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[Bass of the Week] Brian Eastwood Detroit

See the business listing for this bass builder here

The feature bass for this week proves that even when you have a nickel allergy (which is a very real thing,) you can still enjoy the bass when you get the right one built for you.

The owner of this instrument, Matt, had Brian Eastwood Guitars (facebook.com/brianeastwoodguitars) build this bass for him, and this is the story of the build.

After developing a nickel allergy, most basses became very uncomfortable to play for me.  I was quite fortunate to have Brian’s son Michael playing guitar in my band, so I commissioned a bass from them, as a project for Michael, Brian’s apprentice. I decided to go for a slightly modified version of the body shape I helped design from the aluminium guitars Michael is currently making, but I definitely wanted it made out of wood. I was intrigued by single cutaway designs at the time however, the design looks best with the upper horn so instead we decided to sink the neck into the body further than normal, and carve back the lower horn. The result is the amazing sustain and tone from a single cutaway bass with the looks of a double cutaway! (An added bonus is that it is 2mm shorter than a standard P bass overall!)

The play-ability of five strings has always felt lacking in my experience. Going from the wide, easy playing string spacing of a four string to a tighter spaced five string made it more difficult to play for me, especially in slap styles. So I went for the widest neck/bridge spacing I could get away with without feeling monstrous (19mm at the bridge to 13mm at the nut). It’s certainly big, but feels perfect to me!

I was also having trouble with lack-luster low B strings, so I specified an extra long scale, as well as a brass nut to help to clear up the low end.
A friend recommended the John east preamps, so I picked up a J-retro 01, and paired it with two seymour duncan MM Alnico pickups, as well as a series/split/parallel switch for each. It’s definitely the most versatile bass I’ve ever played, and the best sounding.

It’s very much unlike any bass Brian has made before, being very modern in design. Some of the specs include:

5 String, 35″ Extra Long Scale
Wide Flamed Maple/Ebony Neck with Luminlay Glow in the Dark Dot Markers
One Piece Swamp Ash Body
Seymour Duncan MM Pickups
John East J-retro 01 Preamp with Series/Split/Parallel for Each Pickup
Schaller BM Carbon Tuners
Schaller 3D Bridge
Recessed Dunlop Strap Locks
Brass Nut and Nickel Free Fretwire

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Well done!

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16 thoughts on “[Bass of the Week] Brian Eastwood Detroit”

  1. Small hardware & parts (toggles, fasteners, pickguard screws) are often advertised as “chrome plated” when they are in fact “nickel plated”. For example, mini-toggles may have chrome bats, but the threaded bushing and fasteners are nickel-plated. On top of this, many salespeople are unable to distinguish the two metals, even during in-hand inspections. Since this is an important health issue, all of these parts call for a close look, since the allergic player will be touching them.

    Reply
  2. Although these may never be touched by the player’s fingers, the Switchcraft SC-11 output jack and hex nut shown in the closeup-photo above are 100% nickel-plated. This is the only way Switchcraft makes these parts. Hope this helps! From a fellow allergy sufferer…

    Reply
      • A good “neutral” solution for small parts such as the #6 pickguard screws is stainless steel. These look very much like chrome – maybe a little “bluer” – but they never chip or corrode, which is nice.

        Clear coating on parts likely to be touched is a great idea! For convenience on really tiny parts, possibly dab on a little clear nail polish – this stuff seems to dry really hard and durable. And, since I forgot to mention it…. what a gorgeous bass! Who says there’s no new body shapes out there? Looks super-comfortable, too. Congrats!

        Reply
    • I have strong fingers 🙂 In theory you should only press hard enough to make solid contact with the frets, although tension isn’t a problem for me, it is definitely much more than a jazz bass 🙂

      Reply
    • Thank you man 🙂 It plays incredible, and don’t be! Now it’s a non-issue! (As long as I don’t borrow anyone’s bass that is 😉 )

      Reply
    • Thank you! The spacing is SO much better than any bass I’ve played, incredibly comfortable – although maybe not for others with smaller hands 🙂 I’m actually recording with it at the moment with my band, I’ll be sure to post a link to it if the admins allow 🙂

      Reply

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