Bass Gallery

All the basses in this section were made by me and are a sampling of whatever I had recorded or photographed. There are dozens more that escaped the camera or photos that were lost in time.

Here’s one I completed as a customer build in late 2021. It’s very similar to one I made around 12 years ago and which indeed inspired the customer with this one.

Shot down the neck showing the carved in heel.

More recently, hardware has improved. These Gotoh lightweight tuners are a world apart from the old F parts and indeed the Hipshot Ultralights. The standard of design and engineering is very high. They are super smooth and very light and, they can be had with the full size base plate like the originals.

I like the 51 headstock on the P bass. The reduced quantity and weight of timber over the stock F style headstock, make for great balance, especially when using those tuners. It has no place however on the Jazz bass.

I also like the 4 small recessed retainer screws as opposed to the standard plate. For the eagle eyed, my P basses also have J bass dimension necks – 38mm nut width (P is 42 -44mm) and 21mm depth from the nut to to the 12th fret, rising to 22mm at the carved in heel. The radius is 9.5″ at the nut to 12″ by the 20th fret. While this is not essential on a P bass because of the super adjustable pickup, on the J model with the flat bar pickups, this helps with string to string and output balance. That said, If I’m building a J model I will often rebalance the polepieces (raise the pole height of the A and D).

Here it is next to my personal and heavily modified Yamaha BB424 bass.

J bass built around 2001, in for service last year.

The only time I used a “Made in Ireland” logo.

Here’s a Quadra I made around 1998, came in for some service work recently.

Antique Irish Walnut on American Walnut core. Obvious pickup system.

Usual heel arrangement

Acquired a Hipshot D tuner while it was in.

These 3 basses are in this category because I built them although, all for my use. This one has been my main bass for around 10 years but recently got a major overhaul. The soundhole is still there but is blocked off to prevent feedback. The fingerboard and bridge were replaced too, both in Ebony and I decided to keep it less ornate than the others. The top is Quilted Maple and that’s as far as I went in the flashy stakes. The soundhole rosette was surface mounted to provide a thumb rest.

Closer in on the top and bridge unit.

Less common 2+2 headstock on my basses, works though as this one has a long neck.

…and from another angle.

I love quick release bridges, more work to make but……..

This is currently my backup bass, completed around 6 months ago. To see how it started, you can look in the repairs and projects section, it’s the last item at the bottom. It started life as a 4 string acoustic bass but little of the original is left. There is no sound hole and like the 5 string of similar design below, there is a solid block of wood, 30mm thick running from the tail to under the fingerboard into which all pickups and hardware are mounted. The top is Spalted Poplar and I added an elbow cutaway on this one.

A close in view of the pickup system. The magnetic one is a Musicman style Alnico humbucker and under the Ebony saddle is a hybrid pieze system of my design. The controls are volume with a push/push to swap between mag and piezo, treble and bass. The preamp is a MM Stingray clone with the correct 1 meg reverse log treble pot, makes a huge difference.

Close in of the matching Poplar veneer on the pickup cover. The bridge and tailpiece are Ebony. The indents along the back the bridge surround are there because the original setup used a Warwick 3D bridge and those are to access the intonation screws.

…and from the side.

A close in view of the unusual Tulipwood fingerboard. I’ve never seen or heard of this being used but I had some in the box for around 15 years and as it matched all the specs for a fretless board, tried it. It works a treat and personally, I think it looks great too.

Matching headstock.

This is a project I undertook around 5 years ago, for myself as opposed to for sale and was the first of its kind. It started life as an acoustic bass but apart from the body dimensions, little remains as it was from the factory. The glaringly obvious is the lack of soundhole which was filled and covered with a Burr Walnut veneer which I then dyed. All the fittings on the body are Ebony with a custom Kent Armstrong mag pickup and a piezo system of my own design under the Ebony saddle. The controls are vol, pan, treble and bass.

The colour in these pics is a little washed out/over exposed which doesn’t show the unusual piece of Madagascar Rosewood I used for the fingerboard. This is quite rare now and I think I’ve had that board for around 25 years, waiting for the right fretless job. I cannot recall the name of the lighter veneer on top of the ebony, same as on the headstock though.

Closer view of the fingerboard.

…and headstock.

A 5 string made around 1998. The owner was emigrating and wanted a full service. Lightly flamed As over Mahogany. Kent Armstrong pickup with series/parallel/single coil slide switch.

The fingerboard is Ziricote, now on the endangered list and either unavailable or eye wateringly expensive.

Around the back.

Irish Elm over American Walnut body Quinta from about 2004 built to order for jazz supremo Barry Donohue. This was one of two basses I made for him, the other being a 22 fret Quinta fretless.

