Grateful Dead Music Forum

Ok, I've been waiting a long time to make a thread about this, and today's the day. I wasn't happy with how my current bass sounded when playing with a pick.. it's just too aggressive to be Phil. So I designed a new bass, ordered all the parts, and had my dad build the body. It's on a UPS truck for delivery as we speak.

I'm late for work, so I'll provide details later if anyone's interested. Here's the full saga from the end of the design stage to now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danfcrea/s ... 940563012/


or you can just skip to the end and see the finished product:

Beautiful!

Wow ! That is really sharp. Looks well done.
Me and my dad are making a h.o. train layout .....

Gorgeous work! An obvious Irwin(/Leiber) nod, design-wise. Construction details when you get the chance, plus what's under the hood?

SWEET!

Cant wait to hear it!

wow!

Beautiful!!!!

nice. that thing is pimp.

That is one great looking guitar!

Thanks, guys!

I'm working on a full writeup for the Fennario website, but here are the nitty-gritty details for now:

Warmoth Neck - Maple and Purpleheart lamintes with a Ziricote fretboard.
Gotoh tuners
Warwick Bridge and Nut
Bartolini's original series pickups (passive humbuckers)
ACG preamp - with high and low pass filters, somewhat Alembic-like
Custom body made of Maple and Purpleheart with a Mahogany core, and Coco Bolo top and back.

So far I'm really happy with the sound... it's pretty close to Phil's first full Alembic prototype, Mission Control. The ACG really does a good job of copying the way his sound changed from show to show in the late 70s. And yep, it weighs a freaking ton... about 13.5 pounds.