Custom Better Mousetrap Guitars Ordered

By a complete chance of freak circumstances (more on that later) I ordered a custom bass from Better Mousetrap Guitars. I have never ordered a custom bass so as you can tell I am very excited. I will keep this thread going to keep up on the progress. You can also check out the progress on their site.

Here are the specs I ordered:

• Better Mousetrap Guitars Aurora single-cut body shape
• 35" scale, 24 frets
• Walnut wings with bookmatched bubinga top and back
• Maple, walnut, and bubinga neck
• West African ebony fretboard
• Walnut headstock ears
• Bubinga headstock overlay
• Aguilar DCB pickups
• Aguilar OBP-3 preamp
• Vol w/P-P to passive, Blend, Bass, Mid w/P-P frequency select, Treble controls
• Black Hipshot Ultralite tuners
• Black Hipshot A-style bridge

There is a cool story behind this bass for me. I saw a thread HERE and the title intrigued me. I had never heard of Better Mousetrap Guitars before. I saw in that thread by Doodaddy that Phil Lipscomb from Taproot was playing one so I checked out the website. I loved the shape of the single-cut and the basses looked very nice. I subscribed to that thread just to see how Doodaddy’s bass would turn out. I had absolutely no intention to buy one at all. Like I said, the shape and craftsmanship just looked so good. Fast forward about 6 weeks and I had someone back out on me for some Friday night plans. With nothing to do I called a good friend of mine and he said he was going to a Taproot show at a cool small club. That instantly made me think back to Doodaddy’s thread about his custom bass. I went to the show and I got a chance to talk to Phil for about an hour before his set. He was very cool and had 2 BMG basses. He let me check out and play both of them. I was blown away! I was even more blown away with his sound during his set. The looks, feel, craftsmanship, sound, and attention to detail were amazing. He also told me that Matt Kiefer (owner & luthier of BMG) was a very nice guy and I should contact him. The next day I sent Matt an email. About 30 emails and two days later of back and forth with specs and materials I had my deposit in for a custom bass!! I cannot say enough how patient and easygoing Matt was with me. I had a ton of questions since this was my first custom bass. I am sure it did annoy him but you would have never guessed. I am still in shock of what I am getting for the price. This is going to be my first high level bass and I think I picked a darn good one.

Here are some pics of the bubinga he sent me:

 

Just a small update. "Cleaned up the walnut for the cores of the wings and got an idea of what the lamination should end up looking like."

 

Aguilar DCB's and OBP-3.

 

Slight change in specs. After Matt sent me this picture I HAD to have the West African ebony fretboard in the middle. I LOVE the stripes in it.

 

Matt laid out the woods for the bass. There will be maple laminates between the bubinga and walnut in the neck and body that aren't pictured. I have a feeling this is going to turn out amazing!

 

Do you have a bass from Matt?

He has been awesome! I feel like I have gained a friend as well.