See Jeff’s business listing here
The feature bass this week comes from a builder that was inspired by videos from Carl Thompson.
Builder Jeff Keverline writes:
Ever since I became a Les Claypool fan back in high school, I have wanted a Carl Thompson bass. I love the way they look and sound. Carl took the design of the bass guitar to a whole new level with his clever heel block that angles the neck back, creating a more natural playing position for the fretting hand; this, along with attention to details such as balance and weight, not to mention the stunning beauty of his instruments, have made his basses some of the most sought after in the world.
I stumbled across Carl’s YouTube channel about a year ago and was fascinated by his discussions about the history of electric guitars and basses. He is a very passionate, yet humble, down to earth person who has some very inspirational ideas about life in general. One of his discussions involves the gift of natural talent that some people are born with. Carl believes that the best thing one can do if they have such a gift is to share it, rather than selfishly keep it as a “Trade Secret”.
Building my own bass guitar has been something I have wanted to do for years, and after watching Carl’s videos, I decided to give it a shot. A lot of time was spent taking notes as I watched Carl’s videos and researched luthiery online.
I based my plans on Les Claypool’s main 4 string 32” scale bass. Mine is a 34” scale, and I used claro walnut, flame maple, and padauk. The electronics are all Aguilar, with their MM pickup through an OBP II preamp powered by 9v, with stacked bass/treble, volume, and active/passive switch. I started the build early last October and completed it today as I write this. Being my first build, I learned a lot, experienced some mishaps, and made some inevitable beginner’s mistakes along the way. The biggest mishap was a large chunk being torn out of the back of the body from the top stripe while thickness planing. Fortunately, I was able to pull off routing out the stripe to 1/8” deep and then inlaying replacement wood. The repair is visible if one looks closely, but overall; it doesn’t look half-bad!
The bass is very comfortable to play indeed. Carl’s heel block design, as well as the body shape and the high mounted rear strap button make playing feel more natural, whether sitting or standing. There is no neck dive and the instrument balances perfectly. The 1-3/16” thickness of the body allows the use of denser woods without creating a ridiculously heavy instrument. This one weighs 8.2 lbs. The Tru-oil finish really brings out the natural colors of the woods.
The Aguilar MM pickup and OBP II preamp, combined with the placement of the pickup in the “sweet spot” result in thundering lows that are not muddy, mids that will cut through the mix, and a mellow high end that is not harsh.
I would like to give special thanks to Carl Thompson for sharing his knowledge through his YouTube channel. Thank you for sharing your gift Carl!
Well done!
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[Photo Credit: fivetwelvestudios]
Wow, you are truly gifted, though gifted usually means an incredible amount of hard work!! Great bass!!
Congratulations!!!! excelent work, can you share where you buy your timber?
Great job.
Just so amazing! I don’t know if I can handle how good your second one will be…
Seriously fantastic job.
Wow!! Would like to see that with a brass nut. Would play that bad boy every day none the less!!
Steven, I get my wood from Woodcraft. They have stores all over the country, including here in the Austin, TX area.
Thanks everyone for the compliments!
OMG……Where can i buy one!!!??
Unfreaking believable! But……..
How much?????
Are you taking orders?
My next build will go up for sale once I finish it, though it will look nothing like this one. I will be going for something more original. I’m very hesitant to take orders, as I have seen far too many other builders do this and end up overwhelmed and in trouble when they bite off more than they can chew. I want to be able to take my time with these builds so they remain enjoyable projects, and end up being high quality, eye catching pieces of functional art rather than something slapped together while under pressure. As far as cost goes, I will have to give it some thought. I also will keep records of the materials cost and the time I put into the next build so I have a better idea of what the price should be. I will be documenting my builds on talkbass.com.
Great work, mate! I have not heard about the Carl Thompson heel block before……am intrigued. What is it all about?
Carl’s heel block design came into being by accident. While building his first bass, he chiseled the neck pocket too deep. Carl took a piece of wood and glued it to the back of the neck heel to correct this problem, but while doing so, got the clever idea of tapering the block. The result was the neck angled back from the body, (as opposed to staying parallel with the body) improving playability.
SWEET!
I’m totally blown away…
Very very nice work, wood choices and design. Awesome