Yep, I've been GASsed, big time.

I could not resist the pull of the Nordstrand magnet. Even my bliss over my new Warwick did not dull the hunger pangs for one of Carey's beasts.

So I put my money down with Jay (JPJ) at Blueberry Hill to reserve a build slot, and away we go.

But I can't even use the word "horizon" yet. I don't even need to finalize the specs until late summer.

So why, you may ask, did I go for it? Well, he seems to offer the 3 things I look for in any musical instrument: bang for the buck, sound, and high quality. Also, my wife said it was OK (she has the flu, so I got it in writing ).

Anyway, I'm going for the Bumpcity "None Blacker" color scheme, but a lot can happen in 7 months. Stay tuned, and please make as many suggestions as you'd like.

Willie, I am relieved that you love yours.

Good on ya, Sam! Hope it's all that and more...
I like the "None More Black" idea...

Peace,

wraub

Mmm, gear gluttony.

"Deserve ain't got nothin' to do with it"

Amen!

Good for you!

Good Lord! I've been blindsided! I never saw this coming!

Yikes. Hang in there, mang, it's worth the wait.

As am I, mi amigo. As am I.

Congratulations, 0-9!

Peace.
--SW

Sam you magnificent bastard! Congratulations.

I'm glad you got it in writing from the wife. You always need as much documentation of approval you can get.

probably the best last decision on 2004.
congrats!- A

Congratulations zeronyne. Those basses are beyond gorgeous.

I was overcome by that thread too man.

If i can get out of school a semester early and leave with job offers, i'll definitely get myself 1 or 2 basses. I think one 6 and one 5 string.

I just need to sharpen my bass proficiency, so i'll feel comfortable with myself when buying it.

jason

That does it.

The fretless is going on the chopping block

Now...5 strings or 6???

zeronyne, can I have your warwick when the nordstrand arrives?

Don't even think about it.
When his Nordstrand arrives he will be so obsessed with it that I am going to "borrow" the Warwick.

With all the time between now and completion on your future Nordstrand, nil-niner, I wonder if you'll be able to fire this thread up to 6 or 7 pages of posts before wood meets saw.

Don't be hasty...

...I'm sure someone would buy it off ya'!

You're probably ready to move to 6. Why not? You already have a luvlii Sadowsky 5.

We really will have to find a way for you to play my new baby. When are you due to return to Providence from Fla.? Maybe you can arrange a stop in the NYC-area on your way back?

Peace.
--s-uu

Now that Sweet Willie is in bass heaven with his new NJ Deluxe 5er, I'm looking forward to working with Sam on his specs. Right now, we're tossing around the idea of an ebony top sprayed with black gloss and accented with black binding (partially joking and partially NOT ), but we'll see how things end up. I'm predicting that he'll end up with some kind of beautiful tranparent lemondrop/teaburst finish over a highly figured maple top with a blistered birdseye fingerboard before the first pile of sawdust is made!

GAAAAHHH! I wish I played well enough to walk into a gig with the latter. I'm hoping that the black on black on black will be loud enough to hide the fact that I am a rudimentary player.

I'm still leaning towards tiny offset black pearl square fret markers on a black-bound ebony fretboard...

How does everyone feel about an asymmetrical neck radius? Effective? Gimmick?

I think neck profile is a relatively personal thing. I don't feel too strongly either way about symmetrical or asymmetrical neck profiles.

My new fish has a symmetrical neck profile in what Carey calls a "soft V" shape. It is the most comfortable neck I have ever played. Ever.

My 'Ray5 and LB-70 both have symmetrical neck profiles and they, too, are comfortable to play. Of course, they haven't been out of their cases for a few days...

Anywhere you can go to play some differently profiled necks? I would think that Maken Music would be a good place to start, allowing you to compare the feels of Laklands, MTDs, Fenders, and Moduli -- among others. However, I'm not sure if any of those brands feature models w/ asymmetric profiles.

Peace.
--s-uu

Ought-niner, you should know by now that we're going to banter this around for awhile but ultimately it's up to you.

If you can get your hands on Carey's idea of an asymmetrical neck it may help. Me, I don't like them - based on experience with Tobias Growlers (4 & 5). But the owner of the Growler 5 loves it.

I love the feel of the asymmetrical neck. That having been said I not that I have ever had the opportunity to play one all night. I tried an MTD 635 with the asymmetrical neck and it was easily the most comfortable 6 string I had ever played.

What's an asymmetrical neck ? I know I have a U-shaped neck (my BASS, not me ) but that's about as far as my knowledge goes ...

