So I couldn't let bapu and spacey have all the fun...

But lacking any of Michael's superior woodworking skills, I'm forced to do things the "buy the parts and bolt it together" way. Still turned out nice though:



Specs:
Warmoth Flamed Koa on Mahogany Body
Warmoth Flamed Teak neck with Ebony FB (the blocks are stickers).
SD Lightnin' Rods AJJ-2 Active pickups
EMG BQC 3-band preamp
EMG active balance control
Push/pull volume - pulling up puts a .047 cap to ground on the neck PU (for a passive treble cut), and a .0047 cap in series with the bridge PU (for a passive bass cut), resulting in a "scooped" tone when both PU's are used (at the expense of some volume loss).
Hipshot D-Tuner

Thanks.

I wish I could do finishing myself, but that seems to be an art in and of itself, so I let Warmoth do the finish (on the body - the neck has no finish).

spacey


Well you did a great job with the assembly. It's not an easy thing
to do without hurting the finish or scratching something.
Well done.

Let's just say that  with this particular one there was a certain amount of paranoia whenever a drill, or screwdriver, or cutters, or soldering iron was involved. Their finish is pretty protective though. And I ended up not screwing the clear pickguard down as it stays in place OK as is. 

Love the wood choice...and everything else too. Beautiful.

Yeah, I've always had a thing for Koa but could never manage to find something to pull the trigger on - until I saw this particular body. And the Teak neck was a bit of an unknown, but beautiful and intriguing, so...

What a great addition to your collection.

That's pretty sweet.

Yeah, finishing is best left to the experienced. Years ago, I decided I wanted my Yamaha bass to be red. So I sanded the finish off, and hung the body in a closet using a wire coat hanger through one of the neck bolt holes. I carefully lined the closet with newspapers and masking tape and went to painting. After a couple of quick coats I was satisfied, but the room smelled of paint so I opened the window of the empty room of the apartment I lived in and left the body to dry. A few hours later, I opened the door to discover the once cream colored carpet was now a odd shade of pink, as were the once white walls from the floor to about 3 feet up.

Needless to say, I didn't get my deposit back on the apartment.

Randy

spacey


Drew I've never played with the drop D key, would you
explain the mechanics please and thanks.

Like most Hipshot gadgets, it's sort of a mechanical doohickey that works awesome if set up correctly.

Here's a better picture:


The tuner/tuning post is effectively independent of the plate that screws into the neck. When you flick the switch down, the whole tuner is pulled by the string tension and rotates counterclockwise (looking at it from the back as shown) until it is stopped by the adjustment screw (on the left above, with the spring), which determines the dropped pitch. Flick the switch back up and it returns to the original pitch.

 
Great job Drew - that's beautiful  

Beautiful!!!

I agree...beautiful! 

You did a great job not ruining it.  :)

(and don't downplay that talent.)  :)

Drew.....

It's missing a string.

craigb


Love that wood grain! 

(you might have some explaining to do to Bapu about that D-tuner though!)

The CHB has constantly complained about my detuned bass. I keep telling them it's Am.

craigb


Love that wood grain! 

(you might have some explaining to do to Bapu about that D-tuner though!)

I actually tried out an explanation on him in this thread:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.ashx?m=2242610

Luckily, he became distracted in that thread before he could do much probing.