Vintage Jumbo Silver Nickel 2.4mmX1.3mm (height before leveling)

I prefer that fretwire size because it allows for the frets to be re-leveled a few times before you need a full re-fret. But I get it, some folks prefer smaller wire. If you have a favorite spec, I can match it. on

ItemI use LaBella RX 45-105 or 45-130 by default. I like to string up Maple/Brighter voiced builds with Stainless and Rosewood/warmer builds with Nickel. Ultimately the choice is yours. I’m also happy to build with your favorite set of strings. Just send a set before final assembly and let me know they are headed my way. description

Call me overprotective but I prefer to ship every bass in a hardshell Gator case.

That being said, I know that hardshells aren’t the easiest things to take to the gig. I also offer Mono gigbags. cription