{"id":7670,"date":"2015-08-19T11:57:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T16:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/?p=7670"},"modified":"2015-08-19T11:58:28","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T16:58:28","slug":"bass-of-the-week-complicated-precision-bass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/bass-of-the-week\/bass-of-the-week-complicated-precision-bass.html","title":{"rendered":"[Bass of the Week] "Complicated" Precision Bass"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week’s feature bass was described as nothing more than a ‘Custom P Bass’, with an introductory description of, “It’s complicated. I used a team of artists for different components or finish work. I assembled, wired and adjusted.”<\/p>\n

Owner\/builder Rob writes:<\/p>\n

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Not too long ago, I embarked on building a Jazz style 5 string bass that used Ancient Kauri for the body. The story and pictures of this build are available on Best Bass Gear’s site<\/a>. Every time that bass came out of its case it got noticed and I end up having to tell the story of what that incredible wood used in the body is…. it is called Ancient Kauri because it has been carbon 14 dated at 50,000 years old. Really. Woods Hole and University of Kansas say 48,000 to 50,000 years plus. So, let\u2019s just say 50,000. <\/p>\n

The fellow that I bought the original billet from is Jordan Grunow, up at AncientWood in Ashland Wisconsin, and after the original build, we\u2019ve become friends. Why this is important is because we have talked often about our similar tastes in music, scotch and love of the outdoors, pickups, wood resonance and build properties. Over time, I told him that I might be interested some day in building a similar bass… but this time a 5 string P bass. About a month later he emailed me that he had just gotten a billet out of the drying kiln and that it not only had a figure that would make my jaw drop, but that as he said \u201chad the knock\u201d… a great resonance that would work well for my project. I have come to appreciate this guy’s judgement and honesty, and I bought it sight unseen. <\/p>\n

When it arrived, it indeed was all that and more, and I set to dreaming the next bass into reality. What I decided to do is to use the same team and commission them in the same ways…. Thanks to Rob Stone out at USA Custom. I guess that they now have as much or more CNC experience with this wood as anyone. They cut the body for me. And I also commissioned a 5 string neck out of AAA Birdseye Maple with an Ebony fingerboard. Rob emailed me a couple of weeks later with a picture of the wood that he had especially picked for the project. He was as excited as I was. I had the neck sent out to Paul Bordeaux for Paua oval inlays. Paul is a master and has done incredible work that you can see on his website. <\/p>\n

The material and the proportions are superb. After sanding and other prep on the body, I took it to my favorite custom motorcycle spray booth at Motorcycle Performance, and had the Ninjette of the booth (who holds a UW Madison Fine Arts degree) work her meticulous magic. Jacki is largely responsible for the pop and florescence inherent in this magical wood figure coming to life. <\/p>\n

Nordstrand<\/a> provided the 5 string precision pickup and the 3 band preamp<\/a>. The set up is volume with a pull by pass option, and bass, treble and a two way shelved midrange. I can’t say enough good about this gear. I’ve owned or played almost everything, and it is simply at the top. I love the sound of this pickup just by itself.. and as they claim, it really does harken back to the golden age of P basses…. punchy, deep and when you dig in, that hollow grind that makes the bass get down and growl. With that preamp, you can get very close to an old Thunderbird or a Rick. To hear it is to love it. <\/p>\n

To be honest, I really didn\u2019t like the knobs on my first build. So I looked all over for someone who built better knobs. Out pops Greg Savage over at Savage Guitar. He not only builds great guitars, but has a stunning array of custom knob options. I talked to him, and sent him some Kauri to test on his lathe. He said he could do the project, and asked what I\u2019d like. Just a simple barrel shape I said, it\u2019s all about the wood…. what do you want as a cap? Greg said…. what do you have?….well, ebony, maple…and he named about a half dozen other woods and then he said, \u201cI also have some fossilized Wooly Mammoth Ivory from Siberia\u201d. What could be better on a bass made of wood from the Ice Age? I asked what colors he had, as I had read about the tusks they are finding in the melting permafrost in Siberia….. he said he had some white somewhere. He also suggested a thin ebony layer between the Kauri and the Ivory. Absolutely, I said. I have included some pictures of the knobs themselves. Esthetically, they are awesome. But when you look at the bass, they add a certain spooky element to the ax when you know the history of the material in front of you. 50,000 year old wood, and Wooly Mammoth Ivory that most likely is around 30,000 years old give or take. <\/p>\n

It’s been great fun building this bass. It takes a while for all the elements to get done and to arrive, and then there are always Snafus… like anything. But all worth it. Definitely. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Well done!<\/p>\n

Want YOUR<\/i> bass to be featured for Bass of the Week?
Submit yours now using our easy web form<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week’s feature bass was described as nothing more than a ‘Custom P Bass’, with an introductory description of, “It’s complicated. I used a team of artists for different components or finish work. I assembled, wired and adjusted.” Owner\/builder Rob writes: Not too long ago, I embarked on building a Jazz style 5 string bass … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[58],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}