eude

You don't see many Pine instruments do you, which is a bit odd as proper old growth pine is incredibly dense and strong, I'm sure it would give any hard ash or maple a run for its money...

There is some pretty cool Walnut out there from the UK, but I mean REALLY dark like Ebony, Wenge, Katalox etcs.

I wonder why all the darker. sexier woods come from warmer and in some cases more humid climates, most UK species are lighter in colour... Eude

They put a 5 year warranty on everything the sell new, and they design and build with a view to keeping things going indefinitely, the amp heads in particular. I'm pretty sure they repair free of charge within the warranty period, but there's likely to be some fees once you get beyond there. I can't think of many, if any other manufacturers who can match that though. You can approach Ashdown directly which is great, as there's no middle men complicating things and trying to take a slice Eude

I'll let @Andyjr1515 answer that one, I love dark wood though, which I let Andy know about, so perhaps that drove the decision? Katalox is a very very dark wood once finished though, so even though it looked like there was some stark contrast on one side, it's likely it would've died back when finished anyway. Here's another lovely example of a Katalox topped bass for reference >>

I keep coming back to look at this picture! This is going to be amazing, thank you @Andyjr1515

That looks a darned good fit @Andyjr1515, and being a classy guy myself, I thoroughly approve of the use of a contrasting ebony veneer 😎 Eude

Wow, that is stunning!

That's awesome @Andyjr1515! Great way to keep those all important interesting details in the figuring too. Cheers, Eude

Not a problem at all @Merton, the amp wasn't much of a conversationalist on my 8.5 hour drive, but was good company regardless Great to meet you too @andy67! Wish I could've had more time to hang around and shoot the breeze! Just FYI, @Merton has give me 1st refusal, should he take leave of his senses any time soon Cheers, Eude

Looking great @Andyjr1515!

It's like I'm actually there, awesome updates @Andyjr1515, glad you approve of the join too, to be fair it was such a good piece of timber, there wasn't much effort required. "Olive Ash", apparently. It's certainly the most intensely dense Ash I've ever come across, what about you? Eude

I do prefer Warwick basses over Spectors though, but let's not get into that here Eude

That's a brilliant idea @Andyjr1515, a little like Fodera set neck they do but with bolts, the middle one in question I really like that idea and it'll really get away from the Fender Road Block too. Love the tribute headstock and the Katalox is gorgeous too isn't it! Eude

Can't wait!

I'm more than happy for Andy to do what he fancies with it, within reason I feel the curves could be more pronounced, or at least tweaked a little, the lower horn could be a little less chunky and if @Andyjr1515 fancies doing a tummy contour like on the Warwick basses, I'm sure that will come in handy as I settle into my 40's with the bass I know he's taking a good 10 - 15mm from the face of the bass as it is, so there will be very little evidence of any of the carving I did myself left, bar the back of the bass... Eude

That's awesome @Andyjr1515! No bother re a slightly different bridge position, with the pickup set out for 36" scale anyway, it would need to be moved to compensate for the short scale to be in the same position in regards to string length. Where it is, would technically mean it sits further forward, so losing a bit of distance at the bridge end would bring that back a little. Does that make sense? It made sense in my head, but not as I typed it out...

I think the switch positions are going to be moved around for the final version, as they kinda get in the way a bit apparently. The original Goya that this draws inspiration from had a gap above the neck pickup, what half the switches moved between that and the bridge pickup. I guess sometimes folks get it right first time, but the rest of the tweaks and rethinking seem to hit the mark. Eude EDIT: It's a good job I just got a new shortscale bass!

No bother, I've been following it for a while since he posted up the crazy headstock design for feedback, which, with the internet being the internet opened a portal to another dimension populated exclusively by bass trolls. Anyway, he stuck to his guns, tweaked it a little and pressed ahead, which I really admire and the finished design looks awesome! Eude

These are absolutely going into production, Carey's already got a far east manufacturer set up to get it cranked out once he's ironed out all the kinks. He's also aiming for a low price point, sub $1000 in the US, how that will translate here in the UK is another matter, but still very cool to see a new contender coming on to the market at a reasonably competitive price. Eude

Here's a lovely bit of Katalox on the back of a Fodera >> Eude

Thank you mate, I'm extremely chuffed with the bass. Having played a few Tele basses in the past, I was expecting it to struggle a little with the tiny guitar sized body and a bass neck, but there's no issues whatsoever, it feels just right. There's no issue with reach and there's absolutely no neck dive seated or with the bass on a strap, more voodoo I expect. You're right theses ACGs are SO good, but they're better for your bank balance than a lot of custom basses out there! Eude

That's brilliant @Andyjr1515, I didn't expect you to chamber it too! That will certainly help with the weight. The Katalox is indeed a very dark, heavy wood. It usually has some lovely subtle figuring too, quite a beautiful and rare type of wood. Here's the actual piece in question, which has since been bookmatched and flatted out to the prescribed 10mm and should be arriving today! Cheers, Eude

Your message has sent my mind wandering down a nautical theme, I may be gone some time...

The "gauntlet" was very much Andy's idea not mine, I've got every confidence in him taking this and making it awesome, we've all seen what he's achieved here on BassChat So you've got another on the cards then?... Eude