Michael's Coco Bolo Lefty Custom

[mica]

Saw this and I knew it must be your bass:

 It's waiting for the neck, the clamps are just to keep things flat and ready to glue to the neck.  I asked Chip to open up the clamps so we could see clearly what was going on:

 I especially like the placement of the bottommost swirly bit  On to the back:

 Love how the top and back are successive slices - it's very cool.  And finally a side view, complete with squishy glue:

  When Chip was figuring out the placement of the body on the top, he found a small defect in the area that was going to wind up in the scrap pile. Sorry you weren't able to influence the template placement, but in this case, there was only one obvious choice, and it just worked out that the defect could be avoided.

[jlpicard]

Mica, WOW, and thanks so much for the photos! It looks incredibly beautiful already but I am confused about the body laminates. I did not ask for the wide laminate to be Purpleheart. That said, is that a maple laminate between the Coco and the purpleheart or just a glue line? If its Maple, Cool. If it's glue I'm afraid we have a problem.  Mike

[valvil]

That's maple on either side of the purpleheart.
 
Valentino

[jlpicard]

Excellent!!! That will look even better than I had hoped! I am so pumped up! You were so right when you said I should just trust Chip!

[jlpicard]

Mica, Any shots of the neck? Val tells me that it is shaped and the fingerboard has the side LEDS'!
How 'bout if I ask nicely? Please,pplease, oh Please?

[ed_r]

What kinda glue is that?

[bob]

I was about to be obnoxious and say wood glue, but noticed that Mica was already much more specific: it's squishy glue.
 
Nice grain, and the placement is wonderful.

[jlpicard]

Thanks Bob, These pictures have me really wound up!
 It's so exciting to see the bass in various stages of gestation. You know, the strange thing about Cocobolo is that it appears so different in its' raw form. It was so hard to visualize the color from the wood bank photo. And this being my first custom, makes it a little scary. You're always second guessing yourself. I guess In Val/Mica/Susan/Chip/James/etc... we trust should be my motto from here on out.

[bob]

I know exactly what you have gone through on the color of coco bolo. The raw wood looks completely different, and even those acetone wipes don't really get you to the final thing (and I still hate destroying any of that wonderful oil...).
 
It's still going to change. I don't understand why these pictures look so dark - there's no finish (or paint, as Mica prefers) on it yet! Though I think that for whatever reason, the colors in those two body shots (?!) are probably fairly close to how it will turn out.
 
And the grain is still going to move around, as the rounding of the edges and so forth occurs. It's still in the process of becoming an instrument, and I'm also looking forward to seeing just how wonderful it turns out.
 
Trust is a good thing, at least with these people.

[mica]

The neck:  

  and up close to see all the dinstinct layers:  

  It's a really attractive arrangement, I'm liking those little Maple veneers a bunch.   Ed - nothin' sexy, it just plain ol' titebond wood glue.

[ed_r]

I was wondering if you used hide glue.  
Guess not;)

[jlpicard]

OH MY GOD! I LOVE IT!! It's turning out even better than I imagined! The color of the Flame Maple really compliments the center arrangment. And those extra Maple lams should look pretty cool when it comes time to carve the Heart Omega, eh?

[mica]

Big picture day for you, Michael! These are all from the carving department:  

 

 

  Backplates still getting fitting details:  

  James finished the MD inlay:  

[David Houck]

Wow!!

[eastcoastepic]

Wow is right! Killer neck wood combo, and a pistol grip to boot (and a heart omega to come?!). Great concept, Mike, best of luck.
Chris