Watson Guitars
Idyllwild
California, USA

GALLERY OF INSTRUMENTS
Below are basses which have been been completed or ultimately sold.

4-string Neck-thru 34" scale Bass
This bass was custom made to match a fretless bass I made years ago. It also has a personalised Saggitarius theme on the fingerboard and on back cavity covers. Split coil pickups, 4-band Audere active preamp.
 
6-string Neck-thru 35"-32" scale Headless Bass
Beautiful Amboyna Burl wood on the front and the back of this bass - all from the same tree! 3 pickups with rotary selector, plus MIDI output capability! LED powered side dots too!

5-string Neck-thru Multiscale Headless Bass
This bass has some awesome woods to show off and is armed with a Nordstrand active/passive preamp.

5-string Neck-thru 34" scale Headless Bass
Extremely unusual bass with the top plate covered in Swarovski crystals and a very custom neck inlay. A very work-intensive instrument!

6-string Neck-thru 30" scale Fretless Bass
This bass is a very custom short-scale. Multi-laminate core neck-thru design. Figured walnut front and back.
Customer wanted it unfinished so that he c

5-string Neck-thru Fretless Bass
Koa front and back on this instrument. Gabon ebony fingerboard.  

4-string Neck-thru 34" scale Bass
One of a kind Jazz style bass. Custom finish, pickguard and inlays.

Headless Tele-Style Guitar
Beautiful Figured Koa top on a very unusual and compact guitar.

8-string Neck-thru Bass
8-string headless bass with compact body and some beautiful exotic woods.

Headless 7-string guitar  
Very lightweight 7-string headless guitar with LED illuminated logo between pickups and LED side lights on fingerboard! Also personalized logo on fingerboard face.

Tele-Style guitar  

5-string Neck-thru Bass  
 
Koa topped 5-string neck-thru bass - Koa inlay too!

5-string Neck-thru Bass  
 
Very unusual 5-string bass - floating pickups  

6-string Neck-thru Bass

 
6-string bass with MIDI capability - coil tapping on pickups, LEDs.  

5-string Neck-thru Bass

 
5-string very custom bass.

7-string Neck-thru Headless Bass
 
Working outside the box again. This bass ended up really beautiful!

Custom Neck-thru Guitar

 

 

Classic body styling, MANY custom features

6-string Headless Multi-Scale bass - bolt-on



6-string bass.Headless, Some interesting variations on my traditional model.

6-string Headless multiscale bass (neck-through)



This bass is a very green 7-string headless fanned-fret monster! Crop circle inlay.

6-string Headless multiscale bass (neck-through)



6-string Headless bass with angled frets. Punchy single coils with Audere's 4-band 18v EQ system.

6-string Headless Multi-Scale bass


6-string Headless bass with angled frets. Walnut body with Birds Eye maple fingerboard.

Chambered Guitar

 

 

Headless Tele-style guitar. Details to follow. Super lightweight.

6-string Acoustic Bass - fretless


Since there are very few of them on the marketplace, we decided to build a 6-string fretless acoustic bass. It is a truly unique instrument.

4-string J-bass




This bass is a Walnut and and maple combo and has a beautiful quilted maple top

3 custom bass set - Details to follow!



A set of three basses (triplets) Two fretted, one fretless.

5-string J-bass



This bass is a bubinga and birdseye maple beauty.

Chambered Guitar

 

 

Chambered Tele-style guitar. Chambered body. Super lightweight.

5-string Double Cut Bass - neck trough - 31" scale


5-string bass.Neck-through, double cut. Quilted Maple top, Fiber Optics.

6-string Headless Multi-Scale bass Single-Cut


6-string bass.Headless, Multi-Scale. This bass is a first on its own in that I had never built a multi-scale single-cut

Chambered Glass-Top Guitar

 

 

Amazing Tele style guitar with a GLASS TOP, Very reflective and beautiful. Details to follow. Super lightweight.

J-Style 5-string Fretless Bass

 

Beautiful 5-string Fretless bass - bolt-on neck.  

Chambered Guitar

 

Chambered Tele-style guitar with a Curly Koa top and back. Super lightweight.

Serial Number 12B047

 
5-string J-Style bass - the first in our line of this style of bass.

Serial Number 11B044

 

5 string active bass with custom body design and angled frets. Red Sparkle metalflake finish! The very first US bass to feature Strandberg single string bass tuner/bridges.

