Hackett Customs Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 (edited) Greetings! I am a new member here so I thought I would share my most recently completed build. This also happens to be the first official build under the "Hackett Custom Guitars" name. I have named this one Rapscallion. 5 string 34 inch scale 24 stainless steel frets Dual-action truss rod Carbon fiber reinforced neck Sperzel locking tuners Kahler bridge Magnetically fastened covers for control cavity and truss rod Both pups are Hackett Custom pickups. Bridge pup is single coil jazz style. Neck pup is single coil rail with 2 alnico-5 magnets. Bartolini bass preamp Neutrik locking output jack Paua Blue Abalone inlay and position markers 5 piece laminate neck (black walnut, mahogany, maple) Figured ipe fingerboard Hand carved body (Crotch grain black walnut and mahogany top. White oak back with black walnut and mahogany laminates) Figured ipe and white oak pickup covers Handmade knobs (white oak, mahogany) Gloss tru-oil finish Custom made flight case made by Bestincase Road Cases Please let me know what you think! Edited February 20, 2016 by Hackett Customs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 I never know what to think about bass body designs.......so I'll just let that part alone. I love the quality of the carve. And now I'm going to say something I hear from time to time myself: I like the back better than the front. I love the finishing job you did on the white oak, and the control cavity is killer and somehow the contours seem more visible. It brings wizards to mind, Gandalf and his ilk. Looks great in its case too. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackett Customs Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Thanks so much for the review Scott! The finish took a huge amount of time effort since it was hand rubbed and polished, so it makes me so very happy to see someone acknowledge it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Lovely bass, although I think I would be scared of snapping the horns off I see what @ScottR means about wizards. It's like if Harry Potter played bass guitar... Great job on the fitted case too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 13 hours ago, Hackett Customs said: Thanks so much for the review Scott! The finish took a huge amount of time effort since it was hand rubbed and polished, so it makes me so very happy to see someone acknowledge it I'm sure it did. Oak has some fairly robust pores, and while white has the finest of the family, they are still substantial. You did a very nice job of filling them with black and getting a smooth tru-oil finish on it. I love the contrast too. I suspect it has some serious heft to it. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackett Customs Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) Hmm. I haven't weighed it yet, but I do know that it weighs a fair amount less than a jazz bass and the solid mahogany 5 string I have. Surprisingly, everyone that has picked this bass up and played it has commented on how light it is. I also paid a good amount of attention to the balance of the instrument during the carving process (no diving headstocks on this baby!). I'll have to get an exact weight very soon. The horns are actually deceptively strong, but I still would much extra care to avoid it taking any hits. Edited February 23, 2016 by Hackett Customs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I was assuming it was heavy, because white oak is. Looking again, I see that it is narrow wasted with next to no upper bout. I can't tell how thick or thin it is, but know from experience that heavy carving is a great weight reducer. Glad to here it's not a back breaker. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackett Customs Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 I just got a rough weight on the bathroom scale. Looking at about 8.5 lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackett Customs Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 For reference, I just weighed a mim jazz bass (4 string) and came out with about 8lbs. Rapscallion is about 1/2 lb lighter than that as a 5 string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 I love it. The first thing (other than the obvious one) that jumped out is that you're not scared to show that the wood was once a tree. I like that. Too many guitars/basses are built like the wood is some sort of homogeneous plastic rather than an organic living thing. Nice curves and lines to it, which work. Very much like radical work by Jens Ritter; the only concern when things get really out there is the prevalence of short grain in areas like the top horn. Was this reinforced or laminated to reduce short grain weaknesses? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackett Customs Posted February 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 1 hour ago, Prostheta said: I love it. The first thing (other than the obvious one) that jumped out is that you're not scared to show that the wood was once a tree. I like that. Too many guitars/basses are built like the wood is some sort of homogeneous plastic rather than an organic living thing. Nice curves and lines to it, which work. Very much like radical work by Jens Ritter; the only concern when things get really out there is the prevalence of short grain in areas like the top horn. Was this reinforced or laminated to reduce short grain weaknesses? The laminating of the top and back added a great amount of strength to the areas you are referring to. The lower horn was reinforced with carbon fiber prior to gluing on the top since it was actually my biggest concern while designing this bass. Both horns are very strong and would need to take quite a hit to break (which hopefully will never happen!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 It looks like it would have a nice wide balance too, just from looking at it. Nice solution to the short grain issue. I think it'll be plenty strong since its own weight will be fairly distributed. Oak will see to that! I think Oak is underused as a guitar wood; the perceived difficulties in working with it and its weight totally belie how physically silky it is and the nice contribution it adds to the instrument. One of my basses has a white Oak bridge (or will have) which should be an interesting test, since that's a real focal point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackett Customs Posted February 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 I agree, oak is very much underused in instrument building. I'd love to see that bass you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theodoropoulos Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 Τhe only thing i dont like is that the tuners are not aligned and complitely ugly... As far as the whole design is amazing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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