ACF Custom OBLIGATO 4
- Solid, lightweight and resonant SWAMP ASH body, gloss poly Gunmetal finish
- Quartersawn maple neck with dual action truss rod and graphite supports
- Katalox fingerboard with Sintoms Gold small fretwire, 20” radius for low and fast action
- Brass inserts in the neck and stainless bolts attach the neck to the body for a very sturdy connection, which leads to better sustain and response
- 33.5” scale length for a more comfortable feel while retaining good string tension
- Nordstrand Zen Blade pickups, spaced in the “70s” position for a variety of classic and modern tonality
- Nordstrand 2B preamp with SERIES mode when volume is pulled up, pan, passive tone with active bypass when pulled, stacked bass and treble boost/cut. Internal gain and high frequency switch also inside
- Easy access control panel cover is magnetically held, making any battery changes or internal adjustments a breeze
- Fully shielded control and pickup cavities
- High mass lockdown bridge is mounted to a brass block for even more clarity and sustain
- Solid brass nut, 1.625 nut width
- Gotoh GB707 tuners for incredibly smooth and accurate tuning, with a Hipshot string retainer
- Weighs in at a very comfortable 8.6 lbs and hangs very comfortably when standing.
- Now includes a used hard softshell case.
OBLIGATO - an instrumental part, typically distinctive in effect, which is integral to a piece of music and should not be omitted in performance.
Essentially, despite most of my builds trying to do things that I didn't see other companies doing, it was apparent that if I really wanted to try and compete in the world of bass design, I'd need to tilt my cap to that style. So I built this and a few others to capture the J-style ethos, but with my own favorite twists.
This bass embodies it pretty nicely. You get the J design cues, somewhat more akin to the modern J style basses with 24 frets and smaller body. But beyond that, this goes quite a bit deeper.
- The neck is a little chunkier and wider at the nut. Its feel is inspired by Stingrays and modern P basses, as I have bigger hands and liked that feel.
- The pickups are VERY modern and wired in a setup that offers a lot more options than most, yet is still quite simple to navigate.
- The construction uses incredibly sturdy brass and bolt connections, classic body and neck woods with a more innovative fretboard wood, which yields a lot of clarity and sustain.
To put it bluntly, this bass beats a lot of what it was inspired by in SO many ways.
I built this one as a demo and I've used it a bit myself, but it's not been out far into the world, due to its completion during the pandemic. While it's been with me, it acquired one ding on the body and some minor signs of use. But technically, it's pretty new.
If someone said "Build me that bass again!" I'd be charging a LOT more than this. The paintjob wasn't cheap (I typically do oil finish, too), there was a lot of effort involved in the construction, so it's a top-tier build in many respects. If you're into something that is a mix of a lot of the goodness in the bass world, with a nod to the traditional, then I definitely hope you're willing to check this beast out.
$1400 shipped to the US
Not looking for trades, but not opposed either.