Asym neck shapes are just that, asymmetrical, i.e. the curve of the neck is different on each side of the curve. More of a check mark than a v, if that makes any sense.

I have played some I liked, and some that I did not. At BassPlayerLive, Will, Tom, Dan, and I took turns playing a bass with a thumb groove in the neck, so, whatever works.

Peace,

wraub

09,

I haven't owned an asymm neck, but I've liked the feel of the MTD Americans that I've played.

Black pearl on black ebony? Why bother?
And if you think that black will disguise your playing.... Get something beautiful - it won't make any difference to anyone else. If your playing isn't what you want it to be, you'll feel that on any color bass you have. You already feel it!! Perhaps something beautiful will inspire you. I don't play "up" to the level of my bass, but I love the feel of it!

Tom

*bump o' luv*

I suspect that the wider a neck (as for a six string) the more positive difference an asymm neck profile will make in terms of playability. Maybe someone could confirm this?

Congrats on a positively droolsome acquisition prospect!

Thanks for the bump, SW! Well, it looks like after almost a year, my build slot if coming up. Carey moved into a new shop, and he has a line of J Basses coming out, so I can understand the delay. I will post more as I find out more. The specs are pretty set, but there are a few main issues that I can't seem to decide on.

Can you use the word "horizon" yet?

Peace.
--Doctor NoneMoreLuv

Wow, my first post announcing my deposit on this Nordstrand was 12/28/2004. Since then, a few things have happened.

-I had a second child, (who turned one yesterday, and the other one turns 4 in 15 minutes or so)

-I started bass lessons

-I started a business

-I played my last live show...possibly ever.

-I bought a Warwick Thumb 5 NT, a Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5, a MIM Fender Active Jazz Deluxe, and a Ken Smith Design Proto J Fretless 5

-I sold a Warwick Thumb 5 NT, a Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5, a MIM Fender Active Jazz Deluxe (I'm about to sell the Ken Smith Design)

-I built a P Bass

-I posted on this forum roughly 2000 times

-I met JeremyC.

-I met Bumpcity. We both met Bob Moog at a dinner.

-I met (briefly) Adrian Garcia.

-I met WCuhna.

-Carey Nordstrand released a new line of affodable yet high end J Basses to critical acclaim. He also moved into a new facility, and his pickup business is booming.

A lot can happen in 15 months, eh? And my build slot has finally come up. This is by far the longest I've waited for any customized product ever, although I'm on a 3 year waiting list for a very talented tattoo artist.

My specs have not changed much after all this time, nor has my proficiency in the instrument. Ash/Maple/Ebony, black everywhere possible, OBP-3, Ibanez-ish string spacing, with either the mighty Nordstrand Dual Coil pickups or the insane Nordstrand Fatstacks. A couple surprises will be in order, but I'm mainly looking for a lifetime keeper.

I'll post more as the production cranks up.

Congrats on the birthdays of Kid #2 and Kid #1!

My Kid #2 celebrates his later this month. He will be 5. Let's talk dowry some time...it's between your daughter and tnb's daughter at the moment regarding an arranged marriage. Not sure how tnb feels about that, though. Not sure how my son feels about it either.

Peace.
--s-uu

PS: Congrats on hanging in there during this "journey"! Apparently I lined up my build slot just at the right time to beat all the changes that have occurred in Carey's business this year.

It's almost April and anxiously am awaiting a call from "one whose name I dare not speak"

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Wait a minute, did you say dowry? Sydney did just turn 5, almost time to get her married off. How does your son feel about older women?

Let's dig a bit deeper.

Willie, you are looking for a dowry by marrying your son off to a musician? Your PhD is not in Economics.

tnb - I'll be the "Harry Potter" (who is the only one to speak a name) and say Tobias, Mike. If I win, Willie has to buy me dinner.

0-9 - I'm often surprised by how MUCH and how LITTLE changes over time. A few questions:

Selling the KSD? Please tell me it's too heavy so I can sleep nights knowing I gave good advice.

Not more proficient? Perhaps not where you want or expected to be. If there was any practicing going on, you are more proficient. I can see that time is an issue, but one bit of advice (frequently profferredd here) is to join a band or go to jams. Playing with others is a quick boost for your proficiency.

Last live show? Judging solely by the age of your children, I'll guess you are in your 30s. Those of us in our 50s are chuckling at you. I want to stay in contact until your kids are in college. We'll all gamble here on whether your next live show will be on keys, bass, or some yet-to-be-determined instrument.

No changes in what you want from Nordstrand? You choose wisely in many of your components, so it's not surprising. But having experienced the basses listed above means that you can feel even more confident about these selections - they didn't turn you to anything different.

