Hi everybody: A few of you may remember that a while back, I had a truly wonderful custom cocobolo S2 built (
http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/12133.html?1094104551). Gold hardware, inlaid logo, continuous backplates, pretty much everything I ever thought of to want. Well, a year later, my son got accepted to NYU and tuition money became my major priority (at least he didn't make me an unexpected grandpa - so things could have been worse - LOL). Unfortunately, my baby had to be found a new, loving home (with a Club member). It was one of the hardest car rides in my life to meet the lucky guy who was buying my Alembic. But while I was in the car, inspiration struck! I had been hacking around with refinishing and modifying basses. I was looking for a project to build a body and add a neck I bought somewhere else. By pure coincidence, that same week I'd stumbled across a wood supplier who would glue up and sell me a body blank laminated from - 1/4" of cocobolo over mahogany. To make a very long story short, I had also had a wicked jones for a graphite necked bass. I love the harmonics (low fundamentals, especially) and sustain. The closest I had come to the sound I liked was a Modulus Genesis with a maple board and Bart pu's and preamp. But it still suffered from the typical complaints about graphite (kind of sterile sound, shrill highs, lacking in real mids, etc.) How to make that bass a better bass? Inspiration (and an unhealthy desire for death-wish design risks) struck again! Maybe there was a way to dim the loss of all the cocobolo I was used to holding every day AND to build the graphite bass I wanted. I tracked down a Genesis J replacement neck, ordered the coco/mahog body blank and concocted the electronics package - Dark Star pu's and a Bart NTMB preamp. To make what was by now a long (and probably boring) story a little shorter, all that remained was to design a body shape. Harder than I thought is all I can tell you. I wanted a retro look. After endless study of Jazzmasters, old P's, Mustangs, Gibsons, Alembics and lots of others, I found myself looking at ancient Teiscos and Ekos (think DEEPLY retro) - what we might call real ?ho's". By dumb luck, I actually found a 1962 Eko Cadet in my luthier?s shop. A little tracing and pencil modifications later and I was done.. After this - lots of woodworking and learning to get a finish to stick to cocobolo (not easy - I went with nitro) and learning a bit about inlaying. Not the most distinguished or figured piece of cocobolo (by Alembic standards), but the coloring was nice and I fell in love with it (can you find the eagle?s head?). I also found and just had to add a non-matching, but really bizarre piece of cocobolo for the backplate. I learned an ton and had lots of fun doing the building. It came in on the heavier side (10.5 lb. curb weight). I had to thin the body to 1.5? to get it down (the 1.75? thick coco/mahog body blank weighed 25 lb before I cut the body out of it). But it?s currently wearing my Moody/Alembic 4? strap and isn?t hard to have on for 3-4 hours. Plus the body contours are pretty slim, making it handle better than my other basses. Well, I always intended to share it with you folks, so?Welcome to the grand unveiling of my ?Cocobolo Consolation Bass?:
A monthly special it?s not, but it sounds like heaven strung with TI JFs. Gutsy/gritty and downright mean with the neck pu soloed. Really sweet, with ultra articulate highs with the electronics balanced. The mahogany tightens up the ?blasty? character of the lows but leaves them warm and round (sounds great through my ELF 18?). Highs just sing ? no harshness. And a perfect match for my SF-2. It?s not an Alembic (I still plan to own another) but, as science experiments go, a success. This is definitely (if I do say so myself ? and I do) the best graphite necked bass I?ve heard or played. Now, maybe a 5 string version? Many thanks to Paul Ellsworth (TGO) for his invaluable technical and woodworking advice (Yes, you can clean your teeth with a spindle sander!). Bill
