Here's the official NBD post, though I've had it for a couple days now.
Specs:
-35" Scale
-1.625" nut
-9lbs, 6oz
-Moderate neck depth
-Body is Alder core with black laminates on either side and mahogany top and back.
-Quartersawn Maple neck
-Cocobolo Fingerboard
-Solid Maple Pickguard
-2 Hammon Darkstar pickups, both screwed directly to the body.
-Switchcraft pots and Orange Drop Cap (V/V/T)
-Rosewood knobs
-1980's Schaller Roller Bridge
-Hipshot Ultralight Tuners
-3+1 tuner arrangement to keep the overall length down.
Two bits of whimsy that I salvaged from other instruments:
-Triangular String Tree from Peavey T-40
-"Striker" neck plate from an 80's Kramer
It feels amazing, plays like butter and sounds like thunder, while still be clear as a bell. The pictures below show it generally well, but they don't do a good job of reflecting how warm and pretty the wood is. Here's one taken with a flash to get some of the grain to pop and show the contrasting woods.
This is the culmination of a nearly 20 year obsession with the Mudbucker Telebass style and over a Decade (see what I did there...) long obsession with the Darkstar pickups. This is the third instrument that borne these particular pickups which I purchased from Fred Hammond in 2007. The first was a
1980 T40, the second was my
Wal/Decade-inspired, T-40-necked Frankenbass and now I think they have found their final home.
The final impetus for building this was both to get a lower weight than the Frankenbass (which was over 11 pounds) and to bring it in line with the set of neck specs (35", P-Width-Nut, 4-string) that I have settled on as my personal preferences. I currently only own two basses (my First MIM P and a T-40) that don't have that combination.
Tim has mostly moved to doing "LDB" inlays done with crushed rocks or crystals on the headstocks, but I felt this design needed a decal so he accommodated that. One last feature I'm particularly happy with is the black laminate layers. Tim suggested these and I think they are nicely reminiscent of body binding which is another classic design aspect that I'm particularly fond of.
I'll be playing it on Sunday and the service is recorded and put on facebook so there will be a passable recording of it in a live situation available soon.
The only shortcoming from my expectations is that it is about a pound heavier than the 8-8.5 pound target weight but I'm going to play it for a while and see how I feel about it. It balances very well on a strap and doesn't feel too heavy, but 3 sets this Saturday night will be the real test.
One other mod I'm already considering is a series-parallel on a push-pull pot. It's by no means necessary as the tone of the bass seems to lack nothing. However, the pickups sound so good that I'm itching to know what they'd sound like in series. I've always put one in my Jazz basses and if I'd thought of it I would have already included it in this one.
Long story short, I'm very happy right now!
And the rest of the pics.