A partly finished view of an unusual custom job from around 2002 that was ordered by a gentleman and wonderful player from Galway called Kenny Coughlan who would go on to influence sales of my basses in the West considerably. The body is Ash with Spanish Chestnut on the front but what makes it rare amongst my offerings is that the fingerboard has block inlays, something I rarely did but Kenny wanted it so….

A closer look at the FB. Normally I used Wege for the fingerboards but it’s a difficult timber to inlay tidily so this one got an Indian Rosewood board with block MOP inlays and binding.

The finished bass in my old workshops with another Quinta in the background and an old Yamaha acoustic that had major work done on it, waiting to go.

A Quinta made around 2003 that went to a gentleman named John Lyons in Galway.

Close up of the rather nice piece of book matched figured Walnut on the front over American Walnut on the back

The first 6 string I made in 97 for a friend of mine. It had to be a bit “out there” hence the 2.5 octave neck and Ebony bridge/tail piece combo. It came in recently to have intonation issues resolved resulting in a new Macassar Ebony bridge and the intonation is now spot on right up to the body. One Kent Armstrong custom humbucker mated up to a D Audio 2 band shelving preamp. Actually, the chap I built this for was the brains behind the very excellent D Audio preamp I have used for years and are no unfortunately out of production and although the final version came out in 1996 and was the one fitted to all these basses, it still holds itself up and even above much of the high end on board preamps available today.

2.5 octaves/30 fret positions on the Ziricote fretboard, a timber now on the endangered list.

Back view of another 6 string but this one is a through neck and showing the sandwich of woods.

Back side of the Antique Walnut faced Quinta.

The next 4 pictures are all the same bass built for session ace Keith Duffy back in 1997 to go on tour with the Corrs. The unusual and somewhat rare Spalted Walnut (a diseased Walnut tree) body has a 4 piece Maple neck with 5 fasteners and a 22 fret Wenge fingerboard. Keith is a tall fella, well over 6 feet so the 4+1 headstock was in keeping and fitted in along side his MM 5 string bass in size and string tension.

Due to the large stages and the position session players are often placed in Keith got the body painted antique white so as to not be invisible. He also added a Demeter preamp to the SD Basslines pickup, a nice combination. Fret position markers were also installed on the front of the fingerboard which is unusual on my instruments. Keith used this bass while touring with the Corrs around 1998 and it shows up on the Utube video from the Albert Hall with the ever fantastic Mick Fleetwood guesting on drums alongside Caroline Corr. The song, “Toss the feathers” shows Keith’s playing but importantly for me at the time, as he was one of my earlier endorsees, seeing it in action was important although little if any publicity ensued for the maker, such is the way. The other bass on this gig was his MM Stingray of which my offering was an alternative take and the comparison was positive for me. I saw the band live in the Olympia theatre in Dublin too and due to their super slick show, the sound quality was good enough for me to make a live evaluation – all good. Shortly after, Lakland came offering an unbeatable support package for travelling/session musicians that I couldn’t match. Have a look for yourself – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIi3AZe3Sik

Many years later it would come back to me. During one lay over in California, some of the bands gear was left on the apron at LAX all day in the sun apparently, and possibly because of this, the neck got into trouble so I made a new one. This is the first of the 3+2 headstock that would become the standard for all my basses although this one was free hand carved. The vacant MM pickup slot was filled with a Kent Armstrong custom humbucker (plus the flamed Maple mount as the MM was bigger) which had better balance across the strings, particularly on the low B but a slightly darker tone than the MM pickup.

Later still, I stripped everything down, refinished the body in a red tinted lacquer. The neck was refretted as well as being refinished. New SD Basslines ceramic (as opposed to Alnico, less warmth but better balance and definition) pickup and 3 band SD preamp installed along with all new hardware and Ebony control knobs so effectively, a new bass.

Headstock from a Quinta

Headstock from a Six. Pretty well all my fretted basses use a zero nut and an Ebony nut/string guide. I like this as the open string has the same tone as a fretted one, I also feel zero frets seem to wear better/last longer than nut slots.

Side detail of the sandwich of woods in the through neck body

The headstock on the first 6 string I made in 97, almost entirely freehand unlike the other basses shown here which were all made from a template which was slightly different depending on the number of strings used. The HS was an experiment in design as to what would keep the string path straight (apart from the very skinny 032 on the high C) but be somewhat stylish. Mexican Rosewood nut (very hard wood) at the end of a 2.5 octave Ziricote fingerboard, a member of the Rosewood family now on the endangered list.

