Good morning everyone. I have been hammered by questions regarding this build and thought I should post up how this project came together. I made some interesting choices.
A number of months ago I stumbled across Grove Guitars (Link Removed) and the work that Scott was doing there. Basically I fell in love with his work. To me he captures a cross between Americana in its purest form, and a functioning piece of art.
I decided that I wanted to get something special and unique for my 50th birthday. Something with a ton a mojo right out of the gate.
I ran Scott down explaining that I would like to do a 51 P Crate Face build. The following issues were important to me:
I wanted a full swamp ash slab for the body.
It couldn't weigh a ton.
I wanted all that 51 P goodness without noise associated with single coils.
I wanted a reverse tele neck.
I wanted the neck to be extremely stable.
It had to be affordable.
During the course of the conversation, Scott was telling me which crates he had in stock. At that time, he mentioned an embalming crate, but then said that he was going to have to scrap it as the advertising logo was crap on it.
Many years ago, I used to collect anitque poison bottles. I left collecting, most notably because my collection was so extensive that I really couldnt afford to add to it due to rarity and availability. While I sold off most of it over the years, I did recall that I had a couple of crates in storage. I had been hauling the crate around for over 20 years.
Scott asked me to take a couple of pics and send to him. There were three, but one jumped out at me immediately. I took pics and measurements and sent them off.
Scott fell in love the crate and told me to send it immediately!
1920s-30's American Fluid Company embalming fluid crate.
Full 8 4 slab of swamp ash. Rough exterior hides the goodness beneath.
Rough plane. So sad that this is the back of the bass. I should have set this aside for a different build. Still, the back is stunning !
Some chambering to ensure that the bass is not a 12 pound boat anchor.
Rough layout on the face of the bass. Scott said that it took him far too long to get the layout right so it popped.
All glued up.
Edge routed and final layout measurements.
Just a hint of stain for shade, while protecting the vibrance of the stamped advertising. My heart beat faster when Scott sent me this pic.
Pic of one of the hambers to show crate face thickness.
Oh my ! I couldn't ask for better results.
Just prior to final set up.
A number of months ago I stumbled across Grove Guitars (Link Removed) and the work that Scott was doing there. Basically I fell in love with his work. To me he captures a cross between Americana in its purest form, and a functioning piece of art.
I decided that I wanted to get something special and unique for my 50th birthday. Something with a ton a mojo right out of the gate.
I ran Scott down explaining that I would like to do a 51 P Crate Face build. The following issues were important to me:
I wanted a full swamp ash slab for the body.
It couldn't weigh a ton.
I wanted all that 51 P goodness without noise associated with single coils.
I wanted a reverse tele neck.
I wanted the neck to be extremely stable.
It had to be affordable.
During the course of the conversation, Scott was telling me which crates he had in stock. At that time, he mentioned an embalming crate, but then said that he was going to have to scrap it as the advertising logo was crap on it.
Many years ago, I used to collect anitque poison bottles. I left collecting, most notably because my collection was so extensive that I really couldnt afford to add to it due to rarity and availability. While I sold off most of it over the years, I did recall that I had a couple of crates in storage. I had been hauling the crate around for over 20 years.
Scott asked me to take a couple of pics and send to him. There were three, but one jumped out at me immediately. I took pics and measurements and sent them off.
Scott fell in love the crate and told me to send it immediately!
1920s-30's American Fluid Company embalming fluid crate.
Full 8 4 slab of swamp ash. Rough exterior hides the goodness beneath.
Rough plane. So sad that this is the back of the bass. I should have set this aside for a different build. Still, the back is stunning !
Some chambering to ensure that the bass is not a 12 pound boat anchor.
Rough layout on the face of the bass. Scott said that it took him far too long to get the layout right so it popped.
All glued up.
Edge routed and final layout measurements.
Just a hint of stain for shade, while protecting the vibrance of the stamped advertising. My heart beat faster when Scott sent me this pic.
Pic of one of the hambers to show crate face thickness.
Oh my ! I couldn't ask for better results.
Just prior to final set up.
It's the hat & beard that give the resemblance...
