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5sg's Cliff Bordwell Spring 2022 Build
- Thread starter fivestringgecko
- Start date
Memorial weekend update from Cliff! I swear he's gotta be a workaholic… I got this at 7:27a on the Saturday of a holiday weekend!
I asked if he was supposed to be on vacation, and he messaged back “my boss is an a$$ sometimes. No vacation right now.” (To which I literally laughed, and told him to not rush this bass on account of me.)
Anyway, a quick shot of the end grain of the bass. One of the small details that I think not everyone would pay attention to, or notice. But the small things elevate these instruments above and beyond, and I'm sure it'll look even nicer in person.
5sg.
I asked if he was supposed to be on vacation, and he messaged back “my boss is an a$$ sometimes. No vacation right now.” (To which I literally laughed, and told him to not rush this bass on account of me.)
Anyway, a quick shot of the end grain of the bass. One of the small details that I think not everyone would pay attention to, or notice. But the small things elevate these instruments above and beyond, and I'm sure it'll look even nicer in person.
5sg.
I’m in the next batch, I hope he doesn’t rush this batch, but I appreciate he’s moving it forward.
Make sure and start a build thread!
5sg.
I absolutely will. I put one up for my last one too that was in the build batch before yours.
I'll go take a look!
I stand corrected, I saw the beginning of that thread. 
I jumped off TB between the late October shot of the back of your 4-string and the post from the following May about being in the queue for three Bordwells. 
That's a lot of Bordwell/bass all at once! 
5sg.
I jumped off TB between the late October shot of the back of your 4-string and the post from the following May about being in the queue for three Bordwells. That's a lot of Bordwell/bass all at once! 5sg.
I’m in the queue for 3 more, not 3 total.
I switched over to 30” scale full time. Doing 2 solid bodies, one with the DCs that is finished, and the next with a P/J setup. Then 2 semi hollows. One fretted with dagstars, one fretless with piezos.
I’ll probably sell my rob Allen fretless at that point. Maybe.
I switched over to 30” scale full time. Doing 2 solid bodies, one with the DCs that is finished, and the next with a P/J setup. Then 2 semi hollows. One fretted with dagstars, one fretless with piezos.
I’ll probably sell my rob Allen fretless at that point. Maybe.
Got another update photo from @Cliff Bordwell this morning!
This one has the oil finish on it, and that top looks pretty killer! It looks almost like it's glowing and gives me the vibe of quilt maple on steroids. Photos never usually do justice, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it in person.
I'm also excited as this will be my first bass with a light top/darker body... I know that probably seems like a silly thing to be excited about, but it's something new for me as well. Cliff mentioned that Spanish Cedar is pretty light, so crossing my fingers for a nice light bass!
Going by the build specs, I think all that's left are the pau ferro pickup covers and knobs, and then the hardware/electronics.
5sg.
This one has the oil finish on it, and that top looks pretty killer! It looks almost like it's glowing and gives me the vibe of quilt maple on steroids. Photos never usually do justice, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it in person.
I'm also excited as this will be my first bass with a light top/darker body... I know that probably seems like a silly thing to be excited about, but it's something new for me as well. Cliff mentioned that Spanish Cedar is pretty light, so crossing my fingers for a nice light bass!Going by the build specs, I think all that's left are the pau ferro pickup covers and knobs, and then the hardware/electronics.
5sg.
Bravo!
...and yes, Spanish Cedar is in the lighter weight category. The neck on my classical guitar is Spanish Cedar...nice stuff.
...and yes, Spanish Cedar is in the lighter weight category. The neck on my classical guitar is Spanish Cedar...nice stuff.
Looking forward to trying out Spanish cedar! If it's even just "similar" to another bass I have with an Alaskan cedar body, should sound nice and be fairly light.
Got an updated shipping date from Cliff this morning... not going to mention the actual day here in case it changes a bit, but it does mean that this build is closing in on being done!
Woot!
5sg.
Got an updated shipping date from Cliff this morning... not going to mention the actual day here in case it changes a bit, but it does mean that this build is closing in on being done!
Woot!
5sg.
An Alaskan Cedar body sounds very interesting! I have talked with Cliff in the past about possibly building a bass with a thick Sitka Spruce body core...
I've played a few Roscoes with Spanish cedar. It's been a few years, but my recollection is that they were pretty light, and felt very responsive and acoustically resonant. I assume this bass will be similar...
Sitka Spruce... I'll have to look that one up to see about characteristics.
Those are some positive descriptors indeed.
There's the argument about whether or not the types of woods used make a difference in sound, and I'm one of those people that does think it has an influence. Not sure how drastically of course, and I also think that electronics & pickups also have an influence. I'm crossing fingers that this bass will have an interesting character different from my other basses. But even if the type of wood only affects how light it is, I'll take it. The lighter the better, if it's going to be on a 4 hour gig.
Just crossing fingers that the body isn't SO light that it'll have neck dive. Not the biggest problem to deal with of course, I have a six string that does dive a bit but is still very playable. But still hoping.
5sg.
Sitka Spruce... I'll have to look that one up to see about characteristics.
There's the argument about whether or not the types of woods used make a difference in sound, and I'm one of those people that does think it has an influence. Not sure how drastically of course, and I also think that electronics & pickups also have an influence.
Subjectively speaking, I can absolutely tell you that I hear a difference between different wood species in a build. Some woods more than others. That said, some differing wood species actually sound very similar to each other to my ears. Sometimes different wood pieces from the the same exact species sound different to my ears...one example is Ash. A lighter weight piece of Ash sounds much different to me compared to a piece of dense Ash from the same exact species.
Objectively speaking, one can measure differences in acoustic qualities between different wood species with specialized audio testing tools. Resulting data shows variations of amplitude across the frequency spectrum among certain species, while other species show very, very similar levels of frequency amplitudes to each other.
I agree about choice of pickups and electronics influencing the sound of an instrument regardless of the woods used. There are also contributing factors like pickup placement, type of strings used, playing technique, finish, hardware material, construction techniques, scale length, etc. One thing I can say about Cliff's basses, no matter what combo of woods and other variables are selected for a particular build, they all have a certain common sound to them that only Cliff's basses have...and they always sound great!
@TapyTap - I was trying to be diplomatic with the comment about wood selection making a difference, as I've seen on Talkbass that the discussion can be very polarizing. (as with pretty much any discussion on Talkbass. 
lol) But I'm definitely in the "it does make a difference" camp. I don't have any fancy audio testing tools other than my ears, but out of the basses I own, two in particular are about as close as it gets. Both are Kiesel Icons with soapbar humbuckers/active preamps, one is swamp ash and the other is alder. I've modded the alder one a bit along the way with different humbuckers and preamp which did change the sound a bit more, but both have distinctly different characters/sounds.
Interesting that you mention that Cliff's basses have their own particular "Cliff" sound... I know it's probably difficult in words, but how would you characterize a "It's got a Cliff Bordwell sound?"
5sg.
(as with pretty much any discussion on Talkbass. lol) But I'm definitely in the "it does make a difference" camp. I don't have any fancy audio testing tools other than my ears, but out of the basses I own, two in particular are about as close as it gets. Both are Kiesel Icons with soapbar humbuckers/active preamps, one is swamp ash and the other is alder. I've modded the alder one a bit along the way with different humbuckers and preamp which did change the sound a bit more, but both have distinctly different characters/sounds.Interesting that you mention that Cliff's basses have their own particular "Cliff" sound... I know it's probably difficult in words, but how would you characterize a "It's got a Cliff Bordwell sound?"
5sg.
