Tom Marceau Short-Scale Singlecut 31"

[pasco jacorius]

Hello ,

I wanted to share a few pictures of my next bass made by French luthier Tom Marceau.
He is known for the Lucky Peterson signature guitar, and for his HF (Hadrien Feraud)bass , which is not really a signature but mostly a partership with Mr Feraud. He's also made an electric harp (yep !) for Alan Stivell !

He's based in France but if you ever want to work with him he's very open minded and ready to export internationally. (I know it , I live in the caribbean !)

You can find his website on google (marceau guitars) , he told me he's working on the new website which will also be in english. (and no I'm not paid, I'm just a customer !!)

Here are the specs :

Body : Mahogany
Top and back : Quilted/flame/spalted maple (yeah all of that)
Neck : 9 pieces
Maple with rosewood stripes
Fingerboard: ebony

Hardware : Hipshot (17 mm bridge)

The pics :

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[pasco jacorius]

Or maybe I should have posted this somewhere else...

 

[pilotjones]

No, this is the right place for it. It's just early saturday morning in the western hemisphere, responses don't come that quickly -- this is not tumblr or reddit with one-second reaction times.


Beautiful maple sets.

What's up with the truss rod grooves with interruptions in the middle? My guess is that he has a limited travel on the CNC, and did it in two operations, to be united later by hand maybe? But if so, the two ops could have overlapped to eliminate the need for hand chisel work.

 

[pasco jacorius]

Oh no I was just wondering if it was the right place , I know I won't have instant answers ( plus I live in the caribbean , not too far from the U.S).

In point of fact he always uses guitar truss rods because of the short scale and adds 2 little carbon rods closer to the head to strengthen the neck and it works perfectly on his other short scale models.

Edit : The fingerboard is ready for the binding :

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[lbridenstine]

That maple looks really great. Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[FBB Custom]

What's up with the truss rod grooves with interruptions in the middle? My guess is that he has a limited travel on the CNC, and did it in two operations, to be united later by hand maybe? But if so, the two ops could have overlapped to eliminate the need for hand chisel work.

Looks like the outer routes near the body join are for truss rods, the middle route is one long carbon fiber rod, then he adds additional short rods near the headstock.

 

[pasco jacorius]

This is it !

 

[pasco jacorius]

Maybe you'd like to see a few pics of the fingerboard now that the binding is done ? This is ebony (2mm) with a 0.6mm maple stripe(and my initials at the 12th fret ) ) :

 

[whodatpat]

I subscribed just to see how this truss rod system works. All I have ever done is the simple Fender style skunk stripe one. This looks like it will be quite sturdy and adjustable when its all done.

And of course the rest of the build looks amazing too.

 

[pasco jacorius]

Maybe I could add a few other pics ?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Blue Blood]

Nice build!

 

[natw42]

Looks great! The TR adjusters hidden under the fretboard is pretty darn clever. Is it using magnets to hold the cover in place?

 

[pasco jacorius]

Yep , Mr Marceau uses magnets for the truss rod cover ! It's almost invisible!

 

[Hopkins]

CNC machines are the devil. I could never be that perfect by hand. Great build man.

 

[joeyl]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Looks pretty cool, first time I see double wheel-style adjusters on a neck

 

[pasco jacorius]

CNC machines are the devil. I could never be that perfect by hand. Great build man.

Yes , CNC when used properly is just another great tool.

 

[Jensby design]

Yes , CNC when used properly is just another great tool.

Nope, CNCs are the devil but through prayer and fasting and giving this machine to me we can exercise this demon and free you from your tribulations.
__________________
damn kids and their CNC routers

 

[Thumpin_P]

Subbed!!! Great looking build! Love the truss rod adjustment!

 

[bkbirge]

That's the cleanest woodshop I've ever seen.

 

[pasco jacorius]

Nope, CNCs are the devil but through prayer and fasting and giving this machine to me we can exercise this demon and free you from your tribulations.
__________________
damn kids and their CNC routers

He gave me a few more pics today :

Prepping the walnut/maple veneers that go under the fretboard and also the fingerboard (with the big maple wedge to maintain the whole thing , machined to fit the radius) :

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Adjusting neck and headstock thickness (it's gonna be 19mm at the first fret):

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

And this one was sent to test my patience

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]