Well, I hadn't imagined I'd ever let go of my custom Excel, but I just never finished my transition to playing fretless and it's a shame for this beast to sit in its case all the time. I'm mostly interested in trades rather than a straight sale, but nothing is set in stone. I'm really hoping to end up with a fretted Series I, and I hope I'm not crazy for thinking it would be a fair trade. Serial# 04X13385 - Fretless 5-string Excel Vermilion top Zebrawood accent lams w/purpleheart pinstripe Vermilion body Ebony/purpleheart/vermilion/mahogany neck Satin finish on back of neck Striped macassar ebony fingerboard Continuous vermilion veneers on pickups 34" scale Side LEDs: Green w/amber at 12th & 24th frets MXY neck pickup, FatBoy bridge pickup Europa/Rogue electronics w/custom layout Recessed straplocks Gotoh tuners Chrome plated hardware Strung BEADG with TI Jazz Flats Includes OHSC and wide amber leather strap w/embossed Alembic logo The condition is excellent, having only left my home once and only being played at home for perhaps a total of 12 hours. The finish seems to be lifting a bit in two spots - on the edge of the bottom straplock, and on the top edge of the tailpiece, hidden between the tailpiece and bridge. These are only noticeable upon close inspection; from a few feet away it looks simply impeccable. There is also a strange rattle or buzz that seems to be emanating from inside the neck when playing a couple particular positions on the G string, and I really haven't bothered to investigate it as I simply don't use this bass. I'd venture to guess it's one of the truss rods, and it's possible that a slight snugging of the truss rod nut(s) would take care of it, but I haven't tried. I make my own adjustments on my old beat-up Distillate, but I don't trust my non-expert hands to mess with the neck on this one. That being said, the rattle is minor and only appears on a couple notes in the higher range of the G string, so it hasn't been much of a bother to me. I just felt it should be mentioned here in the interest of full disclosure. The FTC thread is
here, and has some nice in-progress pics and discussion of the construction process. Here are a few current pics, taken with my shaky hands and an ancient digital camera:
Additional pics and details available upon request. [moderator's edit: email address removed by request] (Message edited by davehouck on August 07, 2009)
