Razerbird - updated retro?In the '80's I had a bass and guitar line called the Razer. I only made a few of them as fashion changed so they were not in that much demand. In 2006 Christoph (a customer from Austria who has bought a number of basses from me over many years) wanted a bass that would combine the pickup layout of his Rik with the simplicity of the P Bass. He had definite and original ideas on design and pickups and he sent me a Photoshop mock-up of a body based on the Razer but with some of the contours reversed. As a shape it works very well and also balances perfectly - it is not neck heavy. The circuitry is all passive and quite innovative. The neck and bridge picksup are selected via a three way slider switch. The middle pickup can be included in the mix or used alone by way of a blend control. The output signal goes via a master volume and master tone. There is a huge range of rock tones on offer due to the switching and types of pickups used - a guitar P90(!) at the bridge, a Seymour Duncan Basslines SCPB-3 Quarter Pound single coil (original P-Bass shape) in the middle and a Di Marzio Model 1 (Gibson EB bass style humbucker) at the neck. The body core is mahogany with an overlay of flamed maple which is contoured at the edges to show the core wood and the contrasting veneers. A rosewood fingerboard sits on top of a slab sawn hard maple neck which is reinforced with carbon fibre. The neck joins the body at the 15th fret and there are 20 6100 (high and wide) frets. Schaller M4 machines and a Fender style string-through bridge in chrome are the major hardware components. Finish is an orange sunburst gloss AC lacquer that brings out the figure in the maple rather well. I had a lot of fun making this bass - classic Rock n Roll - and I am really pleased it. I hope it catches on so that the Razer lives again! Thanks Christoph.
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