New 3/21/07
Today we are proud to unveil Vincent's beautiful lefty NX6.
As has been mentioned in the "What's New" page during
its construction this bass is a bit of a departure from many
of Carey's previous custom instruments. Where many of our
customers want a really wild figure in their top wood and
an explosive sound, Vincent was after something with a classic
dignified look and a vintage sound. Specifically he wanted
a great P-bass character in bass with Carey's attention to
detail and sense of ergonomics.
From the bolt-on neck construction to the simplicity if its
controls, this elegant NX is a stunner. The alder body and
cocobolo fretboard balance tonally and aesthetically with
the regal walnut top and the cocobolo used in the pickup cover,
knobs and truss rod cover. The custom 6 string P-style pickup
delivers a great round tone with plenty of sweetness and the
passive set up keeps the singularity Vincent was after.
New 12/5/06
This edition of the gallery page will feature not one but
two basses and they will be the first pics shot
outside of the studio. Carey felt that it was time to shake
things up a bit and natural lighting seemed the way to go.
First up is Greg's set neck NX6. The alder body and maple
neck are complemented by a cocobolo fretboard and a lush burl
redwood top and headstock laminate. The pickups are a set
of Fat Stacks running into an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp. Also worth
noting is the abalone and mother of pearl inlay work which
provides a great but subtle contrast to the dark woods of
the top and fingerboard.
Juxtaposed with Greg's beauty is Len's bolt-on NX5. The northern
ash body and spalted maple top in conjunction with the birdseye
maple fretboard give this bass a smooth and focused sound
with plenty of warmth, especially when delivered through a
set of Nordstrand Fat Stacks and an Audere preamp. The pickup
covers and tone control knobs were made from spalted maple
as well and add a unique dimension to the instrument's look.
The black veneer line offers an elegant detail which sets
this bass apart even further from many other custom instruments.
New 10/6/06
Here is Aram's NJ6 Deluxe bolt on. Its northern ash body
is complemented with a stunning myrtle top and a birdseye
fretboard. The clean look of this bass is enhanced by the
choice of simple black hardware and minimal controls for the
passive Big Singles. The pickup covers are cut from the same
piece of myrtle as the top.
This is Eli's fretless NJ5 Deluxe bolt on. The zebrano top
makes a beautiful link between the alder body and the unlined
ebony fingerboard. The P-split J pickup set in conjunction
with the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp offers a number of tone options.
The short 33" scale makes this bass a breeze to play
as well.
Here's Mike's fretless set neck NX6. Per his request the
northern ash body was made extra thick to enhance the wood's
tonal properties. The top is a striking splated horse chestnut
with a matching headstock laminate. To contrast these woods
the fingerboard and nut are made of pink ivory while the neck
stringers and transition block are wenge. Ebony was used for
the control knobs of the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp and for the
covers on our Big Single pickups. The final touch of elegance
are the abalone used for the Nordstrand logo and for the side
position marker dots.
New 2/2/06
Here's the first NX5 bolt on. This one has
a one piece northern ash body with a spalted maple top. The
neck is three piece maple and the fingerboard is birdseye
maple with abalone block inlays. The pickups are FatStacks
under birdseye maple and the knobs are also birdseye maple.
The finish is satin urethane for a natural look and feel.
This was the first bass to involve the CNC to any degree.
It's going to The
Groove Shoppe and will be the first bass they've recieved.
New 6/15/05
These are the pics for ChernWei's bass. I have had them done
for a while and have finally had a chance to put them up.
This bass is a 34.5" scale SC5 with a black limba body
that has a camphor burl back and a really nice koa top. The
neck is maple and wenge and the fingerboard is Brazilian rosewood.
Pickups are Dual Coil 5's and it has RMC piezo pickups with
their own volume (the 7th knob).
New 5/19/05
Here's a bass I built for Don. This one is a 32" scale
alder body bass with an amboyna top. The fingerboard is stabilized
ebony. The matching cover hides a set of J pickups and P pickup.
It has an Aguilar obp-3 with a passive tone. The seventh knob
is a tone for the P pickup.
New 4/25/05
This is Leo's bass. It's an NJ6 34.5" scale with an
ash body with a maple top. The neck is maple, bubinga, and
wenge. The fingerboard, ramp, and pickup covers are cocobolo.
This bass has dual coils with a series/single/parallel switch
for each one and a mid frequency switch for the Aguilar OBP-3
preamp.
New 2/12/05
Here's the new NX design. This is an NX7 built for Scott
Pazera. It has an alder body with a redwood burl top,
a three piece maple neck, cocobolo fingerboard, and cocobolo
pickup covers and knobs. The scale is 34.5" and it has
29 frets. The pickups are my FatStacks and it has an Aguilar
OBP-3 with no treble knob and a passive tone. The pickups
are split-able to single and there is an active passive switch
on the volume knob.
This NJ4 Deluxe is going to Japan. It's got an alder body
with a redwood burl top, a three piece maple neck and a pau
ferro fingerboard. The neck pickup is placed in the traditional
P position. The controls are volume and tone for each pickup
on a stacked set. The switches are pickup selector, split
for the Fat Stacks, and tone bypasses for each pickup. The
customer requested the MT inlay.
New 12/20/2004
William's bass is complete and he'll have it in a few days.
This one is an NJ5 Deluxe with a walnut top on an alder body.
It has the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp with an active passive switch
and a split switch to take the Fat Stacks to single coil mode.
It has a maple meck with walnut stringers and an Indian rosewood
fingerboard. The pickup covers and knobs are also Indian rosewood.
New 12/19/2004
David Goodman picked up his bass yesterday. This is another
set neck double cutaway. It has a northern ash core with a
goncalo alves top and a camphor burl back. This is the first
bass that i've managed to photograph with the laser cut matching
cavity cover. The neck woods are maple, wenge, and bubinga
down the middle, with a pau ferro fingerboard. It has my dual
coil pickups and a Benevente preamp at David's request.
New 10/5/2004
Ok, so here at last are some pics of the latest basses shipped.
This is Christoph Huebner's bass. It's a mahogany SC5 with
a quilt maple top and a maple/wenge neck. The fingerboard,
pickup covers, and ramps are pau ferro. The inlay on the ramp
was done with the laser machine. This bass has my dual coil
pickups and a very special 3 band preamp.
This bass is going to Blueberryhillbass.com.
It is an ash bodied SC5 with a maple neck and birdseye maple
fingerboard. The top is amboyna burl, and the stringers in
the neck are bubinga. The transition block is burled redwood.
It has my FatStack pickups and an Aguilar obp-3 preamp with
a passive tone control.
New 8/3/04
My personal bass! This one is made from solid bookmatched
spalted flamed soft maple. It has a flame maple and zebrawood
neck with a birdseye maple fingerboard. All matching covers,
my dual coils and an Aguilar OBP-3 preamp with an active/passive
switch and a passive tone. It also has an unusual scale of
33.5". I'll be playing out soon with this bass and I
can't wait to give it a whirl in the real world.
This is Rob LoPrinzi's bass. It has a mahogany body, myrtle
top, 3 piece maple neck, and pau ferro fingerboard. It has
my NJ4SE's and the Aguilar obp-3 with active/passive and a
passive tone. Really a great and punchy sounding bass! - Also,
this is my older NJ shape. Rob has one of my first basses
with this shape and he wanted to duplicate it here.
New 4/29/04
This bass is going to Japan. It's an SC5 with an alder body,
three piece maple neck, pau ferro fingerboard, and myrtle
top. It has my Fat Stack pickups with a push pull split switch
for single coil operation. It also has a soft V shaped neck
and I have to say I really like it. I'm probably going to
do this for my personal bass - if I ever get around to building
a personal bass...
New 2/9/04
Here's Bill Norman's bass. He's an Accessbass
customer and his bass is finally done. It's an alder SC5 with
an ebony top and a three piece maple neck with a maple fingerboard.
It is a 33" scale bass as well. The pickups are my J5
singles with maple covers. The preamp is a Sadowsky 2 band.
It turned out to be quite a striking instrument.
Here's Matt's new bass, an SC4 with Fat Stack pickups running
through a Smith preamp. The top is Koa and the back is birdseye
maple. The core is alder and the neck is three piece maple
with a birdseye maple fingerboard. The neck pickup was moved
closer towards the bridge for a very fat growly tone.
New 2/5/04
This bass went to Blueberryhill
Bass. Check their site for specs. Enjoy the pics!
New 1/24/04
Here is the 2004 NAMM bass. Enjoy!
This bass belongs to Rafe Bradford, a Chicago area bass player,
producer, and all around musician. Here's a link to a page
about Rafe with some killin recordings he's worked on:
http://www.beezwaxrecords.com/bradford.htm
This is a 33" scale SC5 with an ash body, ash and padauk
neck, maple fingerboard, and camphor burl top. Sweet little
bass!
This bass now belongs to Eduardo Kelerstein of Mexico City.
He tells me he loves it and want to order another one!
New 11/4/03
Jon Evans came by to pick up his bass yesterday, but not
before I got a chance to take some nice pictures of it. This
is an NJ4 Deluxe with an alder body capped by a great piece
of crotch walnut. The neck is wenge and the fingerboard is
stabilized macassar ebony. The pickup covers are also macassar.
Here are some comments from Jon:
"Hi Carey.
A few days have gone by since I took hold of my new baby
Girl, and
I must say that I'm absolutely speechless! Like your elder
client
Matt, I too have sold and had the privilege to feel the greats,
a
stunning 64' P-Bass that frankly was the end of the line,
a
particular 62' Jazz that was again, from another realm. Was
it the
wood?, Was it the mood of the day?. Who knows. I just know
I felt it.
I liked it. Back to my new bass, It belongs to that group
of
??????????? instruments that I just know go way beyond my
ability to
form tangible descriptions. The fact that you were under Azola
and
Suhr show that you learned from the very best. I know this
because I
worked alongside John Suhr and was privileged to have witnessed
his
tremendous skill. You go beyond. That is all.
Best. Jon Evans"
Photo Archive
New 10/28/03
This bass is going to Bunnybass, but I believe it is already
sold. This is a fairly traditionally made NJ5 Deluxe. It has
an alder body with a quilt maple top and a maple neck with
an Indian rosewood fingerboard. It also features my J5 single
coil pickups for a clean traditional tone. The top on this
one is lightly stained in an amber yellow color and with the
gloss finish the wood took on an almost iridescent quality.
It's quite striking in person.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight
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New 10/23/03
Adrian of Accessbass
came by today to pick up his latest bass. It features a very
unique almost marble looking madrone burl top. The neck is
maple, purpleheart, and wenge with cocobolo fingerboard, pickup
covers and THG knobs.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight
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New 10/17/03
This NJ5 Deluxe is going to Japan. It has an alder body with
a redwood top and a three piece maple neck with a cocobolo
fingerboard. The pickup covers and knob (courtesy of THG)
are also in cocobolo. It has my Fat Stack pickups with the
Aguilar OBP-3 and really sounds very good. Frighteningly good
as a matter of fact. Enjoy.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven
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New 9/9/03
Andy Bailey's bass is done, the last of the batch. This is
an SC6 with an alder body and quilted redwood top. The laminates
in the maple neck are bubinga as is the transition block.
The fingerboard and pickup cover are cocobolo. This bass has
one dual coil pickup and an RMC piezo system. The sound is
huge.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight
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New 9/4/03
Mike Zimmerman's bass is done. It has a one piece wenge neck
set into an alder body with a myrtle top. The stabilized ebony
fingerboard is bound in white plastic as is the headstock.
This bass has my five string stack pickups for a huge vintage
like tone. I have to say, this is my favorite bass tonally
so far, although I generally prefer a 34.5" scale to
the 35" on this bass. I hope Mike likes it as much as
I do!
