Pulled the Trigger on a New Custom Order

basse · Post by **basse** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:17 am

And the pics just keep coming... Here's the front of the headstock before the logo goes on - I'm REALLY liking the way that the quilt maple fretboard compliments the camphor burl:

And the side of the headstock showing the veneers and accents:

And the first shot I've seen of the body with the neck laid on top!

This is coming together far quicker than I thought it would. I am so pumped. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

alanz · Post by **alanz** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:15 am

Sweet, dude!

basse · Post by **basse** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:01 am

More pics! Here's the neck affixed to the body to make sure everything fits before the neck carving starts:

And the front and back of the body now that it's been carved, here the body has been wiped down with mineral spirits to give an idea of how it'll look once it's been sprayed:

I'm getting REALLY excited!

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:19 am

The body wood looks like the skin of a Narn from Babylon 5.

will_nesbitt · Post by **will_nesbitt** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:04 am

I didn't think much of that camphor burl on it's own, but stuck on that body, that thing is GORGEOUS!!! And what a nice fingerboard!!

That's gonna be one hell of a beautiful bass!!!

Don't paint it any colour, because it looks good enough already. You would really have my envy if I wasn't a lefty

basse · Post by **basse** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:03 am

Thanks Will, I agree with you wholeheartedly! We're only going to be putting a clear finish on this bass. BTW, it will actually end up looking lighter than in the previous photos because the lacquer won't make it look as dark as the mineral spirits.

basse · Post by **basse** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:38 am

The frets are now in the fretboard... I'm really liking the way that it's looking, particularly the combination of the quilted maple and the camphor burl! Wow!!!

basse · Post by **basse** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:57 am

And the photos just keep coming, I can't believe this is coming together so quickly AND so beautifully...

Here's the back of the neck now that the initial shaping has been done - yes, it's been wiped down with mineral spirits so it appears darker than it will once the lacquer is applied - holy **** the stripes in the neck and camphor heel and headstock look amazing with those veneers as accents!!!:

Here's the back of the bass with the neck laid in - once again wiped with mineral spirits so it is darker than the finished bass will be:

Here's a close-up of the side of the bass, once again with the neck laid in but without the mineral spirits:

WOW!!! I am so incredibly fricken' impressed!

basse · Post by **basse** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:43 am

More photos of the neck in progress...

Here's a close-up of the headstock with the logo laid in:

And here's a photo of the top of the neck showing the fretboard and the headstock with the tuners:

And here are the pickups, 2 ACG FatBas custom wound humbuckers... Ceramic magnets in the bridge with Alnico 5 magnets in the neck:

I am so pumped!!!

basse · Post by **basse** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:56 am

Alan at AC Guitars assembled and strung my bass earlier today so that he could make sure that all of the parts fit before he started spraying.

He tells me that he also cut the nut. No adjustment was needed on the truss rod and it had pretty nice action - even without fine-tuning it. He also states that it sounds pretty resonant, in fact quite bell like.

The body still needs some more sanding but another session should see it completed.

There are a few small holes in the camphor which is as expected. He's going to fill them with lacquer which takes a fair bit of time but stops any of the colour discrepancies that can happen if you use filler. FYI, the white circles that you see on the bass are marks around those small holes that will be filled - but will also be wiped off before spraying starts.

Side view...

basse · Post by **basse** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:43 am

Alan at http://www.acguitars.co.uk/index2.php finished the sanding of the neck and body and he's started spraying them. This is the first photo of a thick coat of lacquer that he sprayed to fill the pore holes in the camphor burl. His next step is to sand off almost all of this coat so that the pores are filled and there's a flat surface to spray for the finishing coats.

I'm really happy with the way that this looking - darker than the wood on it's own but lighter then when it was wiped with mineral spirits! I can't wait to see the contrast between the fingerboard and the body!

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:28 am

The wood looks like tortoise shell. This bass is really coming together. Keep the photos coming.

basse · Post by **basse** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:39 am

Thanks Ken, here's a photo of the finished neck:

will_nesbitt · Post by **will_nesbitt** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:29 am

Any more news on it yet?

telebob · Post by **telebob** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:57 am

Absolutely beautiful. I hand build guitars as well and I can truly appreciate the things your luthier has done to make this bass great. Good for you. There's nothing like having one made exactly the way you like it and knowing that it's the only one of it's kind. I bet it sounds amazing. Good luck with it!