Serial Number 10B040S

 

 

 

This is a 6-string bass which is modeled on our last one but this one will has some additional features. A chance to do some R&D and push the envelope even further!.

Chambered Guitar

 

Chambered Tele-style guitar with a Spalted Maple top. Piezos built into the bridge for a sweet acoustic sound combined with magnetic pickups. Super lightweight.

5-string neck-through bass



5-string active bass incorporating a NEW WATSON body design. Curly Bubinga top, neck Curly Maple with Brazilian Cherry and East Indian Rosewood stringers. Fitted with our own hot Dual Coil pickups and Audere 4-band EQ. ..

Single Cut Neck-Through Bass - Fretless 4-string


We chose woods to bring out the best possible fretless tone. It is similar to the one pictured above except that we have standardized on Hipshot type-A bridges and Hipshot Ultra-Light tuners for this model.

4-string short-scale neck-through



4 string active bass designed specifically for women or smaller-stature bass players. Maple core, Tulipwood top. Smaller. lighter,and more comfortable without compromising performance.

Headless 7-string Guitar

 

This is a 27" scale 7-string headless with a Curly Koa bookmatched top. It is our first instrument featuring lightweight hardware from ETS in Germany. Lots of amazing features

5-string Double-Cut Bass

This bass is similar to a single-cut 08B021 we built a few months ago. It is a beautiful bass in every way, and despite the fact that the top and back are ebony, our goal was for a very lightweight instrument.

Serial Number 09B036


This must be our most custom custom to date. We're building a beautiful 6-string bass on a 30" scale platform. Our customer was looking for a very compact and light bass but without compromising on the quality of the low B string response.

Custom solid Body Guitar

 

 

 

This is a custom instrument for an international customer. It is a solid body electric guitar, double cut shape of our own design. A curly Koa top was requested and fortunately we have the right material for this in stock.

Custom Neck-Through Bass - 4-string


This bass is am interesting combination of styles. The trans black finish is beautuiful

Headless Bolt on Guitar


 

We had great reviews from prople who saw and played our last headless guitar that we decided to make a new one! This one has a fancy Koa top among many other cool features.

Single Cut Neck-Through Bass



 

I had this very unusual book-matched ash top in the shop, and I thought it would make a really nice single-cut instrument. This bass will be the the first in our new line of lower priced, quality basses. In the current marketplace, single-cut basses are very expensive and this will be our effort to make an instrument of this type available at a slightly lower price point than our high-end products.

6-string neck-thru Headless fanned-fret Bass



This amazing instrument is a super-compact 6-string designed for just one thing...PERFORMANCE!!! Top and back are Goncola Alves. Fanned frets! Snail Shell inlay! 4-band EQ!

7-string Chambered Fretless bass

Custom 7-string Fretless Chambered Bass - Truly one-of-a -kind! Combination of piezo and wound pickups. Features many new building techniques plus a special "Jaco" coating on the fingerboard. !

Thee Ram Jam Ace Bass


This bass was crafted for Thee Ram Jam who is destined to become a powerful and funky force in the 2010 music scene. The bass has a maple/east indian rosewood core, paroda back and Pale Moon Ebony top and inlay. Also fitted with fiber optics and blue LEDs!

5-string headless. Bolt-on neck.


5-string active headless bass. Local Idyllwild Cedar body, curly Myrtle top and 5-piece neck/ body core. Watson 3-band active/passive EQ and Watson tapped single-coil pickups. 34.5 inch scale, ABM hardware.

5-string 33" scale neck-thru bass



 

5-string active single-cut neck-through bass. Mahogany body, flamed Koa top and 5-piece Iroko/Maple neck. Electronics will be Watson 3-band active/passive and pickups will be Watson high-output dual-coils. 33 inch scale, Hipshot hardware.

Chambered electric guitar

 

 

Hollow-Body guitar for one of our existing customers. Ash and maple body and neck, birdseye maple fingerboard. Olympic White paint. Humbucking blade pickups awitchable to single-coil.

Serial Number 08B021




 

5-string active single-cut neck-through bass.. Black & White Ebony top. Electronics will be Watson 3-band active/passive and pickups will be Watson high-output dual coils. 34 inch scale, Hipshot hardware.

Purpleheart 30-fret guitar



 

 

This guitar has a Purpleheart top and back plus a Purpleheart fingerboard. The body core was built from alternating pieces of Ebony and Satinwood. Gold hardware, 30 frets, Aguilar 3-band avtive/passive EQ.

