Seattle, WA area

[SkuttleFunk]

at the totally opposite end of the bass spectrum from 6-string single-cuts .... you'll find this Heritage Tribute '55 lefty I shipped out early last week

- Swamp Ash body with offset glue joint and vintage 2-tone front + soid black back finish
- Maple/Maple neck, graphite stiffening bars, 1-5/8" nut, 12"R fretboard
- Nordstrand SCPB pickup
- Passive tone controls, CTS lefty pots, Orange Drop .047uf cap, Switchcraft jack
- Polished stainless control plate
- Vintage style thru-body bridge

time to duck back into hiding - I have a TON of work to do in prep for the upcoming NAMM Show

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

more goodies from the shop this week ... all of these should be availabe for test driving at the upcoming NAMM Show

Regenerator 5-string with a 'roasted' flame Maple neck and Pau Ferro fretboard. the neck has a gloss headstock, and the remainder will receive a hand rubbed oil finish

a new 5-string prototype with a 24-fret angled headstock neck

and it's older 6-string cousin

all the best,

R

 

[bagman67]

Nice necks! 


I like the new five-string shape.  Are those poplar bodies? Will they receive opaque finishes, or "I'm streaky-green and I'm proud" finishes?

 

[stubhead]

Where/how did you get ahold of the roasted maple? I know they have to roast the whole log, you can't take a finished neck and chuck it in a pizza oven overnight...

 

[SkuttleFunk]

the roasted Maple really takes on a life of its own when a finish is applied. here's a peek at just the sealer application drying (for contrast, that's "plain" flame Maple there on the right)

Where/how did you get ahold of the roasted maple?

a 'friend' in the industry lent me a couple sticks to try out and see how I liked them

Are those poplar bodies? Will they receive opaque finishes, or "I'm streaky-green and I'm proud" finishes?

indeed - these are Poplar, one of my favorite woods for bass bodies when I can find lighter boards of density equal to Alder. opaque finishes for all three of these bodies ... but I have done a clear finish Poplar body before. since these are for NAMM stock, a clear finish probably would get me the wrong kind of attention

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Gene Austin (r) brought a bass to our booth that is very to the old timers here on the UW board. He's the new owner, and is using it in his arsenal of basses that support his making a living as a first-call session player in the Los Angeles area

here's a shot from our 2013 NAMM Show booth of some gray haired guy who crashed the booth, Johnny Hatton (Brian Setzer Orchestra) and Gene. it took a bit of effort to clear the mosh pit so we could capture this image

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

thought you might also like to see/hear a pair of our basses in action at NAMM

this first one was an inpromptu jam session with Jeff Berlin and Tiki Pasillas
http://www.youtube.com/embed/MpxbifcudAs

and this second one took place about 45 minutes later in our booth with Bill Clements and Tiki Pasillas
http://www.youtube.com/embed/FCdiCjF2CUA

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

I'm working a new artist signature 4-string model that will be part of the Regenerator series, and thought some of you might be interested to view a screen grab of the CNC tool path simulation I perform while getting everything ready to start exhuming a body from a body blank



this is essentially a sanity check type of simulation for the initial proofing body with the purpose of ensuring I have the tooling choreography steps all being executed in the proper order, and as such I have done little to optimize the cutting paths as will eventually be done when this design gets promoted to a production type activity. I typically have minor adjustments to make on the first couple of bodies, and once all of the tweaks are completed I'll run a few additional bodies and focus on where I can cut machine time without sacrificing the final product or adding hand work time.

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

a new batch of prototype J-bass pickups is ready to have leads soldered prior to being potted and slipped into covers

rolling, rolling, rolling ... keep those pickups rolling ... [whip crack]

all the best,

R

 

[Cagey]

That's really a nice shot. Would look great framed and hung in a studio.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

been ages since I last had time to post an update, so here goes

- bought a new shop facility with dedicated restroom facilities in May, and now have the room to expand the dusty area (where the tools are) and also create a clean room for final set-ups and pickup winding plus a dedicated office

- shipped out several instruments prior to the move, and am just wrapping up the first units to be completed post move

on the more conventional side, this 1-piece Swamp Ash body T-like guitar with Vintage burst is ready for final set-up and then pickguard installation. This should be shipping out next week



this VRB 4-string lefty bass will feature a Nordstrand 2-band bypassable active preamp and NJ4SE pickups. the blocks are Macassar Ebony, and the body finish is Candy Orange metallic




we also upgraded our tooling capacity with this vintage 1990 Jet overarm pin router



end of July is when focus starts to shift towards starting the new builds for NAMM. we'll be expanding our guitar line to three models, adding two new bass models, and tossing in a few surprises that will be revealed at the show

all the best,

R

 

[Cagey]

Congratulations on your improvement/expansion! Always good news, and I'm glad to hear you're doing well enough to drive that kind of move.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

here's a couple new bass builds that are headed to NAMM this Jan

Camphor burl / Walnut / Mahogany / Walnut / Camphor burl body with Maple/Walnut/M/W/M and Rosewood neck detail sanded and ready for clear coat

how it looked right off the CNC

1-piece figured Western Maple heartwood body with 3-piece Maple / Pau Ferro neck detail sanded and ready for clear finish

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Topalox body with M/R neck about to come to life as a VRB-4.3

 

[bagman67]

That's a handsome chunk of lumber.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

thanks I think this one is going into the 'price very high so it doesn't sell and I have to keep it' category

R

 

[Cagey]

Worst thing that can happen is you get to keep it, which I'm sure we can all agree would not be a Bad Thing. It's a beautiful piece of work. But, it could sell.

Certainly Fender, Gibson, et al get away with pricing some of their output somewhere up in the stratosphere for no apparent or justifiable reason. Why not give that audacity and hubris a shot? Either everyone will ignore you, or everyone-1, with that one having an irrepressible desire to possess what you've done.

Sometimes you see/hear something and you just gotta have it, price be damned.

Also, you can never raise the price. It only goes down from the start point.

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Bass Gear Magazine (https://www.facebook.com/bassgearmag) just finished up their review of our Regenerator 4.1 and 5.4 basses. Check it out, here:

http://btpub.boyd-printing.com/publication/?i=187956&p=36

This is out just in time for NAMM  :guitarplayer2:

all the best,

R

 

[SkuttleFunk]

Worst thing that can happen is you get to keep it, which I'm sure we can all agree would not be a Bad Thing. It's a beautiful piece of work. But, it could sell.

Certainly Fender, Gibson, et al get away with pricing some of their output somewhere up in the stratosphere for no apparent or justifiable reason. Why not give that audacity and hubris a shot? Either everyone will ignore you, or everyone-1, with that one having an irrepressible desire to possess what you've done.

Sometimes you see/hear something and you just gotta have it, price be damned.

Also, you can never raise the price. It only goes down from the start point.

and should somebody fork out the green and 'force' me to sell ... I can always build myself another  :cool01:

R