Ha!... well, it started out as a joke. I'm a pretty old-school player & it drove me goofy to see all the 5-strings, 6-strings, 7-strings and worse. So I thought to myself..."screw it, I'm going the other direction". I built it in 2012.
The body was from Warmoth. The neck started off as a raw blank. I had to do the sunburst finish and configure the blank headstock for 3 tuners. The decals are bootleg Fender, but they're pretty convincing.
For a bridge, the setup is 3 single monorail bridges and the bass is tuned E, A & D... although there's no reason it couldn't be B, E & A as well.
The hardest part (for me) was doing the sunburst... I'm not a "paint guy" and came away with a whole new level of respect for those that can do it well and consistently.
The preamp is a 9V active unit I've had kicking-around for a long time, looking for a home. The name escapes me at the moment but it's a quality preamp. The pickups are EMG Selects. All in all the bass sounds really good! It's not easy to play right off the bat but you get used-to the fingering after a bit.
I sent some shots into Vintage Guitar Magazine and they did a little write-up in the back of their Nov 2012 issue (attached).
So that's about it... other than it's NEVER been played out. Maybe I don't trust myself to fall back onto "old 4-string playing habits" in the heat of the moment!
Mike Kolb
Ha!... well, it started out as a joke. I'm a pretty old-school player & it drove me goofy to see all the 5-strings, 6-strings, 7-strings and worse. So I thought to myself..."screw it, I'm going the other direction". I built it in 2012.
The body was from Warmoth. The neck started off as a raw blank. I had to do the sunburst finish and configure the blank headstock for 3 tuners. The decals are bootleg Fender, but they're pretty convincing.
For a bridge, the setup is 3 single monorail bridges and the bass is tuned E, A & D... although there's no reason it couldn't be B, E & A as well.
The hardest part (for me) was doing the sunburst... I'm not a "paint guy" and came away with a whole new level of respect for those that can do it well and consistently.
The preamp is a 9V active unit I've had kicking-around for a long time, looking for a home. The name escapes me at the moment but it's a quality preamp. The pickups are EMG Selects. All in all the bass sounds really good! It's not easy to play right off the bat but you get used-to the fingering after a bit.
I sent some shots into Vintage Guitar Magazine and they did a little write-up in the back of their Nov 2012 issue (attached).
So that's about it... other than it's NEVER been played out. Maybe I don't trust myself to fall back onto "old 4-string playing habits" in the heat of the moment!
Anyway, thanks for asking. /// Mike
Oct 21, 2014