http://drdunwoody.shutterfly.com/pictures/297
This is the bass I swore I would never sell (yea, we've all been there). I love the sound and feel of this bass BUT I don't really play fretless! It has been sitting in the case largely unplayed for the last two years and I'm looking to trade it with something of similar quality, but in a fretted.
Here is what it is:
Simmon's Guitars are the work of Dave Simmons (North Carolina).
http://simmonsguitars.com/
This is the 35" Thorus model which he sells for $2050.00 without options. This bass has a number of the options listed so it would be couple hundred more I'm estimating.
Weight is about 10 lbs (bathroom scale) and the instrument is well balanced. I love the way it hangs and plays...if only it were fretted. I measure the string spacing at 72mm across at the bridge (18" per string). The neck at the nut is 1.75". The neck at the bass of the guitar measures about 72mm (about 2.75"). It has Delano pickups installed although Simmons have Barts come standard with these. The previous owner must have had the Delano's put in. You can see at the bottom of the MusicMan style bridge pickup that there are routes on the bridge side for the wings from a different pickup. I love the sound of this bass and the pickups so much so that when I got my MIA Fender Jazz V, I put Delano humcancelling pickups in them. Very full range sound. This bass is warm and the 35" scale gives the notes plenty of punch, but with a fullness that I really love. I have almost always run the bass passive as I prefer that sound but the Bart preamp is fully functional.
Disclaimers: there is a LIGHT surface scratch about 1.5 inches above the neck pickup to above the base of the neck. It is VERY hard to see unless the light hits it just right. I tried to show this in the photos. The BIGGEST flaw on this bass is that the prior owner must have knocked the tip of the headstock and cracked the TIP off. It was glued back on (not too neatly IMO). THIS IS NOT STRUCTURAL. The tip that is glued back on is not close enough to a tuner to be structural, so it is only an aesthetic issue. It is very hard to see from any distance standing in front of the guitar. It is more obvious from the back. I took LOTS of photos.
As for the woods, maybe some of the viewers can help me, I don't know my woods well enough so take my claims cautiously (look, and hopefully people will reply with the woods!). Looks like a maple neck, with alder wings. The top matches the stripes on the laminated neck and MIGHT be rosewood? The fretboard looks ebony to me. All of the would joints have accent lines in them (except for those that run the length of the neck). It is a stunning piece of art in my opinion and I would not sell it if I could just afford to purchase a similar fretted instrument. I will ship it in a hard shell case that works well but has to be wiggled sometimes to make the shells lineup right. It works well and will protect the bass in shipping. One of the feet in the case was bashed in (see photos). There are 39 pictures of it here:
http://drdunwoody.shutterfly.com/pictures/297
What am I looking for? Truthfully, I would love the same bass in a fretted model! I think that this is VERY unlikely so I'm open to considering trades of equal quality fretted 5 strings only. I'm particularly interested in seeing the woods and a similar feel to this one (light, fast, well balanced). I'm rather curious about the Warmoth Gecko 5 strings but I'm open to consider anything.
