M-Series™ entering production

[Rodent]

prototype body number two is now roughed out and in need of having the neck pocket custom fit to the neck (hence the right edge looking so ... sloppy)



this is burl Maple on Alder with a Walnut accent stripe between the top/back. depending on available time this week, this body may also be joining the first prototype body at the paint shop

all the best,

R

[leftybassman392]

OK, after a lengthy delay it looks like things are getting back on track with this new design

here's a sneak peek at a finish sanded M5 body wet down with a little Naphtha to highlight the figuring similar to what it will look like with a finish applied. the camera flash has the colors off a little, but you get the idea. please also keep in mind that this is a reject top/back set due to flaws in the bookmatched set - for those who love OTT woods, you can anticipate that this is as poor as it will get. this specific bass body is the prototype unit and will not be offered for sale.





this finished out really nice IMO. I'm not so sure I like the look of the wood veneers tapering off on the contoured heel, so production units may not include a figured back set. it's also difficult to see in these images, but the darker Mahogany stripes on both sides of the Alder core each have a thin walnut veneer accent line on both sides

I have a couple other basses in assembly at the moment, so it'll be a little bit before I have further progress to update

I'm also considering offering this with a painted body if I can come up with a pickguard design I really like.

all the best,

R

Shame about the odd looking heel contour effect. I really like this figuring - just a personal thing I know, but I do love figured backs like this. It's obviously too early to comment in any detail on consequences for the sound, but it would be great to hear how it would sound with & without the facing - do you plan to complete this build into a finished item? How critical is the contouring at that point to the overall design? (I know why it's there of course, but all the same...)

[Rodent]

hi Andy,

having had time to work thru the details since I posted in October, I can say that I will be offering a figured back set as an upgrade option, but it will come at the price of not having a contoured heel. this way the figuring will be consistent and I won't spend four hours detail sanding the contour to get the veneer line just right. since I use a thinner body on the M-Series, some of the need for a contoured heel is already reduced ... and the contouring is not really critical in the larger sense anyway

yes - this first bass body will be finished to completion and will be mated to the Maple/Rosewood neck pictured in my Jan 1st post. I will not be offering this first unit for sale as my wife has already claimed it it will go to good purpose though, and I'll be using it as a test bed for a couple new pickup designs I'm having worked - I'll have a consistent platform for studio clips of the various pickups

unless there is some shop mishap, the burl topped body above will be my first production unit of the 5-string. I have a couple others in the works as well including an Amboyna Burl topped Swamp Ash body with a Birdseye/Ebony neck and a 1-piece Swamp Ash body with a Birdseye/Rosewood neck ...

all the best,

R

[leftybassman392]

hi Andy,

having had time to work thru the details since I posted in October, I can say that I will be offering a figured back set as an upgrade option, but it will come at the price of not having a contoured heel. this way the figuring will be consistent and I won't spend four hours detail sanding the contour to get the veneer line just right. since I use a thinner body on the M-Series, some of the need for a contoured heel is already reduced ... and the contouring is not really critical in the larger sense anyway

yes - this first bass body will be finished to completion and will be mated to the Maple/Rosewood neck pictured in my Jan 1st post. I will not be offering this first unit for sale as my wife has already claimed it it will go to good purpose though, and I'll be using it as a test bed for a couple new pickup designs I'm having worked - I'll have a consistent platform for studio clips of the various pickups

unless there is some shop mishap, the burl topped body above will be my first production unit of the 5-string. I have a couple others in the works as well including an Amboyna Burl topped Swamp Ash body with a Birdseye/Ebony neck and a 1-piece Swamp Ash body with a Birdseye/Rosewood neck ...

all the best,

R

I look forward to hearing it!

[bhunt1]

Rod,
What is the top wood on the first one - the prototype? It's beautiful - I can't believe that's a reject.

