My Birdsong piccolo bass build has begun.

This is the wood that super luthier and chief woodsgnome Scott Beckwith has selected  for my piccolo bass.

This is mesquite

Here is the rough cut of the bass.

Its amazing to see how a piece of wood

turns into a masterpiece of an instrument.

Glueing up pieces into a body blank.

As of 6/19/2009:

Glueing the mesquite, ebony and maple together:

Here is a better view of the wood. And some filling

Some rough sanding and shaping again

More shaping as you begin to see a bass

This is going to be a very unique looking and outstanding sounding bass.

 Here are some words from Scott describing the build of this piccolo bass:

I get a great feeling from it already. It's really - despite the ornery nature of Mesquite & its character - working with us. The Mesquite is local, wild stuff a backwoods guy had slabbed out years ago, we bought it from him right out from under the tarp and hauled home a truckload. The Ebony is true black Ebony and comes from India. The Maple? I buy it by the big long plank at a wood warehouse and I chose this cut specially for your build because of the grain pattern. You have some great rustic character in this Mesquite; it's secured (always, before planing & cutting or it blows apart) and next we'll fill some and leave some open depending on what is happening in that part of the body. Should be in routing next week!


 

 As you can see the routing has been done. The next step is finishing. The neck is rosewood. The control panel is striped ebony.

I have requested two volume knobs and a tone knob. The knobs are ebony The electronics are passive.

The hardware will be black anodized.

Here is my finished Bridsong piccolo bass. I'll have better pictures soon.