I'm curious about pickup choices and other "surprises". Keep us informed!

Tom

I have a couple of Warwicks you can have. Late 80's Streamer and a 89 Thumb 5 string.

You can have them both.......for about $6000 each....LMAO

It's definitely a heavy beast, but I never stood to play it. But you definitely gave me good advice. It was a total impulse buy, and I can't stand owning anything that could go to a more loving home.


That's exactly it.


Haha. Well, I guess we'll see. The "pain in the neck" factor has finally outweighed the "lucrative fun" aspect for me. I hate to say it, but I feel like I'm the only musician that I know in my immediate area that cares about how a band sounds OVERALL. It's a bit demoralizing. But you're right, who knows if I will suddenly have time to woodshed like crazy and want to share my music again. But for now, as has always been, my computer is my friend. (Wow, that's sad ).

Will do. Thanks for the kind words.

If you mean Eastern Carribean dollars, I'll take both

So zeronyne, can I have your warwick now? :angelic smiley:

I still love mine. Hopefully that is encouraging to you.

I understand you are moving ever closer to your new fish. Congratulations.

Peace.
--Doctor Luv

Yep. I guess the body is rough cut and the neck is glued and drying.

Did I mention the few changes?

Carey recommended a soft maple body. Apparently, this with the multipiece maple neck and ebony board will exhibit a bit of aggression.

I opted for the dual coils with a tap. Ebony covers with exposed polepieces (just because) and a RAMP.

I decided against the Hipshot/Graphtech Ghost and went with the regular A-style.

I'm guessing the challenge will be the finish. I'm realizing now that getting a solid black, super glossy finish is probably harder than a satin finish on an exotic top. There's no margin for error.

I'm hoping that I will see this five stringer (dubbed negatiV) by Halloween...Thanksgiving at the latest.

First of all, I still think you should name the bass the Fish o' Doom (or FoD). Or nXegatiV, with a silent "x" -- harkening back to the model, an NX.

Second, Carey's dual coils are awesome. Standard J pickup placement or closer to the bridge like the Sadowsky 24-fret basses or Spectors?

Third, aggression? You want a bass that sounds aggressive? Say it ain't so, Mr. Mildmannered Nyne...

Keep us posted, my good man.

Peace.
--s-uu

This probably makes more difference than any other single design decision. I'm finally coming to the conclusion that I prefer the bridge-wards position as on Spectors, Warwicks, Sadowsky 24s, Ken Smiths, etc.

So what is it for this fish?

Alex

Nice to hear that this is moving along. I wish you all the best.

Interesting, as I'm not sure I'm up on hard vs. soft maple, and if my reading comprehension is still working, that's a change from ash. How will this change the weight? The laminate neck with ebony board I understand.

So Carey is going to make pickup covers with holes for the exposed pole pieces? That's quite a bit of detail work! Why the ramp? It's not that it's a problem (on my Kinal), but I wouldn't do it again. I didn't find much benefit, and it gets in the way of my pick technique.

Why is that? With spray lacquer/urethane? My Kinal is glossy urethane, and looked pretty even to me. My only comment is black stain on maple may not come out like black paint. A satin finish may enhance the wood-effect if you can give up the "none blacker" requirement.

As to the name, why not nega5? The capitalized V will only work visually, not aurally/orally.

Tom

I'm going for the pushed back bridge p'up placement, but honestly, I told Carey to rely on his gut for that decision.

Tom, the soft maple is definitely going to be heavier, but after my Thumb and the Ken Smith Design, Anything shy of 9.75 lbs will be a feather.

And the NegatiV moniker is, as you mentioned purely for visuals. I will most likely refer to it as the Fish o' Doom, as Willie has suggested. Apologies to Jaco.

And you are correct Tom. I was led away from the black stain idea specifically because of the chance that it might not actually come out black. I'm looking for a wet ink look on this one....as synthetic looking as possible.

OK, I have to stop thinking about this bass now, or I'll go insane.

OK, so 22 months into it, I have some pics! I didn't want to steal bandwidth, so these are hosted one of my servers:

First, Carey working on the neck joint. This is a set-neck, btw.


There's a hell of a lot of maple on this bass (solid maple body, multipiece maple neck). Good thing that there's the ebony fretboard to soften things up. Just kidding. My request was to create the brightest, most frightening and aggressive bass ever. I'm sure the sea of maple will help the bass achieve this sonic profile.


And overall shot.


I know that this is probably the least interesting set of progress pics on Carey's site due to the lack of an exotic wood top, but it looks great to me.

The dual coils (under polished ebony covers with exposed polepieces) should be quite versatile, but I'd be happy with a one trick pony if it did the one trick I liked.

This is going to be some Xmas present to myself. I'm going to have to do some serious thinking for the spouse...

that looks special, and not in the short bus kind of way. are we staining the maple or leaving it natural? i like its grain, either way.

robb.

The grain is pretty sweet. Maybe three or four staining sessions with black, then 4-5 medium wet-coats of clear to seal in the black-ity goodness. That way the grain will only be noticed if your crackin' someone in the noggen with it.
Beautiful 5'r, I am jealous.
Brocko

Sorry gents...solid black...no grain. I wish I could get it plasticized. My intention is to get it to look like this:

Sam, if you want it to look like that, you are gonna have to have Carey change the body, it's not Buzzard-like at all... :rolleyes:

Seriously, it sounds like you want a high-gloss piano finish. It's a bitch to work with, but consider a lacquer finish perhaps. Not the most durable finish for a bass, probably, but you can get that look. Consider maybe a really thick polyeurethane too. I have a couple of older Japanese Squier instruments, each 20 years old, and the black finish itself is nice, deep and shiny on each.

Maybe spray it with Rhino-Liner or Tuff-Kote.

Looking good, can't wait to hear it.

Peace,

wraub

p.s. For your wife- maybe get a car?

Carey is experienced with glossy black...

Gallery - Check out 2/9/04. Asolutely mahvelous.

Believe it or not, that's an ebony top, and that bass is the reason I first noticed Nordstrand. Willie's bass was the push over the cliff.

Ebony? So those lines are wood grain, not a resolution problem with my LCD. Phooey. It's still gorgeous.

That is the bass I think of when Nordstrand is mentioned. She is so beautiful, so striking. She has been my wallpaper, she has been the object of my lust.

Perhaps NegatiV will win that special place in my heart.

Willie's Nordstrand is an absolute work of art. I can't wait to see your finished product. Please keep the pic's coming as she progresses.

BTW, Wraub's correct about the total lack of buzzardness (buzzardocity?).

I think thick poly and Carey's mojo should do it.


Maybe if I had gotten a Fodera. I was thinking of a nice conflict diamond.

OK, so last week, there was a picture of Carey installing the frets on his site (it's the first picture in the news section).

I had no idea that the paint would go on so quickly. Carey sent me pictures, but I'm reluctant to show them because it's so close to being finished.

As a compromise, I'd like to show you a picture of the neck joint. And before everyone piles on, I absolutely requested a finished neck. I've been playing my Parker Fly (guitar) a lot, and I've become very comfortable with a gloss neck. Anyway, here's the remarkable finish:



A few weeks to go....heh heh.

And by the way, I've been on a self-imposed hiatus...but I'll post clips as soon as I have this in my hands.

oh.my.goodness.

suh-weet!

But...there seems to be a flesh colored protuberance coming from the upper horn?

He's not charging you extra for that, is he?

I'm jealous.

Jim

Awesome!!

(We need a 'Dropped Jaw' smiley)

G.

Just. Wow.

I've been avoiding this thread because I didn't want to spoil it for myself by looking at the pics before it's done, but.............

09, can you design my next multi-thousand-dollar custom bass for me?

I can't wait to see the rest of it!

Wow when are you gonna post pictures 0-9?

I can see my reflection in it.

Solid looking bass, Oh-9.

Mmm... black.

Big and black [comment removed] j/k

Maaaaan that is lookin awesome!! (Even if I can only see the rear, but hey a bit of rear never goes a miss)

It's done.

But just a teaser pic until Carey puts it up in his gallery. I should take delivery of it next week.

The ebony is probably much darker than it appears in this Photoshopped image...the flash and color correction really bring out the brown.

100% pure sex. Really.

Gonna be a real looker

Wally

Gonna be a real looker

Wally

You can see yourself in...BOTH sides...

Can't wait to see the whole thing. That's a piano grade finish-beautiful.

Where's is it please show us.

Wow, liquorice and chocolate - what a tasty treat!

doin' the Homer pee pee dance!! Can't wait to see this done... must hit lottery or work more......


looks great from the pics shown already!

Ive never actually felt like making love to a bass before, this is new to me

Oooohhh...

Alex

Whooooaaa....stunning!!!

loud as f.

robb.

No doubt!

0-9's bass is 100% loud sex and then some.

Peace.
--s-uu

nice

Well, I still don't have it yet, but what the hell:




Like many OBP-3 equipped Nordstrands, the controls are Volume (pull for passive), Blend, Passive Tone (pull for coil tap), treble, mid, bass.

