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The Über-M - fretless

miziomix

Über on my mind
Commercial User
Sep 28, 2009
1,675
368
Kuala Lumpur.
www.mubcustom.com
Disclosures
Bass builder @ MüB.
And now, for something completely different...

As the title says, this is not a Über-Jay. It is a new model expanding the Über label.

I have had this design sitting in the drawer, waiting for the right build to come along. I thank the future owner for giving me such a great opportunity.

Much like the Ü-Jay is a very personal take on bass design overall and specifically on the Fender J, this one kicks off from the iconic M in bass history ;)

The overall design is true to the underlining Über concept - hybrid headless, light and ergonomic basses.

The future owner is a London based bassist with southern Mediterranean roots. He provided the top wood, which has been in his family for the longest time.

It's a spectacular, gorgeous, jaw dropping stunning Mediterranean Olivewood :eek:

We have worked on specs and various ideas over the last few months. The key point is to let the Olivewood run the show and everything else to complement it.

Here's the shortlist.

34" scale; 4 strings; unlined fretless; 1 p-up in MM position; 2 band eq; slightly chambered body; 2 octave FB;
12" radius; 19mm string spacing.

Health warning. The section below contains serious wood porn and is not recommended for the faint hearted.

Top set.

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The billet was originally cut to a manageable size - that is, for me to travel with it ;) I managed to harvest three sets. That's too bad, as we need to choose only one.

Which one would you pick?

#1

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#2

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#3

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Yeah... I know... I should make a triplet ;)

Next up, the body.

PC110162-1.jpg


What looks like Swamp Ash is instead an Asian wood called - among the many names - Semangkok, Blooming Seed. The small piece sitting onto it is a Swamp Ash scrap.

It's slightly more dense and heavier than SA. The overall texture has a subtle silky sheen. It machines nicely and it's often used for high end furniture, paneling and interior design. And it's beautiful ;)

Neck and FB.

Zericote on Wenge. Nuff said :)

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Clear lacquer finish. Oil finish on the FB.

These are the basics. As usual, I'm counting on serendipitous moments.

The name the owner has chosen for his bass is Aphrodite. Sexay :)

Thank you for reading this far.

:bassist:
 
"Which one would you pick?"

I like No.1 because it's the most symmetrical, but I tend to be picky about that sort of thing. Of course it all depends on the body shape. It looks as if you have some 'shakes' to fill or work round in all three.

Good to see you've started a new one. I found your others some of the most interesting threads on this forum. In fact I'd like to make my next bass a hybrid headless but I've already bought the hardware for conventional tuners and bridges.:(
 
Thank you! You guys are too kind :D

#1 is growing on me. I'm not sure yet what the future owner will decide. But they're all great to me. I would build a bass with any of those sets in a heartbeat. In fact, I will ;)

Indeed, those in the top center area are small cracks. I will fill them with saw dust.
Most of them however might fall either outside the body shape or inside the neck area.

Tomorrow I'll cut the Wenge and glue both body and neck.

BTW, I already had the first serendipity moment... I' ll post some pictures tomorrow ;)
 
I like both number 1 and 3 for the more even mix of lighter and darker tones. Not personally concerned about perfect symmetry, since that mainly shows up at the seam and bridge and pickups will distract from that.

Automatic sub for any project by you Maurizio...Keep 'em coming!
 
Thank you!

and....


Number 2 it is :)

IMG_1951_2.jpg


Well... not an easy one I must say. They're all beautiful and each one would make a great top. So how does one choose?

The owner just wrote to me: I lost some sleep over it.. they're both gorgeous but i think that top number two is more 'olive'. what do you think? Golden/yellow is what I crave for this bass and top number two is exactly that.

Cannot argue with such a focused, single minded POV. I'm gonna like this build :D

Today I sliced and glued the body and the back laminate. Tomorrow I will glue both the Olivewood top and the Blackwood laminate set for the back accent line.

IMG_1968_2.jpg


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Thanks for being part of this :bassist: