(x) Side LEDs

[the_8_string_king]

Congrats on your stunning Balance K, Jim!  I'm happy for you, and am also living vicariously thru you for now.
 
It's quite a remarkable beauty... and the combination of Maple with the Purpleheart and Ebony neck lams... well, by now you KNOW how great it sounds!
 
I'm jealous and joan-zing!  I recall you, I, bassjigga Dave and Mike the 'Ho put in our orders about the same time... but Mike wasn't happy with his top, and I've made a couple changes... so we're still waiting!  I guess you're reward for sticking with the plan is you got your masterpiece quicker.
 
Again, congrats!  The top really looks amazing...
 
I'll look forward to seeing more pictures.  I'm curious if you went for the continuous wood backplates or not.
 
Happy trails, Mark

[jtussing]

Hey thanks guys!  I'm taking my bass out into the park in a few minutes for a photo session. More pics will be coming very soon.  In the meantime, here's one I took yesterday of the back.  King, I didn't do continuous wood anywhere on this bass. Believe it or not I really wanted the brass - gives it a nautical instrument feel to me.  Also don't put too much stock in the back of the bass for decorations.  
 
However, I did ask that Ron and Susan autograph the back of the bass under the finish. I tried to change that to the inside of the backplate but that change never made it through so it was done as originally designed. But, I love it!!!  
 
Here's a pic of the back.

[jtussing]

Ok, there are about 10 more pics out there now. The link is right here. Go down towards the bottom for the new ones.
 
Tried to capture more detail for ya.  If you want more angles just let me know!
 
P.S. My fingers hurt. :-)

[jtussing]

By the way, hot tip if you're looking to see real detail in these pics. When you go to the web album and view a picture (not in slideshow mode, but just by clicking on one from the album), it will come up with a menu on the right hand side that includes the option Download Photo.  If you do this, it downloads the high-def version of the picture, which is NOT what it shows you as you're viewing the album.
 
So, it is possible to easily get a very high quality version of any of these photos. Let me know if you have any problems!

[bassjigga]

Beautiful bass! Congrats!

[mele_aloha]

Excellent pictures Jim,
 
Where was your jazz gig at?

[jtussing]

Thx Jigga & Paul,
 
The show was at the Columbus Jazz & Rib Festival. It's an annual three day event here.

[mele_aloha]

Awesome, sounds like fun!

[jtussing]

Hi Mica, originally I had discussed getting autographs on the wood itself on the back of the bass.  You thought that would be unwise and after having seen the FREAKING BEAUTIFUL wood there, I've thought the better of it and would rather just have the inside (hidden part) of the electronics cover autographed in permanent ink.
 
This is not intended to be an inconvenience, so if it is just ignore the request, but what I would like if possible is an autograph by Ron (given the space) and then pass it around the shop/office and let anyone who worked on the order initial/graffitti it to their liking - whatever as long as they don't cover up the autograph!  Anyway, this is just a novelty for my first (don't tell my wife) Alembic!    
 
Please let me know if you have any questions and, again, if it's disruptive in any way just ignore.
 
Thanks!
Jim

[jtussing]

Hey Mica!  I see you've been busy - just posting here to call your attention to the above post.  Figured you might have missed it in the deluge of posts over the last couple weeks. No big deal whether we do this or not - just thought it would be cool if it's not too disruptive.
 
Thanks!

[jtussing]

Just closing this out. It looks like Mica never saw this. The autographs were done as we originally discussed, beneath the finish on the back of the bass. It actually looks very unique and cool.
 
But a good lesson for everyone: Make sure to get a confirmation of anything you do here. This is a good tool for discussing things and Mica's system of checking things off really works (this one was not checked off by her and I didn't confirm the request via any other route).  
 
You can see the signature on the back of my bass here.  It's under the finish and well protected, and I really like how it turned out. Makes it very special.
 

 
Thanks!

[jtussing]

Hi Mica,
 
I had originally floated the idea of gold plating on the uncovered by deluxe hardware of my bass.  It's not in my price range so I wish to confirm that I don't want any gold plating beyond the standard for a sig deluxe.  
 
Thanks!

[mica]

Ok Jim, I'm confirming the standard gold machine heads and the polished brass hardware.

[jtussing]

Confirmed!  Thanks!

[jtussing]

Here are the electronics decisions we've made:
 
Upgraded to Anniversary Electronics (separate volumes replacing volume and pan; pickup selector switch; stereo output jack with stereo/mono switch) with the following custom changes (via Susan):
 
Upgrading the standard 8db 2-position Q switches to: 0/4/8db three-position Q switches.
 
Anniversary pickup selector switch changed to a standard 3-way toggle switch (neck/both/bridge) instead of one of those pie-shaped rotating switches (sorry don't know what they're called).
 
Thanks!