First Bass to come out of my new shop!

[Scott French]

For the past few weeks/months I've been getting my new shop all setup. Here's the first bass I managed to get made with all the new tools. Let me know what you think! Also I am looking for some people local to Sacramento, CA that might have some spare time to check out my instruments and give me some feedback.

Details:
SF4 Model
Set-neck with Flame Maple/Black Maple Lams
Ultra Thin 3 Piece Wenge & Flame Maple Neck
1 5/8" Nut Width
Ebony Fingerboard
Ebony Headcap Veneer with Flame Eucalyptus Lam
Mother of Pearl Side and Face Position Dots

Hard Maple Body with Flame Red Gum Eucalyptus Top
Hand Carved Top, Back, and Heel

Hipshot Brass Bridge – 3/4” Spacing
Hipshot Ultra Light Tuners
Hipshot O-Ring Knobs
Seymour Duncan J and MM pickups
VBT-SS Controls (Volume/Blend/Tone - Jazz Phase/MM Series/Parallel)
Recessed Barrel Jack
Recessed Schaller Strap Locks

[Scott French]

Here's a close up of the carved top.

[PasdaBeer]

super sweet lookin!

give any discouts for fellow californians!

[coyoteboy]

I'm down here in Mo'town, and that is a nice looking bass, and I think you've managed to come up with a distinctive look. Congrats.

[Brendan]

Has a Curbow vibe going on. Can we see a clear headstock shot?

[rusty]

Looks wonderful - I like the curves of the carved top! Must have taken you quite a while huh?
Great job!!

[JP Basses]

Scott, you already know how much I appreciate your work dude!

Nice bass.

Peace,
JP

[Scott French]

PasdaBeer, actually CA residents have the pleasure of paying AN ADDITIONAL 7.25%! SWEET!

coyoteboy, Thanks! Can I add you to the list of people I might contact in the future when I have new stuff to test out?

Brendan, Yeah, I agree about the curbow thing. I have built two basses in this shape that were flat and I thought they were pretty darn original. Now with the carvings it does remind me of the petite curbow I think.

rusty, Yes, the top and back carvings took a good few days to do.

JP - The feeling is mutual!

[Baofu]

Dig the more traditional sc look... more les paul-ish than the normal gambit of sc basses with that carved top... not sure if I like that far of a recessed lower bout, but cool nonetheless. I have family in the bay area... maybe I'll take a day trip one of these days.

[rusty]

I just realised something... no logo?? How can that be?? Cmon Scott, with such extensive carving skills, I'm sure you can do something about that It's the first bass outa ur new shop too!

[Bard2dbone]

Just to even things out here, what I liked best is the deep cutaway that Baofu complained about. It's a cool design. I'll probably end up stealing ideas from you as well when I am good enough to make my own bass. I am already going to steal ideas from JP too. I think from him I will take the bass side 'horn' of the Zia. Or whateve you call that horn-bout-thingy on a SC.

[Nick man]

Wicked.

Peace
Nick

[Frijoles Negros]

That is the best looking bass I have seen. Its classic and timeless, and yet modern.

Great Job.

[dees]

great I wonder how it sounds, probably as great as it looks

[Fliptrique]

nice!

it has a "raw" vibe to it - i really dig it...

[bassmonkeee]

Sweet bass. I see what Brendan means about a Curbow, but it is certainly an original shape that pays tributes to some classics.

I really like that the singlecut doesn't look like a tumor, which is tough for a lot of luthiers to achieve. And, the lower horn looks nice. The exaggerated cutaway doesn't look out of place, either.

The bridge pickup looks pretty close to the bridge, but without playing it, I can only base that on my old fretless Curbow that has a Jazz pickup that close to the bridge and would probably benefit from it being a little further away. Of course, a jazz pickup is not a MM pickup, is it?

It looks like a nice bass, and I'd love to see a 5 string tuned EADGC with a piezo. It's a bass I could easily see Steve Swallow playing.

[mike sancho]

Very Sweet looking bass!!!

[By-Tor]

Alright, some local talent to check out.
Nice work, I really like the carved top. Nice original choice of woods.

I live in Sacramento, so I wouldn't mind checking that out.

But I agree, first bass needs to have the mark of the craftsman.
I mean, in 20 years or so that bass is going to be floating around and somebody is gonna post one of those "can you help me identify this bass" thread.
And it's gonna go something like this: "Whoa, that's the first bass made by Scott French".

[Chef]

While I'm a fender guy, I dig it lots. It somehow captures something old and lute-like about it , while being modern too. I also like the cutaway to get to the high end easily. Wish I was close enough to flog it ferya

Sweet!

[coyoteboy]

By all means, Mr French, contact me about bass tryouts. I may actually be looking to get a six sometime in the future. Also in the future, I may be able to offer Helicopter service in partial exchange for said six.

(I'm beginning commercial helicopter flight training soon!)