The Twins, aka "Friendship BASS-lets"

I'll preface this with the story, feel free to skip down if you're just into the sawdust production...

A while back, I ended up building a sort of "Musicman Cutlass I" tribute for myself. It started as just putting a Status neck on a US SUB Ray, but it became the catalyst for my starting to build anything at all when I decided to buy ash and copy the body.
That was a great bass and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it kind of fell by the wayside with my affinity for basses of the 5 string variety.
That said, I have an 89 Ray 5 that is basically my muse. But I wasn't about to take that apart for a Status neck project because it stands on its own as a real winner. I just figured some day I'll make a 5 string body for a Status neck.

After chatting with my BBFF @rogerbmiller a short time ago about the topic, he proposed doing a dual build when the idea produced enough GAS in him to boil over. He said he'd order the necks and have them shipped, if I was ready to get serious.
My middle name is SERIOUS! (actually, it's CHARLES, if you're keeping track or trying to steal my identity)
Roger is serious, too:



So the process began with some ideas. We started talking about the various different options and inspirations to use in the design. Not wanting this to be a "copy" or "tribute" in any way, we wanted this to really kind of best the genuine article in a number of ways. And since it was using a Status neck, kind of thinking about that aesthetic as well.

For woods, the idea was a mahogany back with a nice top. And we are both pretty wild about BIRDSEYE, so that became the general plan: chambered mahogany, accent line, birdseye top.

There was a false start on the body shape because we added "Wal" into the mix, as that was a sweet bass to incorporate. However, it became clear that it was too much of a good thing and detracted from this idea. So that shape will be used later.

The second design I drew up was this, a somewhat "redux" of a bass I built for him before:




We both dug it, so the next move was getting the wood.
Earlier, I ended up ordering tops from Keim Lumber, already bookmatched and sanded to thickness.



But when I requested a quote on mahogany more recently, I didn't hear back... so I drove down and picked some out in person (turns out, my inside guy just had a baby, so congrats to him!).
Found a good board of 8/4 African mahogany that was light and pretty.


Managed to resaw it to proper thickness (with no waste on those thin pieces for later projects):



Plotted the blanks, cut and jointered edges, then glued up:


Rough cut them once dried, then used the template to do the full shape:


And milled out the chambers:



And that's where I stopped for today.

The accent veneer for me will be red, Roger's is black. I'm waiting for the red to show up. Pickups and preamps are ordered, but no word yet from them. It's been tough getting supplies at points lately, but I'm sure it'll be right on time, as usual.

So far, these things are LIGHT!!!!

 

Do I even need to quote Winston Wolf on this response?

 

I’m glad Keim is 90 minutes away for that reason as well...
But they will actually deliver here for free, so I’m in trouble.

 

Yeah, and that's just the insides!

 

Better details of the tops: