Another Salamander, this time with an eastern red cedar top on a basswood back.
I initially did the same gouged surfacing as on the walnut one, but wasn’t happy with how it turned out on the cedar, so I sanded it down and just did a mildly distressed finish, which suits it much better.
The neck is maple, with an osage orange fretboard.
Pickups are my homespun humbuckers, but my standard windings ended up sounding overly bright and harsh in this one, compared to the walnut version with the walnut neck and persimmon fretboard, so i made a set of overwound ones, which sound much fuller and less brash.
Bridge pickup: 7200 turns per coil, 10.6K ohms DCR
Neck pickup: 5600 turns per coil, 8.2K ohms DCR
Both have alnico 5 rod polepieces and aluminum casings.
Brass compensated bridge/tailpiece combo.
Hipshot Classic tuners.
Weighs 6.6 pounds.
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#1701 Salamander
Further evolution of the Salamander design, featuring a carved walnut top, surfaced with a gouge to give a hand-hewn look, on a contoured basswood back.
Very sleek and comfortable.
Neck is walnut, with a persimmon fretboard.
Homespun humbuckers with alnico 5 polepieces.
Bridge~ 6000 turns per coil, 8.7K ohms DCR
Neck~ 5000 turns per coil, 7.5K ohms DCR
Aluminum compensated bridge/tailpiece with locking studs.
Hipshot Classic open-gear tuners.
25″ scale, 22 high/wide frets
Weighs 6.8 pounds
sold
#1606 salamander
this is a new one.
from Wikipedia~
“The salamander is an amphibian of the order Urodela which, as with many real creatures, often has been ascribed fantastic and sometimes occult qualities by pre-modern authors (as in the allegorical descriptions of animals in medieval bestiaries) not possessed by the real organism. The legendary salamander is often depicted as a typical salamander in shape, with a lizard-like form, but is usually ascribed an affinity with fire, sometimes specifically elemental fire.”
a curious thing, considering the typically moist habitat and manner of the non-mythical variety.
one piece cucumbertree body with lightly hammered and torched finish.
bolt on maple neck with osage orange fretboard.
homespun humbuckers with aluminum casings and alnico 5 polepieces.
bridge~ 6000 turns per coil, 8.8k
neck~ 5000 turns per coil, 7.5k
aluminum compensated tailpiece
hipshot classic tuners
weighs 6.6 pounds.
Sold
#1605 the new old barnstormer sc
i change things a lot, often with little or no explanation.
for the past few years, i have been using this shape for the barnstormer…
but some of you may remember this as the original…
so this is the new version of the old one, which i like better than both.
particularly with the new bridge and pickup covers.
like the previous iteration, this one has a bolt on neck.
the body is made from sections of salvaged 2×4 beech barn rafters, with the edges hollowed out prior to gluing up.
the neck is walnut, with an osage orange fretboard.
homespun p90 pickups, brass compensated tailpiece, hipshot classic tuners.
oh, and a cute bug hole in the end by the strap button.
#1604 rusticator sc
#1407 barnstormer (makeover)
this is one i built a couple years ago and decided to change a few things on.
here is how it looked before~
and now, with an antique copper pickguard and one less pickup~
the top is one single piece of elm barnwood with the original red paint, on a single piece cucumbertree back, with a distressed finish.
neck is maple, with a persimmon fretboard.
single coil pickups with coil taps wired to give humbucking operation in the middle position.
grover deluxe tuners and brass hardtail bridge.
weighs 7 pounds.
Sold
one for me…
i haven’t played much music in a while, but i recently ended up playing bass in “Rock of Ages”, a broadway musical from 2010, playing at the Arts Center of Canon County , so i decided i needed a new bass. i had the body and neck mostly done already, as i had started them a few years ago and never got around to finishing them.
the body is butternut, with a 1/4″ bookmatched knotty eastern red cedar top.
neck is birdseye maple, with a persimmon fretboard.
the bridge is a thick brass hardtail i have had for a long time, and i  don’t remember where it came from.
front pickup is a razor sinle coil p-bass
rear pickup is a humbucker i made. the coils are built like jazz bass pickups, with 8000 turns on one coil. and 12,000 on the other, with a coil tap at 8000.
the three position switch gives a heavy humbucker, a hot j-bass bridge, and a classic p-bass sound.
weighs a little over seven pounds, which my shoulder likes a lot.
#1508 barnstormer sc
#1504 barnstormer sc
#1602 road dog t
archive post~ sold
Completed April, 2016 for Rebel Guitars
Body: Sassafras, with salvaged, green painted
yellow pine beadboard top
Neck: Bolt on, quartersawn oak, with persimmon fretboard
Pickups: Dismal ax homespun humbuckers
Tuners: Hipshot classic
Bridge: 3 saddle brass hardtail
Pickguard: 1966 Georgia license tag, steel
Control knobs: vintage phenolic.
Control plate: brass
Weight: 8.3 lbs