6 string acoustic basses are quite rare animals so it was great
to get two orders to work on together. Both share many features
(sitka spruce top, ebony fingerboard, flamed maple binding, RMC
saddles and preamp, Schaller 2000 series gold machines with ebony
buttons and carbon fibre reinforced maple and walnut laminated necks
to name most of them.) But let's look at them individually.
Fretted ASAPB6
Back and sides are of Irish walnut which is a very difficult wood
to source. It is also used for the solid rosette and headstock veneer.
There are 20 full width Fender bass type frets with a small 21st
fret on the fingerboard extension which works for the top two strings.
The RMC saddles and preamp coupled with Thomastik Acousticore strings
give the best acoustic bass sound I have ever heard and this combination
does not fail in the fretted situation. These strings have a nylon
core with bronze windings and so have very low tension which does
reduce the acoustic output compared to regular acoustic bronze strings
but this sort of instrument would seldom be used in a purely acoustic
situation anyway so this is not a disadvantage. Regular strings
could be fitted if more volume was required.
The back is rather pretty and you can just see where the customer
had his signature inlaid in ebony on the back of the headstock.
Fretless ASAPB6
Sapele this time for the back, sides, rosette and headstock of
the fretless. The fingerboard has 24 fret marks inlaid in maple
on the upper edge so they are visible to the player but not on the
face. RMC+Acousticore+ fretless = very realistic double bass sounds
with plenty of growl if required. The subtle nature of the RMC tone
control gives a wider tonal range than might be expected.
Another view which shows the warm colour and figuring of the sapele.
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