Hey fellas. Thanks to all of you for the many kind words. I am lucky to get customers like y'all. Just thought I would weigh in re: a few of the comments and questions in this thread.
First, the pickup covers. I do make wood covers for pickups if I can get them without existing covers. Nordstrand and Aero supply their pickups this way. Bartolini does not; their pickups only come with the composite covers. The problem is that they are designed to be 1/4" away from the strings as they are (in the covers) and so to add a layer of wood would move the pickup away from the strings and you lose output. I have seen some people somehow machine off the Bartolini's covers, but it's risky business given how delicate the coils underneath are and I prefer not to do Bartolini pickups with wood covers as such. Perhaps someone out there is, and I am happy to work with them if that is the case.
Second, the Nordstrand/single-coil/hum comment. TheCoolKid8 and I had talked about some coil switching options he was looking at and long-story short, we were up against some basic limitations inherent to any single coil pickup, not just Nordstrands. The Nordstrand DC pickups are like any other dual coil pickup in that if you wire the coils in parallel or series, they will be hum cancelling. They will also sound pretty kickass, but that's just my opinion. If you only use one of the coils, you need another coil from another pickup to cancel the hum just like other true single-coils (see below). So, at some point you can add coil tap settings to a bass that give you problematic sounds and thus don't really add to the versatility of the instrument. Some pickup manufacturers give you some added flexibility by sticking a dummy coil into the package (like the Bartolini MME or the split and stacked single coil Jazz pickups made by Bart and Carvin). Carey indicated he would make a triple coil pickup if someone asked him.
Third, in regards to my neck profiles. The older the neck, the more likely it is fat. I have started using thinner fingerboards and rounder neck profiles over the last couple of years. I still have a thicker neck profile than your average Ibanez or Carvin because I believe that the skinny necks don't hold up, and I listen to my customers when they tell me they think thicker necked basses have fatter tone. Who am I to argue?
And I still remember how to make a real chunker if ya need it.
Fourth, in regards to body shapes. I often get input like Jon's on body shapes. I am happy to work with this type of guidance and I appreciate customers who give me a wide berth to work with the balance and wood to try and maximize what we are going after. I like the shape of 1067, too.
Again, thanks for all the kind words! I'm glad you like my basses. It's a little like a family reunion here, seeing basses from 1997 to the present represented!
