February 1999

Series II Doubleneck

We thought we'd really bowl you over with the first of our new monthly "Featured Custom" pages. This completely custom 4-string fretted 6-string fretless doubleneck bass was alot of fun for us to build. Hartmut presented us with many challenges: fancy wooden pickup covers and knobs, delicate inlays, and to keep it as small as possible while still retaining the look and feel of the Standard Omega body shape.

But there was no way this was going to be a small bass. While we were building this bass, we also made a purpleheart 6-string fretless Series II, and that weighed in at about 19 pounds. So after much reshaping of the body drawing, we were impressed to get the final weight at about 21 pounds. This doubleneck wasn't much bigger than that 6-string Series II.

When Hartmut visited the factory to start designing this bass, he also used the opportunity to select the woods for the body. He and Bob Nelson actually went to a local lumberyard to select the fancy burl maple top and back. He chose a piece of walnut for the core.

doubleneck
peghead inlay The peghead inlay Hartmut designed reads "Pearl of Angel" and is a very colorful mother of pearl set in a purpleheart bordered burl walnut diamond on the six string peghead. You can also see the bookmatched front peghead veneer in this photo.
Mike made these laminated turned wooden knobs for the concentric Series II controls. Mike also covered the CVQ knobs in walnut and capped them with mother of pearl.

 knobs
pickup Kris made the prototypes for these wooden pickup covers and Mike made this final product. We paint the rosewood, flame maple, and satinwood covers with our thinner polyurethane finish. The humcancellers have a thin mahogany and walnut cover.
These charming little cherubs dance up the 4-string fingerboard. Bob inlaid golden mother of pearl for the hair and white mother of pearl of the bodies and wings. Jon did the engraving details.

When we completed this project, Mike decided to count up how many pieces went into it - 444! We think this is more than any other bass we've built.

inlay

SPECIFICATIONS

  • Series II 4-string fretted, 6-string fretless doubleneck bass
  • Maple inlaid fretlines
  • Burl Maple top and back laminates
  • Walnut core
  • Custom body shape: Standard Stinger Omega on 4-string, Standard Heart Omega on 6-string
    • note: keep body as small as possible while retaining character of regular body
  • Custom inlays: 6 cherubs and 9 stars on 4-string, wings on 6-string, "Pearl of Angel" on 6-string peghead
  • Green side LEDs and front LEDs on both necks with 4 operation switches
  • Wooden pickup covers. Rosewood, Maple, and Satinwood for single coils, Mahogany and Walnut for humcancellers
  • Goldplated hardware
  • Purpleheart veneer at boundry of each neck and body joint
  • Complete Series II electronics for each neck with concentric controls and wooden knobs
  • Anvil case with built in casters

Price available on request

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