LUMINARY
The idea of the LUMINARY was to have something original, yet inspired by and paying homage to the grand master of bass luthiers Carl Thompson (hence the name Luminary). For me Carl is one of the reasons I started building in the first place! Yet, it was important to us to not simply copy Carl’s work, like so many have done previously but instead come up with an original design with a clear influence. We also wanted to take it to the next level by giving the bass some modern features.
Features Overview
5 String
38” scale
Set neck
Fretless
Blackwood Tek fingerboard
CA coated fingerboard
Luminary lines and dots
3pc Hornbeam Neck
Yew top
Walnut/Yew body
Chambered
Graphtech Piezo pickup
Richter Preamp
Custom Yew/Walnut knobs
Custom handmade bridge
Oil finish
Schaller Straplocks
Schaller tuners
The neck for instance is a 3 piece hornbeam (and walnut veneers) with Titanium stiffening rods and a man-made Ebony (Blackwood Tek) fingerboard which features glow in the dark Luminlay lines and side dots. The neck is attached to the body by a set neck construction using traditional hot hide glue.
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This 5 string 38” scale fretless bass was commissioned by a good friend (Daniel Brunn). Daniel sent me a rough sketch/concept of the bass he wanted to have built and then we took it from there, working together on the design and features, refining as we went. The idea was to have something original, yet inspired by and paying homage to the grand master of bass luthiers Carl Thompson (hence the name Luminary). For me Carl is one of the reasons I started building in the first place! Yet, it was important to us to not simply copy Carl’s work, like so many have done previously but instead come up with an original design with a clear influence. We also wanted to take it to the next level by giving the bass some modern features.
The neck for instance is a 3 piece hornbeam (and walnut veneers) with Titanium stiffening rods and a man-made Ebony (Blackwood Tek) fingerboard which features glow in the dark Luminlay lines and side dots. The neck is attached to the body by a set neck construction using traditional hot hide glue.
The first thing you may notice when looking at the bass is that there are no visible pickups! In an effort to preserve the beautiful Yew top, we chose Piezo under saddle pickups by Graphtech. These are mounted to a bridge that I made from Blackwood Tek and brass. The piezo pickups are connected to a Richter preamp with a volume and tone control.
The bass is heavily chambered, greatly reducing weight and increasing the acoustic volume of the bass. Which really makes the bass feels alive - even the slightest vibration is amplified through the body. The knobs and control cavity lid are both made up from the top wood plus walnut from the back and some black accents in between to match the body.
The end result was a super long scale instrument which is lightweight and well-balanced with a surprisingly versatile voice. Anything from a very convincing double bass sound to ultra modern glassy hi-fi tones are achievable.