Dark Blue Chambered Guitar


 

Thisis a beautiful guitar built with all maple and very carefully tinted to a specific blue sunburst. It has a chambered hollow-body and is very light. Active/passive eletronics.


6 String Bass

 

6-string active single-cut neck-through bass. This bass features a crotch Koa top with Mahogany body, and 7-piece flamed maple neck. Electronics will be David McKeen or Audere and pickups will be super high output Watson dual coils. 34 inch scale, Hipshot hardware.

4 String Bass




 

4-string active single-cut neck-through bass. Mahogany body, and 5-piece wenge neck. Electronics: Watson 3-band active/passive and pickups are Watson tapped single-coils. 33-inch scale, Hipshot hardware.

5 String Bass




 

5-string active single-cut neck-through bass. features a beautiful crotch Koa top with Mahogany body, and 7-piece birdseye maple, rosewood and padauk neck. Electronics are Mike Pope 4-Band, and pickups are our own high-output Watson dual-coils, switchable to single coil in each position. 35 inch scale, Gold Hipshot hardware.

5 String Bass


5-String HEADLESS active bolt-on bass. Padauk and Pernambuco neck and body center. Chakte-Kok bookmatched top and back. Nordstrand Big Singles pickups with David McKeen active electronics. 34 inch scale. ABM Hardware (Black), Graph Tech nut

5 String Bass

 

 

5-string deluxe active bass. Woods: Shedua, Bloodwood and Flamed Redwood with Hawaiian Koa veneers. 19mm string spacing. 34.5 inch scale. Bartolini pickups. Aguilar 3-band electronics. Hipshot Bridge. Gotoh 35 gram GT350 tuners. Graph Tech Nut.

Headless electric



 

This guitar was our first headless design. We used a beautiful piece of bookmatched Lacewood for the top. The neck is Maple and Pernambuco, body Mahogany. All hardware is ABM. Pickups Nordstrand NVH.

5 String Bass

 

 

5-String active neck-through bass. Figured Hawaiian Koa top, Mahogany body, Maple neck with Osage Orange stringers and Hawaiian Koa veneers. 19mm string spacing, 34 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand Dual-Coil pickups. Audere 4-Band Electronics, switchable pickup coils. Hipshot bridge and Tuners, Graph Tech nut

Fretless 5-string bass

 

 

5-String FRETLESS active neck-through bass. Hawaiian Koa top and back, Wenge body core, Wenge neck with Osage Orange stringers. 19mm string spacing 34 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand overwound Big Singles pickups. Glockenklang Electronics. Hipshot bridge and Tuners, Graph Tech nut

5 String Bass

 

 

5-String active neck-through bass. Figured Hawaiian Koa top, Mahogany body, Maple and East Indian Rosewood neck. 19mm string spacing, 34 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand Dual Coil pickups. Audere 4-Band Electronics, switchable pickup coils. Hipshot bridge and Tuners, Graph Tech nut

7-string 34" scale neck-thru bass

.


7 string active bass. Woods: Ziricote and Flamed Maple with Purpleheart veneers. 17mm string spacing. 34 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand Dual Coil pickups with ebony/purpleheart custom covers. McKeen 3-band electronics with midrange selector switch. ABM Bridge. Gotoh 35 gram GT350 tuners. Graph Tech Nut. High Gloss Polyester Resin finish.

6 String Bass

 

 

6 string active bass. Woods: Flamed Maple and Purpleheart with Purpleheart and Walnut veneers.18mm string spacing. 34.5 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand Big Singles pickups with custom purpleheart covers. Aguilar 3-band electronics. Hipshot Bridge. Gotoh 35 gram GT350 tuners. Graph Tech Nut.

5-string 34.5" scale neck-through bass




5 string active bass. Woods: Purpleheart and Wenge with Hawaiian Koa veneers. 17mm string spacing. 34.5 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand Big Singles pickups. Aguilar 3-band electronics. Hipshot Bridge and Ultra-Light tuners. Graph Tech Nut. High Gloss Polyester Resin finish.

4 String bass

 

 

4 string active bass. Woods: Tulipwood, Pau Ferro and Maple with Hawaiian Koa veneers. 19mm string spacing. 34 inch scale. Carey Nordstrand Big Singles pickups. Aguilar 3-band electronics. Hipshot Bridge. Gotoh 35 gram GT350 tuners. Graph Tech Nut.