BW Basses

I’ve done oil and wipe-on polyurethane finishes on ash before, but this time I wanted to go really simple, minimalist, and most of all, non-toxic.

After doing some research, I found the perfect thing – a paste wax finish that uses citrus oil as the solvent. No VOC’s no fumes, goes on easy, and looks great on ash.

Got the pickguard done today and am starting to sweat the little aesthetic details, like which knobs to use. In the lineup above from left-to-right, are a Selco rubber knob with glow-in-the-dark pointer, satin chrome Schaller dome knob, and Hipshot chrome o-ring knob.

Sorry, this has nothing to do with three string basses, but I had to share this somewhere…

Ubuntu’s 9.10 beta release may still be a little buggy, but at least it has a sense of humor!

Hot off the CNC at Warmoth today, here’s the new three string bass body, shown with custom Nordstrand three string pickup and custom Hipshot three string bridge. Kevin did me a favor and picked out a nice heavy piece of hard ash, which is going to sound (and balance) great.

I based the new 3 on Warmoth’s “Z” guitar body both because I like the way it looks with a skinny neck on it, and because I did the surface design and contour modeling on this body style and really liked how it turned out. I’m especially proud of the contoured heel, which transitions smoothly from edge bevel-to-roundover-to-neck plate surface. The asymmetry and sharp edges also work well with my “four-minus-one” headstock design.

Next week: a pickguard and (hopefully) a neck!

P.S. Thanks for the help with this one, Aaron B!

A quick render of the new three string bass design. Hopefully I’ll get the body routed this week, with the neck following next week.