Dear F Bass friends:
I was very, very quiet to keep my patience in tact while I waited for a special build to finish. Now that it's here, I'm in with pics per forum rules of getting my new BNF-5 listed on my club membership number (no pics = no bass). Thanks to George, Marcel, and all the rest of the fantastic team at F Bass for their collaboration, artistry, and sense of humor while building my dream. Every millimeter of this bass was very carefully considered and debated by all of us involved, reviewed in progress by me in Hamilton, and built perfectly.
Specs: lightweight flamed and spalted European ash body (2 different matching pieces, not book matched), flamed maple center block, specially chosen Macassar ebony bridge and thumb rest (not shown in most of the pictures), 3 piece quartersawn flamed maple neck with black stringers, jet black Gaboon ebony fingerboard (specially chosen from their whole stock for its tap tone quality), mother of pearl serial number, and clear satin poly tint.
Before anyone asks...she sounds BETTER than she looks, and if you can imagine, pictures don't do her justice. It resonates acoustically very openly in the lowest register, and the upper register is sweet and warm. The bass is medium-lightweight, and the instant I play a note anywhere, I feel it vibrate through my core. It feels positively alive and purrs like a big cat on an open B or E. I can even feel the sound of my fingers on the strings against my body. The harmonics jump off the fingerboard, which translates into transient attack and articulation. The ping from that ebony, especially the Gaboon, is readily apparent. Its voice is clear, muscular, woody (from the bridge?), rich, and full of wonderful mwah. The bass is so responsive to the touch, and the neck is the best feeling F neck I've played yet (they are the best in the business, IMHO). I'm a big believer that the neck construction and material has more impact on the instrument than anything else, and this bass delivers the tone and the playability in spades. This has to be the sexiest BNF-5 ever made...I'm gob-smacked. F Basses are indeed the king of fretless. This is my third F. On to the bass pron:
Ok, I don't get out much!
I wanna go to Jamaica
