Skinny Orion 5

[coyoteboy]

Still dreaming for sure, but lets get all the silly questions in one place shall we?

Orion 5, </=17mm bridge spacing, fat neck carve. I was leaning toward balance k shape, but wifey likes Europa shape better.

* the europa/Orion 4 has the right body proportion to my eye. Can a narrow space 5 be shoved into a 4 string Orion body?
* Have a particular color palette in mind, and the Stormburst will do nicely, but Im after a lighter board. I know maple is uncommon but available, but what might be other options? White ebony, sapwood of purpleheart, mac ebony, katalox, or ziricote? Bleached wengé?
* Likely opt for signature electronics
* I see cream pup covers, but no cream knobs. They available?
* SS frets. More trouble than they're worth? I like the slippery feel of my SS equipped EBMM. 
Thats it for now. Dream on!

[edwardofhuncote]

Well hey there coyoteboy! Don't I know you from somewhere else. Welcome to the Alembic Club.

I don't think a narrow-spaced five-string would be much trouble. The 'Classic-taper' bridge is darn close to 17mm spacing anyway, so it's really a matter of slimming the neck to suit. Our own Jimmy J likes his five-strings with very narrow proportions as well, so they're no stranger to that notion at Alembic.

The Shop has turned out a couple really nice maple fingerboard models lately, but going custom, I bet they could find something even more special. Look around the wood pages for Pale Moon Ebony, see what you think of that. 

Your idea sound like an interesting one... looking forward to it.

[mica]

Actually, on an Orion bass, the body is the same regardless of the number of strings or the spacing - so that's no problem.

If you're doing a light colored wood for the fingerboard, you'll need to decide if you want the regular oil finish or if you want a more protective coating on the wood.

We can get just about any knobs you need. Maybe Maple ones if you're going with a Maple fingerboard?

SS frets are extry. I don't have lots of personal experience playing them, but pretty much if you like 'em then you should get 'em - after all, this is your custom bass

[coyoteboy]

Thanks Mica for looking in. Definately go for the finished fingerboard, I havent tried one of those. Does that get sprayed last after fret dressing, then you just wear it off the fret tops?

[coyoteboy]

Color inspiration courtesy of Ikea. 

I like the contrast between the greys, cream, charcoal, gold, brown, and wheat. So:

Storm Burst
Cypress? Top back
Avodire? Core
Cream pups/knobs
Maple board with some tint
Maple, mac ebony, and pao amarillo neck
Marching front headcap, walnut back lamp

https://instagram.com/p/BThHxn2AmVb/

[coyoteboy]

Okay, I'm waffling between Europa, Balance K Point and non-offset  EVH, but Ive decided to let the tint go in lieu of a nice grey-taupe slab of bocote for the face. Myrtle back/core, all maple neck, though I'm curious about a walnut neck. Katalox sapwood for the board if I'm lucky. Keeping the cream pup covers. ;-)