It's been almost two years since I ordered this bass. The appearance of it has exceeded my expectations...we'll see shortly if its sound floats my boat. But you guys are right...if this isn't loud, I don't know what is.

Where should I put the sticker?

I approve and certify the above bass to be deemed righteously cool. The neck joint on the back looks stellar!

Sam, if your boat should sink, I'd be happy to take it off your hands - Hell, I'll even pay for the shipping myself.

-P

Holy crap.

I'll bet it's invisible to radar.

Absolutely stunning !

"One Lucky SOB" the only place I see is right on your forehead! Beautiful machine! Just beautiful. I am going to go cry now.
Get a black velvet pants and shirt no buttons or buckles maybe a velour jumpsuit; black of course! No scratchy scratchy on this one!
Awesome 0nyne

brocko

Fierce.

Alex

Now that is perfection.

The question is, how much more black can that bass be? And the answer is "none - none more black."

Post Of The Day - I know this bass already has a name, but it is the illustrated definition of "stealth".

Enjoy!
Tom

A Sharpie will take care of those nasty spots on the pickups.

That's a delicious bass.

I think we'll shoot you if you even dare bring a sticker near it.....

I'm thinking... cover it with gaffer's tape... and tune that low B to A...

*ducks and runs*

Where is it? Hopefully it is in your hands and you have no time to post about it.

This bass needs a name.

I say "Desiato."

Diablo Negro? Nightrider? The Shadow?

What????

No black fret wire??

Nice Sam - very very nice.

DR Black Beauty strings?

Dude you should come play BLACK metal with me on that thing. Damn.

The "Oh! Nine"

Some 'splainin', from Wikipedia:

"Hotblack Desiato is the ajuitar keyboard player of the rock group Disaster Area, claimed to be the loudest band in the universe, and in fact the loudest sound of any kind, anywhere. So loud is this band that the audience usually listens from the safe distance of thirty seven miles away in a well built concrete bunker. Disaster Area's lavish performances went so far as to crash a space ship into the sun to create a solar flare."

His personal spaceship is also so black that light falls into it, & so highly polished that your hand slips off it so fast you can't even tell what it feels like.

I like it. None more black.

I know where it is...it's in MY hands! I just talked to 09 and gave a hint of what to expect. This thing is WICKED! Since 09 is just over the state line, he'll have it by the end of the week. All I have to say is...

Bizarrely, Douglas Adams got the name 'Hotblack Desiato' from the existing name of an Estate Agents (US Realtor) in Islington, London.

Thanks everyone! We had actually talked about black fretwire, but I don't want to go overboard on the black motif.

The real kicker is that I haven't traveled for work since January...and now it looks like I'm going to start again shortly.

Flightcase?

WOW!!!

That is a fantastic looking axe 09!
I can't wait to read your review.

Congrats bigtime!

"Wear it proud, play it loud!"

Oh my,....

Simply amazing!
Gratz 09!!!!!!!!

I would keep it in an armored flight case, even while at home.
Rocky

Very nice 09.
Who else can say they have a bass with a piano finish?
Awesome!

OK, it has arrived via UPS. It's fretting out pretty bad due to the temp change during transport. I'm going to let it stabilize and then do a truss rod adjustment.

But damn, it sure looks nice.

Waiting...

I just took another look at the above pics and I gotta say that is one of the more beautiful basses that I've ever seen. Good job!

Before you do anything that might void the warranty send it to the authorized service center as soon as possible:

Matt Dubb's Bass Soppe
Tulser, Oklahomy

They'll be happy to give it a look. Service times will be delayed through the holidays.

:D hahahaha

looks great. hopefully the fretting problems work out for you...be sure to post your non-nordstrand pics as well as mp3 samples!!!!!!!!!!

jason

So 09, has that neck settled in yet? Inquiring minds want to know.

I had to crank the truss rod almost a 3/4 turn, so I'm letting it settle today. But I did play it for a while.

The tone is, well...I'll just put up clips tomorrow.

Out of curiousity what was the neck problem? Was it too flat or too much relief? I'm sure the temp and humidity in the shop could not be that different than your home. Or, was your personal preferance just different than the makers.
Rocky

Actually, the relative humidity in my studio is 55-65%, which is drastically higher than anywhere I know of in southern California. The truss rod had to be loosened quite a bit. I play very lightly, so the fretting out wasn't a metter of personal preference or playing style. After some family issues, I've gotten to really adjust the bass, so I will report back shortly.

where are the clips !!!!

Coming shortly. I had some real life things crop up...give me till monday.