TRUE CUSTOM builders? Any left?

[rojo412]

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The iteration I liked best in terms of design/aesthetic was the Status version. Mine would have this aesthetic exactly, built as follows:

• Light Ash 2-pc body (since most CNC's out there don't have this wide a table)
• Deep-pocket bolt-on maple neck w/ ebony FB
• 35" scale tuned B-E-A-D
• EMG 35DC pups w/ Darkglass pre
• Hipshot hardware & brass nut
• Gloss black body, satin black neck
• I have some ideas on nut / last fret width as well as radius, but will likely defer to the builder's recommendations here.
• Super thin frets
• As cool as they are, probably wouldn't go with the Roman Numeral inlays tho...

Honestly, none of this is terribly difficult. And a small time, one-off builder would definitely be a great source for this type of build. When you look to the more established companies, you do see a lot of uniformity and are typically boxed into certain shapes. Typically, those companies have built a brand that they'd like to maintain.
But a small builder who knows their stuff would be able to do this relatively easily.

- Looking at the body, you'd need a fairly normal size of wood to play with. It's just a matter of gluing it up to fit that shape.
- The body template would be easy to do with MDF.
- Necks are necks, in essence. Nothing about the specs you request is hard to make in a neck.
- Most of the parts you named are relatively easy to locate. And the pickup cavities are an industry standard.

As was mentioned, Luthier's Corner has a slew of very talented people that could do this. You may want to check there.
But if you're after a "bigger named company" to do it, I'd imagine the difficulty level rises.

 

[fauxtoe]

HUGE shout out for AC Guitars (www.acguitars.co.uk) here, they truly are a proper custom bass builder.

Alan, the man behind them does everything, by hand, himself and he has a massive array of custom options and not relying on CNC machinery, he can tweak, nip and tuck to your hearts desire.
There's a big choice of shapes, 10 standard designs, including single cut and more traditional styles, plus he's happy to build anything from his discontinued designs.
Two headstock styles, angles, or paddle (think Fender) and headless options on most shapes, plus he'll pretty much build any scale length, I recently took delivery of a 26.5" six string bass, and he'd gone up to 35" and everything in between.

An insane amount of wood options, including acrylic impregnated and resin treated woods, ACG have been using these for years, the market is kind of catching up now.
Neck construction, neck joint, fingerboard options, blocks, binding etc, all possible as each instrument is build by hand, not by machine.
Lots of pickup options, from traditional sounding, to more modern, all customisable as they are hand wound per bass by Aaron Armstrong, plus there's the Multi Coil MC pickups too.
Finally, there's also a great choice for preamps too, all built by the legendary John East, including the ACG Filter preamps, which as far as I know are now only available WITH an ACG bass.

The limited options you mention are almost always down to the use of CNC in the build process, even the slightest tweak requires a new template which takes time and can add considerable cost to a one off build. These guys aren't building inferior basses, but they are offering less choice and therefore less chance of getting exactly what you want/need. This certainly is not the case with AC Guitars

Here's some examples of the range available, I don't think anyone could argue there isn't a lot of variety and customisation on show here...

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Here's mine too...

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Cheers,
Eude

Just wanted to throw a +1 for Alan's work. I currently have a build in progress with him, and for what you get for the price he's hard to beat. He has beautiful designs, a plethora of wood and options, and available proprietary electronics and pickups. Unless you're one of the big boys (Fender, Gibson, Ernie Ball, etc) who make their own stuff, it's becoming few and far between for small builders to have invested themselves into the design process for the pickups and preamp to the point that their name is actually on it. I think that says A LOT for being a true custom bass. Of course he has his own body and neck shapes that he's carefully crafted, because it's a lot easier to win over a new customer with a completed design. Though, I'm sure if you paid him enough the sky becomes the limit (at least within his ability).

 

[nick333]

Le Fay Bass