NBD Claro walnut fretless with birdseye board

[Baird6869]

Nice! I am a sucker for unlined maple though!

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Yeah, and this epoxy is AMAZING.

 

[gumbynotpokey]

bump

5 pages in, just wanted a few more people to see this...

 

[abstractart06]

Very, very nice. I love the look of walnut and maple.

 

[natw42]

Looks killer..: you did a great job spec'ing that bad boy out!

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Looks killer..: you did a great job spec'ing that bad boy out!

Sweet! Dude, it was like a whole YEAR driving myself nuts with this option vs that option, etc....fun but torture!

 

[1958Bassman]

Well, the maple board would be a total non-starter for a fretless because it's so soft.

But in my mind I imagined a walnut/maple overall look and it seemed a big ole birdseye board was just the thing. I didn't get flamed, cause I wanted a mottled look to contrast possible stripes on the Claro top (rather than stripes on stripes). I DEFINITELY wanted the epoxy, so there you go! I called and they said "YES" to the epoxy on a birdseye board. HOORAY!

Maple- soft? Really? Hard maple can be really, really hard. I have some that's so hard it's difficult to use a hand plane and I use the "scary sharp" method for sharpening the irons.

 

[Huge]

Interesting. Didn't know they'd do either of those options.

Makes ya wonder if a P pickup is around the corner.

I hope so. Not that I need another bass, but, well, y'know...

 

[jim777]

Man, an SB5000 with a P/J config would sell a LOT of basses!

Sorry OP, once again, drop dead gorgeous instrument, play her in health!

 

[gumbynotpokey]

drop dead gorgeous instrument, play her in health!

Thanks!

 

[IronSpatula]

I demand clips!!

 

[P. Aaron]

Nice hunk 'o' wood you got there! Congrats!

 

[lucas vigor]

Interesting. Didn't know they'd do either of those options.

Makes ya wonder if a P pickup is around the corner.

3 years ago, I asked for the maple FB fretless option, and they said no. That's great that they are now doing it! (but they lost a sale as a result!....I had my tax return money at the time!)

 

[ItchyPBass]

That neck alone is more beautiful than my prettiest bass.

That is all.

 

[boristhespider9]

Get some videos up so we can see and hear it in action!

 

[natw42]

Sweet! Dude, it was like a whole YEAR driving myself nuts with this option vs that option, etc....fun but torture!

Yeah, I like to play w the Carvin bass builder and torture myself like that all the time

 

[JOME77]

Beautiful bass! Very classy looking.

How's it sound? Does it have nice mwah?

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Beautiful bass! Very classy looking.

How's it sound? Does it have nice mwah?

The J99A's are single coils. They have a ton of output. My 2004 LB70P has a ceramic J99A at the neck position and a MM style giant bucker at the bridge position. That 2004 has rougly 1/3 lower output I would guess. These are alnico on this thing. The presence, fullness, complexity (I'm playing rounds), brightness and beefy low end are spectacular. It's not boomy. All that in active mode. Passive it drops in output to a degree but not tremendously. It mellows some and of course goes lo-fi. But MAN it's beautiful.

The action on this thing is quite low. No lines/dots all equal to learning, and that's good for me. Same model and neck, so I'm rather at home just the same.

Mwah? YEAH. She has a voice that just SINGS. Again hard to describe. It's fairly easy to coax it out of her. AMAZING (but again, this is my first fretless). In short, I'm delighted.

 

[IronSpatula]

Mwah? YEAH. She has a voice that just SINGS. Again hard to describe.

You know what they say... a CLIP is worth a thousand words!

 

[Red Four]

Probably the nicest-looking Carvin I've ever seen. The maple middle layer was a stroke of brilliance. Well done, and I hope you enjoy the heck out of it.