A. You'll get a great sounding, very playable instrument. If you look at our quote request form you'll see a list of standard items included in the starting price. If you request a quote you'll notice that when it arrives it will be broken into two sections, "Standard Features" and "Custom Options". Anything that supercedes a standard item will be under the "Custom Options" section of the quote.

A. You bet they do and they can add up quick. When you start piling on fancy woods along with high dollar pickups, premium hardware and a preamp with all the bells and whistles don't be surprised at the total. Still, I think our prices are very competitive and you get a lot of bass for your money.

A. I don't know. It's such a subjective area. I personally like ash, mahogany and poplar, even though poplar isn't that pretty. I've also used Ponderosa pine a couple of times and it sounds fine. The only wood that I'm kind of wishy-washy about is alder. Sometimes it sounds great, sometimes it doesn't. I still offer it as a standard wood due to the fact that it's been used in solid body instrument construction for a very long time.

A. I don't think top woods have that much of an effect on tone. I've used all kinds of woods for tops and I can't say this one sounds growly or that one sounds smooth, or whatever. I just don't see how a 1/4" thick piece of top wood can compete with a 1 1/2" thick piece of body wood for tone. It doesn't add up to me. OK, a top wood might effect the tone, but in what way or to what degree I don't know. They look pretty though and I can get just about anything. Keep in mind some exotic woods can be extremely expensive. I can usually do a headstock lamination that matches the top wood... for a small fee of course.

A. I've been building a lot of basses with a thicker accent stripe between the top and the main body wood than your normally see. Most basses you see with accent stripes like this have a thin stripe. I like them thicker. I think it looks great and lets you see more wood. I usually aim for something that contrasts with the color of the top, say something like a walnut top might have a maple accent. Yes, it will cost more, but since it's only seen around the edges I try to go with a little bit lesser grade wood to keep the cost down. You essentially end up with two tops on the bass. Again, I don't really think the tone is affected that much by the double thickness, but it sure does look hot.

A. I don't think there's a substitute for good ol' hard maple. Three piece, quarter-sawn maple necks come standard on all of our basses. I use some wenge and bubinga from time to time, maybe a few other woods every now and then, but mostly as stringers in multi-laminate necks. I don't particularly like building all wenge necks, but I'll do it. The stuff makes me itch. I've had great luck with five piece maple/wenge necks on five and six string basses. They're very stable and look cool.

A. My personal favorite fingerboard wood at the moment is Pau Ferro. It's great to work with. It's got a great feel to it and a tight grain. There is nothing at all inferior about the tone, at least to my ears. It's naturally a little oily and doesn't shrink and expand like ebony sometimes does.

A. Not at this time. We are no longer offering gloss finishes on our instruments. It's satin only.

A. Not from me, you can't. I just don't believe in oil finishes, not on a bass anyway. I know lots of people do them and swear up and down about it, but you won't get me to do one. I've spent a lot of time and resources coming up with what I feel is the best finish I can offer. I use a very durable catalyzed conversion varnish for all my finish work. There is an extra charge if you want a specific color, burst or dye job. A little FYI, I used to paint cars for a living, very expensive cars. I know what I'm doing.

As I mentioned above briefly I use a few light coats of a satin conversion varnish on my necks. On maple necks with unstabilized maple fingerboards the whole thing is sprayed, fingerboard and all. On necks with ebony and rosewood boards the fingerboard gets masked off and later treated with a fingerboard conditioning oil. The only time I use an oil finish is on all wenge necks, and that is the only time. I use a few light coats of tung oil for that. It's difficult to finish an all wenge neck with a hardened finish because of the ultra deep pores in the grain. The tung oil leaves it with a natural feel.

A. Sorry, no lacquer either.

A. While I can't guarantee all those things, I will do my best at making recommendations and steer you in the right direction if you need some help picking out parts and materials. Keep in mind that what we build are custom basses and the bass you order will end up sounding how it ends up sounding. I use the best materials I can find. If you're putting the good stuff into a bass build it only makes sense that bass will end up sounding great. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever built a bad sounding bass.

A. I think the Sunbeams are probably the most sonically pure string I've heard to date. The nickel plating keeps things smoothed out. I used to offer other strings, but it just got to be too much to keep up with. If you don't like the Sunbeams you can certainly change the strings when you get the bass in your hands.

A. Sorry, I don't build neck-thru basses. I only build bolt-on neck and set-neck basses.

A. Well, up front it mainly has to do with the construction methods. The bolt-on neck, as the name implies, is secured to the body with screws and the neck can be removed. Bolt-on neck basses are generally considered to have a punchier tone. Set-neck basses have necks that are glued in place. The neck is not removable. With set-neck construction the neck joint can be contoured to feel more comfortable then a bulkier bolt-on style bass. It's been said that a set-neck bass is a good cross between a bolt-on neck bass and neck thru-bass offering benefits like a little more sustain.

A. Yes, I've been known to do that, but within reason. There may be certain things I'm not willing to do or things that are beyond my abilities. I consider projects like this on a case by case basis.

A. I've considered doing stuff like that in the past, but not any more. I consider myself a bass builder and not a parts maker. It's the whole bass or nothing.

A. It generally takes me about four to six months to build a bass. I don't mess around. When I start a project I like to get it done. Still, there's only so much I can squeeze into a day.

A. Yep, 50% of the agreed upon quoted price. That's 50% before I start to do any work, not 25% and then you pay me as I continue to build the bass. When the bass is finished I'll need the balance within 10 days of the notification of completion, plus S&H.