1977 Carl Thompson returns home

[Zentner]

Hi guys, just wanted to share the pictures of my newly restored Carl Thompson which made it home today. I bought the bass with a broken headstock and sent it down to Carl and his colleagues to reattach. I got a phone call some time later and Carl said he wasn't going to be satisfied with the headstock repaired as he had initially intended, so he would replace the neck, and I requested it be fretless. I was literally shocked when I opened the case- Carl said it was like a new bass but I wasn't quite expecting what I found.

Before:

After:

This bass is as close to perfect as I can imagine- maybe even more perfect than my 6 string. The action is almost sitting on the fretboard and it's absolutely effortless to play. The best playing fretless I'd experienced before this was an Alembic Elan, and this CT really takes that playability a step further. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to have this bass done right by Carl, Joe, Kelvin, and whoever else is a part of his operation currently.

If anyone's interested in what Joe and Pete are up to, check out their write ups in the recent issue of Carved.These guys do such incredible work, and I'm very fortunate to own some of their playable art. @dblbass

Link Removed

Cheers guys.

 

[drumsnbass]

like fine art... enjoy!

 

[Toptube]

That thing is so rad looking I can't even handle it right now

 

[Al Florenzo]

thats neck-hrough, right? lol, yeah no prob just take these off the sides, make a new neck put it all back together...
looks good, totally rad

 

[Cliff Bordwell]

Very cool, love that inlaid bridge piece.

 

[johnson79]

Amazing. Carl's one of a kind.

 

[nagarjuna]

That is just crazy cool! Updated by the man himself!

 

[moshspeggeti]

Carl Thompson is a master of his craft.

 

[eukatheude]

WOW! Carl's the man. Can't even begin to think how he did that.

 

[drumsnbass]

WOW! Carl's the man. Can't even begin to think how he did that.

Cut the bass in half, trim the wings, edge sand to get remaining 1/18" or so, glue to new neck.

 

[TolerancEJ]

Such a beautiful instrument. Congratulations!

 

[BruceWane]

Cut the bass in half, trim the wings, edge sand to get remaining 1/18" or so, glue to new neck.

Eh, no.... look a little closer. Look at the wood grain of the center block in the body, both front and back. It's the original wood. Looking at the heel, there's an extra layer now. I would guess that he machined out a neck pocket of sorts then precisely fitted a new neck into the pocket; essentially, this is now a set-neck instrument instead of a neck-through. Not that this is a bad thing.... it's beautiful work.

Can't tell from these pictures, there doesn't seem to be any distinctive grain that would tell the tale, but I would bet that he took out the old neck all the way to the pickup route.

 

[Pilgrim]

That's incredibly cool, and lovely work. Getting that BA bridge off of there was a great kindness - it looked like a boil on a fashion model's face.

 

[wraub]

It went from looking merely cool to a real beauty.

Congrats to you, and kudos to Mr. T and his team.

 

[gregmon79]

Woooooooowwwwww..... Awesome! How do you sting it though? Are the holes on the very bottom edge of the body? Because I dont see any holes on the back.....

 

[ModuMan]

Woooooooowwwwww..... Awesome! How do you sting it though? Are the holes on the very bottom edge of the body? Because I dont see any holes on the back.....

Are you talking about this?

Really lovely work, congrats! I've never played a CT and that's probably because I'm afraid I'd like it!

 

[gregmon79]

Are you talking about this?

View attachment 447792

Really lovely work, congrats! I've never played a CT and that's probably because I'm afraid I'd like it!

Ah yes! Don't know how I missed that earlier. But I obviously did. Thanks.

 

[david muntner]

Unbelievable. I saw your bass at the shop. Looks amazing. Congrats!

 

[ffutterman]

Jaw = dropped

 

[dblbass]

Eh, no.... look a little closer. Look at the wood grain of the center block in the body, both front and back. It's the original wood. Looking at the heel, there's an extra layer now. I would guess that he machined out a neck pocket of sorts then precisely fitted a new neck into the pocket; essentially, this is now a set-neck instrument instead of a neck-through. Not that this is a bad thing.... it's beautiful work.

Can't tell from these pictures, there doesn't seem to be any distinctive grain that would tell the tale, but I would bet that he took out the old neck all the way to the pickup route.

The bass was originally a set neck, but you essentially got it right. Carl developed kinda a hybrid set neck/neck through in the 70's because he was having trouble getting the neck to look and fit right on a bass. This is when he was doing it all with a chisel!!! (Boy do I love routers)

For the repair we cut the neck off, removed the remaining piece of the truss rod, then routed a pocket for the new neck. When Zentner decided he'd like it to be fretless, we thought it'd be cool to add the inlay, one piece bridge and string through to keep with Carl's style from that time. Very vibey bass and a HUGE sound. The pickup in there (schaller 404) is one of my favorite.