Thanks! Just got word from Cliff that it should be finished in two weeks! Woohoo!
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Custom Bass Build with Cliff Bordwell
- Thread starter mflatau
- Start date
Another tasty pic from Cliff today. I absolutely love what's going on here. The shaping on the back of the body is so inviting. The heel accent with more purple heart wood to match the accent line between the top and the body. I... CAN'T... WAIT...
And the additional black veneers with the black hardware, even! (Had to double-check that you weren't using chrome...)
It's all the little details pulling the whole thing together that really do it for me...
Whoa, that's a glued-in (set) neck? Really impressive the way he joins the upper (non-cutaway) horn to the neck and makes it look like a neck-thru.
Yes, it is a set neck. Although, Cliff brings the neck pretty deep into the body of the bass. You can see on a previous pic with the pickup routing that the purple heart wood from the neck layup extends through the body past the first pickup. That neck pocket has always been one of my favorite things about Cliff's basses. My current CB SC has bloodwood accent in the heel with bloodwood fretboard and knobs. It's stunning! Also, it has sustain for days! Cliff built that one 10 years ago... I'm pretty anxious to see how it compares to the new one!
Funny, with a new bass being built for you, I would have thought you'd be a bit more excited. LOL
"Excited" doesn't even come close to describing what's going on in my head! LOL! There is so much anticipation and anxiety for the first time I get to put this puppy in my hands. How will that first note resonate? Will I regret any of my choices (pickups, electronics, body wood, shape, etc)? Or, when I strap it on and start to play, will it feel like "home"? Seeing my vision come into existence after the culmination of nearly 10 months of design, research, discussions, and decisions is pretty surreal... Everything tells me it's going to be amazing. Every picture makes me absolutely love my decision to work with Cliff on this build. But it all comes down to that first note...Funny, with a new bass being built for you, I would have thought you'd be a bit more excited. LOL
It is an incredibly exciting feeling to be watching your vision being turned into reality by a skilled artist and craftsman.
Also incredibly addictive, too, since every one of those "fork in the road" decisions where you had several really appealing choices (how many strings? fretted or fretless? what woods? what pickups? what shape?) becomes something to think about for the next one.
Also incredibly addictive, too, since every one of those "fork in the road" decisions where you had several really appealing choices (how many strings? fretted or fretless? what woods? what pickups? what shape?) becomes something to think about for the next one.
So, funny thing about that comment... I already designed a double cutaway version of my custom bass shape design and asked Cliff to hold the matching piece of Cottonwood Burl he has in stock... Here's my sketch. The only difference in the shape is the upper horn.It is an incredibly exciting feeling to be watching your vision being turned into reality by a skilled artist and craftsman.
Also incredibly addictive, too, since every one of those "fork in the road" decisions where you had several really appealing choices (how many strings? fretted or fretless? what woods? what pickups? what shape?) becomes something to think about for the next one.
Maybe one day I'll have a sweet matching pair of CB Bases!
Big Split and BigMan pickups. The BigMan is essentially two Big Singles jacked into on shell. Why not a Big Single and a BigMan? Big Single plus one of the coils in the BigMan might be a nice match. I get that the Big Split, if solo'd, would be humcancelling, and maybe that's the motivation. Curious about your expectations for the pickups used individually and used together in terms of humcancelling/hum and sonic balance.
Thanks!
So, that was my original thought too. I was going to do the BigSingle in the neck position. However, after talking with Cliff and others with experience with these pickups, I switched to the BigSplit. I wanted to have a similar sound to my Lakland 55-94 (which also influenced my wood choices). After further research, I found that the neck jazz pickup in the Lakland is actually a humcancelling pickup similar to the BigSplit. I'm thinking that with the BigMan set to a single coil blended with the BigSplit, I should get something between a jazz bass and a p-j in sound. One plus with these pickups is that it should be easy to swap the BigSplit for a BigSingle if I want to compare the difference.
^^^^^
I hear you. Mos def wanna hear about what you think once the bass is in your hands and if this is the result you achieve.
Yep. That's for sure. Smart.
I hear you. Mos def wanna hear about what you think once the bass is in your hands and if this is the result you achieve.
Yep. That's for sure. Smart.
For sure. I'm planning on doing a pretty in-depth review of the bass both in a solo and live full band atmosphere. There isn't enough out there, especially in similar configurations with these pickups.
I try!
No updates... But here's a pic of me thumping down on my CB SCB Bass. 
Cliff finally sent me a full frontal pic! LOL! Now you can see how the shape of the bass is coming together with the contours and accent line. I'm quite pleased! I'm thinking about making the body shape "Piper", after my daughter. Can't wait to see it dressed up with frets, electronics, and hardware!
Just another tease from Cliff showing some detail of the top wood grain and shaping. I'm really pleased with the way it is coming along. Maybe I'll see pickups and hardware in the next update?
