[Bass of the Week] Dudacus Tiberius 5

See the business listing for this bass builder here

This week’s feature bass is a Rickenbacker inspired 5-string.

Builder Steven Baxter writes:

This Tiberius-5 bass was built by Steven Baxter the founder of Dudacus Custom Basses located in Cambridge, MA. Steven has been involved in the greater Boston music scene and making his own instruments for 30 years.

The inspiration for the Tiberius harkens back to the 1960’s when Japanese guitars were coming into the U.S. as an alternative to the expensive American and European instruments introducing different shapes and styles than a Fender or Gibson. Also Baldwin and Vox were influential as well.

The Tiberius has a 2 piece 1 3/8” chambered mahogany body with a 1/8” flamed maple top. The mahogany produces a warmer tone not unlike the resonance of a Les Paul. Chambering lightens the instrument considerably without sacrificing tone. The hounds tooth binding is actually a wooden purfling mainly used for acoustic guitars but I felt it really sets the bass apart from the normal white or black plastic bindings found on most guitars. The neck is a maple bolt on with 2 stiffening rods, a 2-way adjustable truss rod, and an ebony fret board with medium frets and mother of pearl block markers. The neck has a slim shape for ease of playability with a 4 degree tilt back at the peg head to eliminate the need for any string retainers. The hardware consists of lightweight mini tuners, chrome strap buttons, and a fully adjustable chrome Schaller bridge. A separate battery compartment is located on the back so unscrewing a plastic plate isn’t necessary every time you need to change out the battery.

The pickups are 2 Bartolini MM style humbuckers running through an Aguilar OBP3 preamp.

The controls consist of 1 neck pickup vol. p/p for active or passive modes, 1 bridge pickup vol. knob, 1 mid. p/p boost knob, 1 bass/treble tone stack knob, and a 3 position toggle pickup selector switch. I felt that using this pickup/preamp combination can cover pretty much any kind of bass sound that the gig requires while retaining unbelievable tonal response. The entire control cavity and the reverse side of the pick guard are lined with copper foil to eliminate outside RF interference. The finish is a translucent cherry burst on the front and a red sparkle “starlite”(Appian red”)finish on the back under a polished clear coat. Each bass is hand crafted in the Cambridge shop.

It takes about 3 weeks to build a Tiberius from start to finish.

Well done, Steven!

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