OK, a bit of back story.
I read a review of Rob Allen's Mouse basses in Bass Player Magazine many years ago (maybe one of you remembers when that was?) and thought that it sounded like an amazing instrument. I went to his website and saw the gorgeous work he has done, and I began dreaming of one day calling Rob and asking him to build me a custom bass. Well, I could not come up with the money, and then Rob stopped taking custom orders. Drat, my dream of ordering up a koa-wood topped, ebony fingerboard, fretboard extension thumb rest, and F-hole was dashed.
I resigned myself to never finding one. Then, this appeared in the TB classifieds:
Of course, I still was low on funds, but I managed to make a deal for all my discretionary ducats. It came in just over a week ago, when I was horribly sick, so thus the long delay in posting.
It's beautiful. The koa wood top has fantastic grain patterns, and I find the thumb rest extension to be useful for keeping my thumb from damping the vibrations of the top (or for digging a hole with my nail).
The fingerboard has lines of orangy-red in the ebony, and the fretlines seem to be thin maple veneers.
It has a drop-d tuner on the E string, which I would not have ordered, but I may try to find a way to use it. I was extra tickled when I saw the purple threads on the LaBella tape wound strings. Purple is the favorite color in our house.
The back is a slightly honeyed finish that looks great, and gives the neck a fast and clean feel under than hand.
The tone is as close to an upright as I've heard in an electric bass guitar, and I'm still trying to find how to make it sing the best.
My skills are not worthy of this fine instrument, but at least I'm having fun coaxing what I can out of it!
Big question for the community: What strap do you think would look absolutely perfect on this bass?
I read a review of Rob Allen's Mouse basses in Bass Player Magazine many years ago (maybe one of you remembers when that was?) and thought that it sounded like an amazing instrument. I went to his website and saw the gorgeous work he has done, and I began dreaming of one day calling Rob and asking him to build me a custom bass. Well, I could not come up with the money, and then Rob stopped taking custom orders. Drat, my dream of ordering up a koa-wood topped, ebony fingerboard, fretboard extension thumb rest, and F-hole was dashed.
I resigned myself to never finding one. Then, this appeared in the TB classifieds:
Of course, I still was low on funds, but I managed to make a deal for all my discretionary ducats. It came in just over a week ago, when I was horribly sick, so thus the long delay in posting.
It's beautiful. The koa wood top has fantastic grain patterns, and I find the thumb rest extension to be useful for keeping my thumb from damping the vibrations of the top (or for digging a hole with my nail).
The fingerboard has lines of orangy-red in the ebony, and the fretlines seem to be thin maple veneers.
It has a drop-d tuner on the E string, which I would not have ordered, but I may try to find a way to use it. I was extra tickled when I saw the purple threads on the LaBella tape wound strings. Purple is the favorite color in our house.
The back is a slightly honeyed finish that looks great, and gives the neck a fast and clean feel under than hand.
The tone is as close to an upright as I've heard in an electric bass guitar, and I'm still trying to find how to make it sing the best.
My skills are not worthy of this fine instrument, but at least I'm having fun coaxing what I can out of it!
Big question for the community: What strap do you think would look absolutely perfect on this bass?