[Rodent]

both the front and back sides are figured Western Maple (a soft Maple not suitable for neck construction) WM is native to the Pacific NW and grows in the western side of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia

the top is heartwood of a very old tree I suspect was growing in a moist location and/or in very iron rich soil. heartwood is usually darker, and often smells like a dirty cat box while it's shedding moisture content during the drying out process. while not the stinkiest piece I've ever had, this one was definitely in the top 10% on the stink-o-meter scale. it was culled as a reject by the wood seller because of a couple stress cracks that developed during the drying process ... but careful planning allowed me to position these cracks outside of the final top area, making this a totally usable top for this bass model. this would not have been usable for a standard 4-string J-bass body because the horn locations on the smaller body would have included some of the crack

the back is also heartwood, but I suspect it was from a younger tree and/or growing in a dryer location

and FWIW - I have a large slab of Maple heartwood that's been air drying in my shop since summer of 2006. it's thick enough that there's still moisture escaping (less now that when this was first cut), and when the weather change is just right I have to air out the shop prior to a customer visiting.

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

just arrived back from the paint shop this afternoon with bodies and necks for several other builds ...





OK ... back to work

all the best,

R

[AzWhoFan]

outstanding!

[fivebass52]

Beautiful wood, especially on the fretboard!

[Basshappi]

That top wood is stunning!

[Basshappi]

That top wood is stunning!
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See what I mean!

[Rodent]

update on the first M-Series™ fretless as it makes its way thru the shop ...

the body contours are detailed and ready to have a routing template made of the outline. this will reduce the time to cut out and detail a body by about 2-3 hours. once the template is completed I'll proceed to round over the top/back edges, install the pickup routes and control cavity, and then carve the forearm and tummy contours and contour the heel block

images as of this afternoon



the Koa top is really looking sharp IMO. the customer for this one wanted a Koa top to go with the spalted Birdseye acrylized fingerboard ... but that same customer has recently stopped replying to e-mails if this continues I'll put their neck back on hold and craft a new Mahogany/Ebony fretless neck for this one and then offer it as a unit available for purchase

a lefty M-Series™ unit isn't too far off in the distance, I just need to decide whether to make it a 4 or 5-string (I'm currently leaning towards a 4)

all the best,

R

[screambasses]

Nice!

Pete

[Rodent]

I have another M-Series 5-string working its way thru production ... this one features a Redwood burl top and back set, black accent veneers, and a flame Maple body core. The neck will be an AAA Birdseye shaft with Cocobolo fretboard

here's the body outline sketched onto the top (note: the color is manipulated quite a bit to get the outline to show clearly. other images have no color manipulation)



and a peek at how the sandwich will look from the side when it's all glued-up



here's a piece of the top (left) and back (right) sets together with the fretboard blank to see how these work together



this commissioned build should be leaving the nest sometime late summer 2010

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

Koa topped body just arrived back from the paint shop



someday I'll get to make one of these in a lefty ... I hope

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

couldn't resist giving this build a test-fit this afternoon ... I think it's going to be a stunner



this one's going to finish out right about 7-3/4 pounds

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

here's a pair of righty M-Series 5-string bodies freshly exhumed from their body blanks

Amboyna burl on Swamp Ash with black veneer accent line. this one still needs to have the area around the neck pocket detailed with the neck that will be mated to this body. once that is done it'll be time to add the rounded edges, forearm contour, gut cut, control cavity, pickup cavities, etc ...


Western Maple burl on a 1-piece Swamp Ash body core. this body still needs to have its perimeter detailed (you can see all the bandsaw marks if you look closely) in additional everything needed by the body above




I don't usually work bass building on Sun afternoons, as I like to reserve the time to spend with family and to get refreshed for the week ahead. this afternoon my wife had a few hours of school work to complete before the morning, so I took a couple hours out in the shop to work on something fun

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

had a couple minutes to spare this evening when I got off work, and thought I'd snap this image. could that really be a bookmatched top for the first M-Series lefty 5-string there on the left?



the body core, neck woods, finish, and hardware are still being decided as I type. while I make most of my 5-strings with a 19mm spaced bridge, this one will feature 18mm bridge spacing to expand the market of potential buyers

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

here's an image of the body with its Birdseye / Pau Ferro neck (the Amboyna color is a little different thanks to not wiping it with Naphtha prior to taking this image)



I'm liking to combo a lot.

for the lefty M5 in the previous post, I'm leaning towards a Mahogany body, Pau Ferro fretboard, and either a Birdseye or Mahogany neck shaft ... but the start for this one is a long way off due to other builds I have to get completed first

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

more progress images on this M-Series 5-string






this one make will its stage debut later this weekend

all the best,

R