Watson Guitars
Idyllwild
California, USA

Materials: Sapele, Bloodwood and Flamed Redwood with Hawaiian Koa veneer between laminations. 7 piece neck has tapered stringers, 2 truss rods and 2 carbon fiber rods.
Fingerboard: Macassar Ebony bound with Koa Veneer and Bloodwood
Pickups: Bartolini
Electronics: Aguilar OPB-3 5-Band with mid-range selector switch
Bridge: Hipshot-A 19mm spacing
Hardware: Gold
Tuners: Gotoh GB-350 35-Gram extra-lights
Finish: High Gloss Polyester Resin by All Wood Finishing

This bass is one of the most unusual in the batch. The core of the body is made from alternating pieces of Sapele and Bloodwood sparated by Hawaiian Koa veneer. This yields a truly unusual and appealing profile. We may not make any more of these, as the process is quite work-intensive, but some lucky buyer will have a truly unique instrument.

The neck is a 7-piece laminate of Sapele and Bloodwood with tapered stringers and Hawaiian Koa veneer between each laminate. The front of the body is Flamed Redwood which will looks very impressive under the high-gloss finish.

This bass is fitted with a Hipshot bridge, Bartolini pickups and an Aguilar OPB-3 Electronics package including a 400/800 mhz mid-range selector. This further enhances the instrument's performance by providing a great deal of control over its tone.

This is our first Sapele instrument and the resulting tonal qualities are very pleasing. Sounds awesome, as the influence of the bloodwood in the body and through the neck imparts a tight low end response. The bass has a very sweet sound from full but tight lows to very clean highs. It is very easy to play. The figured redwood top blends nicely with the colors of the instrument. The unique 'checkerboard' center section of the bass will definitely get some attention. Again, this is a one-of-a-kind bass, perfect for the bass player who wants something nobody else has.

This bass offers a LOT of craftmanship for a much smaller price than is usually found in the marketplace.

Above: Nice shot of the 'checkerboard' core of this unusual bass.	Above: another look at the one-of-a-kind core of this instrument. The body is sculpted at the nearside corner for comfort while playing.

	Below: This photo shows the Bloodwood binding on the neck, the beautiful flamed redwood top and the matching knobs. The pickups are Bartolini single coil, which are very quiet. The small switch near the knobs is the Mid-Range split switch, which changes the base frequency of the 'mid' tone control between 400 and 800 Mhz.
Above: This photo shows the control cavity cover. It is made from the same material as the back of the bass, carefully cut from the parent material so that there is no interruption of the flow of the wood grain. The cavity is opened by a small screw which is unscrewed a few turns so that you can pull off the cover. The cover itself is held on by strong magnets and snaps baqck on when you are done. Also visible in this shot are the beautiful Bloodwood stringers with the Hawaiian Koan veneer highlights.
	Above is a photo of the bass after the pickup holes were cut. You can't see much of the awesome grain in the curly redwood top, but that will show up after the final finishing is applied. To the left is the Macassar Ebony fretboard right after the fret slots were cut. The edges are bound with Koa veneer and Bloodwood.
This is a shot of the bass very early on in its construction. The center sections of the upper and lower bouts are constructed painstakingly using alternate pieces of shedua and bloodwood.	Oh no, the clamps are swarming in the shop!!