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Funky Junk #31 ESP Atelier Z Hybrid.
My most high grade funky junk to date.
None of this is really junk in any sense of the word...the neck is Atelier Z M265, the body an ESP one in light ash, the pickups are high grade new Deviser dc5 humbuckers, the hardware is high grade gotoh gb350 tuners mixed with chrome GB7 tuners and the bridge is a new hipshot kickass 5.
The work put into this marriage of high grade parts was a good couple of weeks worth, spread out over a number of months , so many hours more than my usual 24 or 48 hour turnaround on simpler basses hence this is more in the high end price range.
The pickguard is my original design in Karin burl, and the head stock accent and rear panel is also matching this. The other exotic wood is kurokaki , which I used along with walnut and camphor to make the pickup casing and the half moon dial plate.
I decided on the dial plate because the existing routing in the ESP body didn't have the right layout for the passive controls I wanted to install. I think it ended up looking nicer as a result.
The rear battery compartment being redundant as the circuit is passive, has now been repurposed to house wrenches for truss and bridge with a neat magnetic clip for each. You could even stash your picks or contraband in there if you wanted!
In conclusion, although it is not completely perfect craftsmanship, I think it is my best yet, and is one of the nicest basses I've ever played...it plays as nicely as many of the $4k basses I've had through, by virtue of the fantastic build quality of the neck and body and the counter sinking of the bridge. I would say this is on a par with the dragonfly or Bossa for example and maybe even STR.
Spec:
Body: Light Ash 2 pc ESP
Neck: Maple On Maple Atelier Z
Nut: Bone
Scale length: 34"
Tuners: Mixed chrome and cosmo black Gotoh GB350 / GB7
Retainer: Hipshot
Bridge: Hipshot Kick-ass
String pitch: 18mm
Pickups. Deviser DC518 humbuckers with hand made Kurokaki casing
Circuit: Passive
Controls: Pick up selector toggle, Vol / Tone / 3 way coil tap for each pickup, standby switch on handmade Kurokaki panel.
Pick guard: Handmade karin burl
Srtings: Bacchus nickel wound 45-125.
Weight: 4.2KG