M-Series™ entering production

[Rodent]

I came to the sad conclusion this afternoon that, given the turn time of the paint shop I use, I'm not going to have this Koa topped M-Series 5-string (seen here with body just rough cut at the bandsaw) ready in time to take with me to the NAMM show next month



still, I will have a couple other basses there at the booth of one of my suppliers

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

took a break away from taking a break away from the shop this week, and got a little bit of sanding done. here's three of the four M-Series bodies currently working their way thru the shop



for reference L -> R

- spalted Koa on Swamp Ash
- Redwood burl on flame Maple
- Amboyna burl on Swamp Ash

today was probably my last building activity for 2010 thanks to a l-o-n-g list of house repair items I need to get completed before my day-job goes back on-line

thanks for all your interest in the posts here this year, your feedback and suggestions, and your friendship. see you in 2011

all the best,

R

[fivebass52]

Been too lazy to sign on and say WOW! Beautiful looking tops - it's a shame sometimes that routing is necessary for the small things like pickups/guards, that cuts in to the flow of the grain....

[Rodent]

this 5-string M-Series is wrapping up and should make it to NAMM (unless I do something really stupid that can't be fixed tomorrow)

here it is right after levelling the frets and oiling the fretboard



still a little left to do on this one, but it should be rumbling the assembly room sometime Sun afternoon

Specs:

- Maple burl top on 1-piece Swamp Ash body with contoured heel
- AAA Birdseye neck shaft with 16"R Pau Ferro fretboard
- Nordstrand Big Singles pickup set
- Nordstrand 2-band preamp wired Vol (pull passive) + Blend + Passive tone + Active Bass/Treble stack
- Hipshot Type A alum core bridge
- Hipshot Ultralight tuners
- Dunlop strap locks

This bass is available for sale and will have special NAMM pricing

all the best,

R

[fivebass52]

That top looks like pictures I've seen of the surface of the sun.. just before a solar flare! Awesome!

[AzWhoFan]

That top looks like pictures I've seen of the surface of the sun.. just before a solar flare! Awesome!

great description. i am stoked that I'll finally get a chance to check out Rod's basses next week. I am very much of a first impression type of person when it comes to instruments. I try to let them speak to me as soon as I touch 'em. The Wyn bass I bought at NAMM last year pretty much screamed out my name as soon as i touched it.

At the time Rod described it as a Ferrari. He wasn't kidding. I sure hope his turn out to be Lambourgini's (sp) in disguise.

[fivebass52]

That top looks like pictures I've seen of the surface of the sun.. just before a solar flare! Awesome!

great description. i am stoked that I'll finally get a chance to check out Rod's basses next week. I am very much of a first impression type of person when it comes to instruments. I try to let them speak to me as soon as I touch 'em. The Wyn bass I bought at NAMM last year pretty much screamed out my name as soon as i touched it.

At the time Rod described it as a Ferrari. He wasn't kidding. I sure hope his turn out to be Lambourgini's (sp) in disguise.

Wish I was going to NAMM this year, but look forward to your's, and others descriptions of the basses and products - god or bad - that you describe to us. Very interested to hear what you think of Rod's work/basses.

[Rodent]

it's done and ready to roll!

here's a few pix of the M-Series NAMM 2011 5-string









Specs:
Here's the specs on this bass:

- high grade void-free spalted burl Maple top on a light weight 1-piece Swamp Ash body core
- 3/8"R round over front/back edges
- tummy and forearm contours
- contoured heel with ferrule mount neck
- gloss finish

- AAA Birdseye Maple neck with Pau Ferro fretboard
- 1-7/8" nut
- dual graphite stiffening rods, heel adjust trussrod
- stainless steel zero-fret
- 6125 nickel silver alloy fretwire
- 0.80" thick at first fret
- rounded fretboard edges
- unbleached bone nut
- satin finish

- Nordstrand Big Singles pickup set
- Nordstrand 2-band preamp configured Vol (p/p) + Blend + Passive tone + Active Bass/Treble stack
- Hipshot Type A (alum core) bridge with 19mm spacing
- Hipshot Ultralight tuners
- full copper foil cavity shielding (control and pickup cavities) connected via common ground
- electro-socket side jack
- Dunlop strap locks
- Hipshot 4-string alum string retainer
- metal control knobs
- black hardware
- DR Sunbeams .045" - .125" string set

- final fully assembled weight = 9.125 pounds

Special NAMM 2011 pricing: $2495 + actual shipping

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

this M-Series™ 5-string Redwood/Maple/Redwood sandwich acquired a roughed-out gut-cut and forearm contour this evening, and afterwards got a light Naphtha wipe to highlight the figuring





this one should be heading off to the paint shop sometime in Feb

all the best,

R

[Basshappi]

I have to say that over the last few years I have become very enamoured of figured redwood. What is it like to work with?

[Rodent]

I have to say that over the last few years I have become very enamoured of figured redwood. What is it like to work with?

I have heard endless horror stories about working with Redwood, to the extent that I was hesitant to use these sets on this build. Redwood appears to be very brittle, is prone to chip-out when cutting if your cutting tools are not freshly sharpened, and will burn deeply (like Cherry or soft Maple heartwood) if you hesitate for a millisecond when using a router.

that said ... so far these two sets have been very well behaved in every phase of the build. I had one small issue with expansion during the body core glue-up phase, but it was easily remedied with the thickness sander once the core had fully cured and transpired its inherited glue-up moisture. my largest remaining concern now is routing out the control cavity, and how the top is going to behave when all of the Maple core is removed - my fear here is that it will shatter during the cavity routing process that follows hogging out the bulk of the wood with a Forstner bit, so I'll be taking light 1/16" deep passes to help reduce the potential of this happening. still, everything should be OK thanks to the added structure that the veneer accent layer will impart to all of the crazy burl figure above it

I'll definitely be using similarly figured Redwood burl on future builds, but I'm not sure I'm ready to embrace regular curly Redwood tops with a grain structure more closely resembling what you'd see in Western Red Cedar

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

updated images of the Redwood build for your viewing pleasure. this will be heading off to the paint shop in the next couple of weeks






all the best,

R

[Rodent]

the body -just- arrived back from the paint shop ... perfect lunchtime delivery from FedEx

(apologies for the fingerprint marks and lightbulb glare by that control hole)




this is my first time using this shop, and I can say I'm very pleased based on my initial inspection. one key detail is that the grain filler used didn't leave any light colored deposits in the black veneer line (a personal pet peeve) or in any of the birdseyes in the Redwood top sets

the neck is equally as nice. I'll post an initial test fit image once I have the neck pocket detailed and ready to accept the finished neck

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

I got the masking tape cleaned from the neck pocket. the neck sets snugly into the pocket as it should









all the best,

R

[blankrider]

Man, that finish looks killer!

[Rodent]

2016 update: this model has officially been discontinued

Key features of this model have been incorporated into the 2016 Regenerator model