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This week’s bass guitar of the week is a 5-string short scale! Cool!
Builder Joe Kruse from MBJ Guitars writes:
Build a short scale 5 string? Why not?!
My goal with this instrument was to build something compact and utilitarian while still retaining an air of elegance.
Avoiding unnecessary additions allowed me to focus on creating a final product that was both free of distractions and unique at the same time.
I’ve always loved working with mahogany, so I selected a simple 1 piece Honduran mahogany body and neck with a macassar ebony fingerboard.
Hipshot hardware and a Kent Armstrong hand-wound MM pickup paired with an EMG exb control make it both extremely functional and sturdy for a lifetime of use.
Design and functionality has always been the primary goal for each instrument I create. Looks are secondary (although I think she’s a looker too!)
The balance, weight, neck placement/angle and ergonomics allow the instrument to disappear in your hands whether you’re standing or sitting.
Hand carving the entire bass allows me to channel some old-school craft while providing the opportunity to pour a little more of my soul into each one. Such an intimate understanding of the wood lets the bass speak for itself.
It truly has a voice of its own.
Well done, Joe!
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Nice looking guitar!
30″ ? Looks nice.
Scale length?
32″
Very nice and certainly uniquely made. A+
Looks like a Birdsong.
Awesome! I like that you put the tuners for the two heaviest strings by themselves on the headstock. Would it make sense to make a string-through the body version in the future?
Sound byte!!!!!
Wow. One word just about says it all
How much?
Stunning, is there a way to get building costs?
Instruments start at $3k
Ill take one in a fretless
Beautiful. Nice to see basses like this in shorter scales.
Absolutely gorgeous! I love everything about it! ‘Nuff said.
This bass is such a work of art, form & function to be sure I want one please 🙂
VERY COOL! Love the head stock and the pick guard especially!
Very cool. I love the headstock!