2nd Bass Built - Soliciting any/all Feedback

[Bigfork]

It's only taken me 9 months of slipping in a couple hours on the odd weekend, but I finally finished my second attempt to build a bass. This time it's a custom 5-string fretless for an old friend (yes, I've known him a long time AND he is old!) In the time since the build of my first bass (the one I jokingly refer to as the Wittenbacker - look it up and you'll see why - I've designed and built a 6-string guitar; not be mentioned on this forum...

Anyway, here's the stats and info. I'm very interested in all critical feedback so i can ponder, learn, etc. And I do mean critical in the sense of critique as well as criticism. I think the thoughtful negative is extremely valuable and important.

Thanks ahead of time for your thoughts and opinions


M5 Bass (M is the first initial of the customer)
- 34" Scale,
- Fretless 5-string (low b)
- Neck Wood: Maple and Morado (aka, Bolivian Rosewood, Pau Ferro) with Wenge accents
- Body Woods: Sapele with carved Maple Top with Rosewooid logo inlay, top stained Vintage Amber, Nitrocellulose finish
Fingerboad: Ebony with MOP inlays
- Bartollini PUs: Bridge - M45CBC-T, neck X45CBJD-B
Controls: Volume, Tone, Pick-up Blend
- Hardware: Hipshot A-style bridge, Gotoh Tuners
- Mistakes and errors: Yes, of course. Lots to learn yet.

I think that covers it. Oh yes, cost to build inlcuding shop supplies: $1000

Kevin Witt
Bigfork, MT

P.S. For anyone in the area, I'll be at the Bigfork Festival of the Arts the first weekend in August with a couple instruments and amps. Stop by for a chat if you can.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I can only comment on the aesthetics, but the body looks odd to me. I don't think I've ever seen a scroll cut like this on the bottom of the body. The headstock looks too traditional for the body.

No offense intended, but if I saw it hanging on the wall in a shop I don't think I'd give it a second look.

The best part of the visual, IMHO, is the fretboard meeting the body. I do like that.

It's obvious that you put a lot of work into the bass, I hate being negative. But I think you want honest opinions.

 

[Bigfork]

No offense taken in the least. I do want honest opinions and many thanks for offering up some truth Rich.

I'm glad you haven't seen a scroll at the bottom. Not that it's going to revolutionize anything, but I was trying our what I had hoped was an original idea. Not all of those types of ideas are going to work for everyone, or maybe even anyone. I also don't particularly like staining figured wood. My friend wanted this color so I obliged. Made the grain pop out as anticipated, but I prefer woods that speak for themselves. Plus, I suck at staining!

I struggled with which headstock design to go with. Anything that I could come up with that mirrored the body design seemed to large and attention grabbing (or silly.) Maybe that's an indication that the body shape is over the top, or that I just didn't get the inspiration for the right headstock. Technically there were a lot of great wordworking challenges that made this an excellent project, and I will continue to work on improving my fabrication, design skills, as well as my sense of the aesthetic.

if nothing else, I really like the sound! I suppose I could always play in the dark!

 

[Dave W]

I agree with above. Aesthetically, it's just not pleasing to my eyes. It's very evident that you put in some work on it, and it came out fantastic! I'm not not a fan of the body shape, the headstock shape (Lakland), the gold hardware, or the knob placement. I'm just more of a P, J, Strat, Les Paul type of guy...always have been.

I probably would have went with a 3/2 or 2/3 headstock type shape, a la Les Paul or Carl Thompson, but if you did CT you'd probably get accused of copying the whole thing from him even though it's not really that similar in the least.

It's clearly a custom build, and if that is what the customer wanted then it really doesn't matter what we think.

I do applaud your efforts very much though, so please don't take it personally!