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight/nine
New 7/28/03
Here at last is Jeff Rader's new bass. It has an alder body
with a crotch mahogany top and a horse chestnut back with
matching control cavity cover. The neck is three piece maple
with an ebony laminate under a stabilized snakewood fingerboard.
The pickups are my dual coils with exposed poles in ebony
covers. The bass also features RMC piezo saddles and their
Polydrive I preamp synth system. And, this is the first time
I used THG knobs. I
am very impressed with the quality of these knobs and they
really put the finishing touch on the bass. Enjoy!
Jaff sent me an email about a month after he recieved the
bass. Here is an excerpt:
"Carey,
Just a note to say that bass you made for me is the finest
instrument I have ever played!
I am enjoying it so much. The folks I play with prefer it
to my Sadowsky - which they prefered to any other bass I've
owned by a wide margin! My wife (who has a great ear) says
it's the best sounding bass she's heard. The craftsmanship
is truly stunning, it balances perfectly and is and is so
easy to play. An amazing bass that I feel priviledged to own.
I even sold the Fodera - no need for it!
I can't tear myself away from it long enough to send it back
to you to work on the volume and synth!
You have a special gift. Don't burn yourself out.
Thanks so much!
Jeff"
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight/nine/ten
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This bass now belongs to Harry Schnitzler.
He used to be one of the Bunnies of Bunnybass and after putting
my big singles in this bass he has decided that he's going
to keep it. He comented: "It has just a wonderful woody,
full, and detailed tone. I love it."
one/two/three/four/five/six
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New 7/22/03
Adrian's new SC5 was shipped today. Here are some pics for
your enjoyment. This bass sold in one day, but Adrian has
pics and an audio clip at his site. Accessbass.com.
The bass has an alder body with a box elder burl top and
matching pickup covers. The neck is 3 pieces of maple and
the fingerboard is pau ferro. This bass features the second
incarnation of my stack design pickups. They have a very big
sound with a lot of punch and warmth.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight
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New 5/22/03
This is the newest SC5. Note the 22 fret fingerboard. This
thing is a slap monster!
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven
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New 5/14/03
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven
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New 4/13/03
This is my friend Ed Heppenstall's bass. He was my first
bass teacher about 12 years ago. He's very excited to have
this bass. I'll have to take some more pics when I can. This
bass deserves them
one/two/three
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New 4/10/03
This bass went to AccessBass.
Adrian came by and picked it up yesterday. I was sad to see
it go, but I guess I have to sell these when I finish them.
This bass has my 5 string singles slightly overwound to compensate
a little for this wood combination's tendency to be a bit
scoopd sounding. The result was very nice indeed. Add an Aguilar
OBP-3 with the midrange centered at 450hz and you've got a
pretty versatile bass.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight
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New 2/17/03
This is Andrew's Bass, an SC6. He has waited a long time
for it and it's finally ready. It features a Australian redgum
top on a chambered alder body, and an ebony fingerboard tops
a 3 piece maple neck. It has an unusual electronics package
consisting of a volume, blend, tone, mid, and bass control.
This bass also features my own custom wound dual coil pickups
inside ebony covers.
one/two/three/four/five/six/seven/eight/nine
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New 1/20/03
This is Matt's second bass. It is an SC4 with a spalted horse
chestnut top and back and an alder core. It has a 3 piece
maple neck with a lined fretless pink ivory fingerboard and
matching pickup covers.
one/two/three/four/five/six
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Below is Frank's first bass.It is now happily owned by Gene
Mirra. He's very excited to have a great 4 string. Here's
what he said in an email after recieving the bass:
"I've got to say, I'm VERY IMPRESSED with your work.
This bass has made 4 string fun again. Adrian was right,
you really are one of the best out there. Everything about
this bass was perfect, and that reflects on you as the builder.
I would defintley consider having you build me a custom
in the future. I can't thank you enough!"
one/two/three/four/five
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