This is another style/template but this one has a 22 fret neck with obvious styling influences. I only made it with a single pickup in the “Sweet spot” with either a MM style or a Kent Armstrong humbucker and 2 band D Audio 2 band preamp. This one is Ash over Cherry for the body with a Cherry and Maple neck under a Wenge fingerboard with Mother of Pearl position markers on the front.

Ash over Cherry 24 fret style body, which is my own design. Usually came with 2 pickups, in this case a pair of Nordstrand hum cancelling J style mated up to a D Audio 2 band shelving pre-amp. Maple neck with Wenge fingerboard. As with all my basses, quick release bridges, usually Gotoh and the same makers tuners.

American Walnut bodied Quadra with dual Kent Armstrong humbuckers wound to my specs. 3 piece Maple neck under Boxwood bound 24 fret Wenge fingerboard, usual electronics and hardware package. This one was exported to NZ some time after its owner emigrated there, despite prohibitive transport costs.

Most of the fretless basses I made had a single pickup in a particular position, just behind the so called Sweet spot which works well on the fretless but is often a bit too barky for fretted use. This one is an interesting piece of hand carved American Walnut with a multi laminate Maple neck and is a fore runner of the templated models. If you compare it with the Quinta below you might see slight variations in the lines and radii. On top of the Maple neck is a lined 24 fret Ebony fingerboard bound in Boxwood with a body matching Walnut cap on the headstock although light refraction makes it look darker in the photo. Usual electronics and hardware but the high frequency pass points (2 band shelving preamp) on the fretless bass preamps were slightly different than the fretted models. The 5 string models also had the low pass modified.

Another fretless Quinta. This one was made of Mahogany with a Cherry top. Usual fretless neck for the period but with a matching Cherry cap on the head stock again distorted by the angle of the light but it came from the same piece of timber as the body. Pickup, electronics and hardware are the usual items apart from the bridge which in this case was an aluminium Hipshot QR item. It came in to me last year to be fretted and the photo is elsewhere in the gallery.

Fretted Quinta bass from around 1998. The top is two rather rare bookmatched pieces of Antique Irish Walnut over the American Walnut body. 2 Kent Armstrong custom humbuckers and 2 band D Audio shelving preamp. The neck is a multi laminate affair with a Boxwood bound 24 fret Wenge fingerboard. It is owned by the same player since new who also currently has 4 Thompson basses.

This is the second 6 string bass I made around 1999, currently either in Bulgaria or the US. Flamed Ash over Cherry body wings on a multi laminate through neck with a Cherry cap right across the back (more pics elsewhere in the gallery). It used a single truss rod and although the neck was around 19mm at the 1st fret going up to about 21mm deep at the heel, it was all that was needed. 24 fret Wenge fingerboard. As the string spacing was narrower than the usual 19mm (I went for 17.5mm on this one) I used an inset aluminium Hipshot QR bridge. Custom Kent Armstrongs mated to a D Audio preamp. Many of these earlier instruments were finished in “Tru Oil” which is a mixture of Tung oil and Shellac more commonly used on expensive gun stocks, very hard wearing and nice to the touch but time consuming to apply. Worth it though.

A J type bass I made around 2003. Alder body with one piece Maple neck. Dimarzio DP123 hum cancelling pickups with Aguilar 3 band EQ and a Badass bridge. It lives over in Galway and sees regular use by a few different players in the area but was originally bought by Kenny Coughlan.

Another J type bass from me. Alder body with Maple neck measuring 19mm deep at the 1st fret going to 21mm at the carved in heel. Schaller single coils with 6mm pole pieces mated up to a Delano 2 band preamp and Badass bridge.

Birds Eye Maple headstock with Hipshots to keep the balance. This was the only instrument I ever put “made in Ireland ” on.

My take on a Stingray and although I love the sound of these basses I don’t like the very wide neck so as I actually built this one for myself it got the 38mm wide nut I feel comfortable with, so more of a J bass type neck. The fingerboard is Birds Eye Maple. It had a Musicman pickup and a custom designed 2 band preamp based on the original pre Ernie Ball design. The player who eventually bought it has had many years of good service and it only came back to me for a defective jack socket a few years later.

Closer in.

The Pre 54 style headstock on this P bass really helps with balance but again, 38mm nut with 19mm neck depth up to 21mm at the carved in heel. The neck is one piece Maple with a 9.5″ radius finished in gloss on the front and satin on the back. I Custom wound the pickups and although I would not do it again, for this particular bass, it all works perfectly. Somewhere in that winding process, the inductance and resistance mate up perfectly with the 250k pots, so the volume and tone are the most linear in operation of any passive instrument I’ve ever come across. It has all the fatness of the original but without any mud and no dead spots.