2007/2017 Creston PJ-Style Partscaster Electric Bass Guitar

Mr. Creston Lea is undeniably famous in the "cool Fender-ish boutique guitars" world and his collaborations with painter Sarah Ryan can be seen all over the alt-country universe. We've met -- he finally destroyed me in the "who will get to who's shop first" standoff and hitched a ride down here with a friend of ours -- and he's great! -- and we have a circle of friends and acquaintances that grows more intertwined every day. Both of us are bassists now and then and we're both absurdly-busy. He recently won a build-it-fast competition at this year's Fretboard Summit, too, I hear. Good times!

Anyhow, fellow-friend Mr. Casey has decided to let this bass move along as he's been playing a J-style neck (with a J-style nut width) full-time and the bigger neck and width on this wasn't bonding with him. He'd (in-recent-memory) gotten it from the maker himself and both of them told me the whole story on it which I will now spill-out.

The "loaded" body was originally made for Scott Hirsch in 2017 (see here), who later had the neck put on a different body. Why? Who knows! We're all tinkerers, right? It's a great body sports solid equipment including Lollar pickups and Creston's immaculate wiring. It has "just the right amount" of small hairline finish checking here and there to give it a lived-in feel. It's a lightweight ash body and you can definitely "feel" that as the whole instrument is about a pound or so less than I expect it to weigh.

Also: check Scott's stuff out -- it's good!

The neck is a bit older (2007) and comes off of Creston's own "Army Green" bass. As such, it's a bit more played-in and has some good "wear through the lacquer" at the edges of the neck on the treble side. It's a big old '50s-style P-bass neck of the sort that I used to play "all day long" on my old Tokai P.

Because it's a partscaster (albeit all Creston parts), Creston told me it has a bit of shimming in the neck pocket to keep it a little tighter in the joint. All I had to do was restring and adjust the truss a bit, so I think we can say that it's happy and stable.

As far as sound goes, it sounds like -- you guessed it -- a PJ! It's got the thump in the "neck" and the "bite" at the bridge. Both pickups are very balanced with one another and sound hot to trot. I personally like it best with the two mixed "full on" as you get a good blend of both flavors. This had some heavier flatwound strings when it came in but I restrung with some used roundwound 100w-45w or so strings to give it more of a "home base" sound.

Repairs included: minor setup.

Body wood: ash

Bridge: vintage 4-saddle

Fretboard: maple

Neck wood: maple

Pickups: 1x Lollar P-style, 1x Lollar J-style

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 100w-45w or close to it

Neck shape: medium-bigger C/D

Board radius: 9 1/2"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-bigger

Scale length: 34"

Nut width: 1 9/16"

Body width: 12 3/4"

Body depth: 1 3/4"

Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz

Condition notes: there's minor lacquer cracking/checking here and there on the body but it's not obvious (and I've taken photos where possible). The neck is not original to the body but all parts are "Creston" parts. There's lacquer wear on the neck at the G-string tuner ferrule and to the treble side of the board on the side. The strings are older and have some tarnish but also have that nice, lived-in sound.

It comes with: a Creston-branded gigbag.