Steve Burke submitted this story of his bass build to share this week. Here is some of what he had to say:
We just built this bass for Mr. Lenny Spickle from the band SNEW. It is a short scale (30.5″) neck-through bass. The body shape is based on the Burke Guitar “Rearview” model emphasizing the beauty of women!
It is built for ease of play due to its’ shorter scale and light weight. Those items combined with a low action, medium narrow frets, and DR High Beam medium light strings make it comfortable and fast.
The neck is a 3 layer laminate of Mahogany, Maple, Mahogany with a silky smooth satin finish. It has a maple fretboard with a 16” radius and the neck angle is 2 degrees below the body. The body wings are a laminate of Mahogany, Maple, Mahogany giving it a good 3-d look. The body is finished in nitrocellulose with super smooth satin finish.
The client’s signature is inlaid at the 12th fret and the truss rod cover is engraved with the client’s name. It has a large electronics cavity to reduce weight and the cavity cover is Bocote wood.
Hardware includes a dual truss rod, black Hipshot Bridge, black Gotoh Tuners, black strap buttons and a black barrel jack.
The electronics are passive Bartolini J-Bass inline pickups set for 2 volumes (Bridge and Neck) and 1 tone.
It was a real joy for me when the client first saw it, picked it up, plugged it in, and started playing. Once he got it home, he emailed me “I just hooked it up to my MarkBass rig, plays and sounds amazing!”
So, what do you think of Nicolas’ rig? BTW – If you’re going to comment, whether it be positive or negative, please keep it constructive! We don’t approve of haters. [Comment below]
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Where’s the pics?
Check it out. The pics are up now
It’s got some great looks, though I feel that some more attention to detail would move this instrument into another league. As the foundations are already here. By this I mean: keeping the bevel on the body the same and not just sanding it ‘about the same’. It gives an uneven finish to the body, and detracts from the curves. I also notice that the brass screws on the truss-rod cover appear to be not quite straight – there is a shadow showing they are not countersunk into the cover.
I hope the builder takes this criticism in the spirit that is intended. The devil is in the details. It really is.
Nice bass, love the short scale and low action…..
I love the selection of woods, the hardware , and pup choices. Neck through is always a plus and with the short scale not too heavy. The headstock shape is sort of a flattened out violin scroll which I like. Would love to see some 32″ medium scales……Nice work1
Thanks for the input and comments
As Will said, the “details “ will bring your instrument to the next level. My suggestion is to work on the details such as countersink your screw holes with a tapered reamer. Use oval head screws always. Make templates to your shape then route the objects.
Don’t rush the details such as placement of the strap buttons and the controls.
Make the instrument symmetrical with smooth lines and even bevels or round overs. Thanks for showing the instrument.
A special thanks to Steve Burke and Burke Guitars. It was an absolute pleasure working with you. Can’t thank you enough for this beautiful lady. True professionals and craftsman. SNEWYOU!