Johnathan's Custom Stanley Clarke

[mica]

Here's the top candidates for the top of your new bass:  

 Choice 1  

 Choice 2  These tops are fresh off the bandsaw and the still look awesome. Wait until the paint hits 'em.   Here's a piece typical of our Burl Maple stock for the pickguard.

  For the Coco Bolo back, can you give me some idea if you have any preferences (light, dark, red, etc.) or would you like us to surprise you?

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

I believe Jim will have sent the wood preferences to you by now.  Would it be possible to see a drawing of the pick-guard before the wood gets cut?  I'm sure that will be some weeks down the road.  Thanks.

[mica]

Absolutley! There's no way James is gonna drill holes in the top of a Burl Walnut custom Stanley Clarke bass before you both see and approve the design of the pickguard.  
 
Do you want it to wrap around one or both pickups? Any other guidelines you can give me before I start sketching?

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

I think you would be the best person to judge a proper pick-guard style that would flow with the body, though I prefer it wrap around only one pickup

[mica]

Chip found this awesome Burl Walnut today and wanted you to see it:
 

 
He also placed a suggested position for a Small Standard body on the right side - hope you can see it.  
 
Let me know if you want to switch to this super burl.

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

Two questions before I make my final decision:
1) What would this new piece of wood look like after it leaves the spray booth (would the wood appear darker, etc)?
2) Could a get a closer picture of the right piece of wood (I would like to get a better view of the wood figure)?
I was set on choice 1 until you sent this....

[mica]

1) It will look darker by a good bit.
 
2) Here is a closeup:
 

 
The pictures I showed you at the top of this thread are successive slices from the same log, and upon closer inspection, aren't really all that burly. Let me know what you think about this wild piece.

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

I believe I will go with your appraisal of the woods and pick choice #3, the newest piece of wood.

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

I wasn't quite sure if you received my Cocobolo preferences; so just in case you didn't, here it is:
I would like the wood to be on the dark side with a bit of red.  The grain does not have to be very straight.

[mica]

Cool! I'll let Chip know you liked the wood he found - it's really very unusual.  
 
Jim did relate your Coco Bolo preferences to me. I'm glad you're not looking for straight grain - it's harder to come by. We've got just about every flavor of Coco Bolo, so finding a nice darkish-reddish piece won't be a problem. Do you want a preview of it or do you want it to be a surprise?
 
I've worked on the pickguard design, and so far I'm not happy with any of the concepts. I'll keep at it until I've got something I think you'll like.

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

Please surprise me with the Cocobolo, you have my supreme confidence

[mica]

Alright, Jon. I'm sure you'll like our selection and the excitement of the surprise.
 
Chip plans to assemble the body of your bass in the next run, which starts on Wednesday.

[mica]

Well, your bass is ready to put on the pickguard. There's one sealer coat on the bass, and all that's left is to decide on the shape. Here is our first proposal mocked up on another bass:
 

 
We've come up with a couple of other related shapes, but I'd like to know if this is generally what you had in mind. Note that the truss rod cover will be continuous and the same shape as it is usually. This way you won't have to remove the whole pickguard to do a truss rod adjustment.
 
Let me know what you think!

[Jon Hirsch (ta2jon69)]

This is pretty much exactly what I was looking for.  If you have another suggestion, I'm still open to ideas.  I was wondering if you could post an in-progress picture of the bass (after the pick-guard is attached).

[mica]

Here are a couple of other ideas to at least eliminate before we cut the final design:  

 

  The idea is the echo the shape of the omega in the design around the pickguard. The one on the left eliminates the left side-shape, but is otherwise the same to the picture on the right. This also covers up a little less wood than the first design.   Let me know if you like the first design, or the one or two- part from today's proposals. We'll get the pickguard cut and then get a photo of the result to you.