semi-hollow twelve-string Brooks bass

[Basvarken]

Ladies and gentlemen; I proudly present a new Brooks Bass!

The EXB-12-SA.
A semi-hollow twelve string bass.

- Mahogany body. Chambered
- Quilted Maple top, bookmatched
- Nine ply laminated Mahogany set neck. Glued in
- Cherry Burst finish. Naturel Mahogany back and sides
- Pearloid binding
- Ebony fretboard
- Abalone position dots. Aluminium ring in 12th position
- Jumbo frets
- 34" scale
- Buffalo horn nut
- Custom made twelve string brass bridge set, gold plated
- Two spokewheel double action truss rods
- Carbon reinforcement strip in the neck
- Lace Alumitone Bass Bar in the neck position
- Lace Alumitone Bass Bar in the bridge position
- Pure Tone output. Gold plated
- Toggle switch (single coil/humbucker). Gold plated
- Gotoh GB 350 lightweight bass tuners, Gold plated
- Gotoh Stealth CXB-01 guitar tuners. Gold plated
- d'Addario EXL 170 - 12 strings
- Weight: 4.1 kg

Serial number: 2025001

 

I'll post pics of the build process in separate posts below

[Basvarken]

Started with the fretboard this time:

 

 

Then shifted my attention to the neck. Routed the slots for the carbon reinforcement strips plus two spoke wheel truss rods

 

 

[Basvarken]

Sawed the headstock angle.

 

And planed it nice and smooth

 

Made the truss rod cover

 

Glued the fretboard onto the (roughly shaped) neck

 

While that dried took to the mahogany body blank.
First off I routed the controls cavity

 

Then switched to the other side to route the chambering

 

Did some free hand routing for the wiring channel

 

Before glueing the quilted maple top onto the chambered body I had to saw the tri-angular shaped F-holes

 

 

[Basvarken]

Back to the neck:
Made the side markers

 

 

Then started shaping the neck profile

 

Drilled the tuners holes

 

 

 

[Basvarken]

Routed the body outline (along the template of course)

 

Then routed the binding channel

 

Glued the pearloid binding in

 

 

 

The routed the neck pocket. And shaped the heel

 

[Basvarken]

After lots of checking and measuring I finally glued the neck in

 

 

 

Then drilled the holes for the controls

 

And stained the back a dark mahogany (with a dash of red)

 

The quilted maple top was going to get a cherry burst
First did the yellow stain.

 

And then (while still wet) did the red outline.
And feathered it out to make nice smooth gradient.

 

Then built up lots of layers of clear

 

After lots of sanding and polishing I mounted the pickups and hardware

 

 

 

[Basvarken]

Made a label and glued it in

 

Cut the top nut (string guide) from a piece of buffalo horn. I used the brass template the ETS provided with the bridge

 

Mounted the tuners. Had to modify the carbon base plates of the (light weight) Gotoh CXB-01 tuners that I used for the octave strings.
Because the "ears" were overlapping each other.

 

[itu]

You make it look like this project would have been easy. Sure it is easy for you. Fabulous work!

[Geek99]

Is it any good for metal? Just wondering…

[Basvarken]

19 minutes ago, itu said:

You make it look like this project would have been easy. Sure it is easy for you. Fabulous work!

Trust me, it is never easy.

[Basvarken]

4 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Is it any good for metal? Just wondering…

Kings X shouldn't be a problem

[d-basser]

Gorgeous, pointy basses and gold hardware don't normally float my boat but that's lovely

[Hellzero]

Again, an excellent and amazing job @Basvarken, congratulations, it's always a delight to see your work in progress. 😍👏👌🏻

[fleabag]

Another stunning piece of craftsmanship Rob.   10/10

[MichaelDean]

I saw this on your Instagram and was looking forward the build thread - it didn't disappoint! Lovely looking thing!

[BassTool]

Stunning work 👌🏼😲