ACF Custom RBMM Prototype 5 string 2018 Natural Swamp Ash

You are looking at a 100% hand-built bass guitar from my new venture, ACF Custom Basses.
This is the prototype for a model called the RBMM, which I co-designed with fellow bass aficionado, Roger B. Miller. Our mutual love for the simplicity and function afforded to us by single H configured basses basses led us to rethink a few aspects of some legendary models which we felt could use improvement. And the end result is more than pleasing, if you ask us.
The main goal was to keep things as a nice mix of traditional and modern, so we started with the swamp ash body. It's a tried and true wood that you find in the classics, as well as the newest basses around.
The neck wood choice was a bit of a departure, but this piece of mahogany was special and begging to be in an instrument of this caliber. And the ironwood fingerboard seemed like a great wood for a high-traffic area. Speaking on that, the frets are stainless steel. They are far superior to nickel frets, not only for long-lasting durability, but they're hypoallergenic. If you're like me and allergic to nickel, you only use stainless strings, which tear up nickel frets pretty fast. This bass will never worry about such a thing.
The neck and body are mated together using a rather deep tenon into the body, with 5 large screws, making for a very sturdy and responsive neck joint.

We decided to go with 18mm string spacing at the bridge, as it has a little more room than traditional models, but isn't overly wide. I also wanted to experiment with the slightly shorter scale length, which I've tried on some other basses I'd built, so we went with 33.5". That yields a nice feel that has more than enough string tension and response to shake the house, while allowing a slightly more compact area for hand movement.
And since both of us prefer a flatter radius for the neck, 20" was used. All of that, combined with a 1-3/4" nut makes for a very fast, responsive action that can be set nice and low if desired.
When it came to the electronics, the only company I would look to is Nordstrand, makers of the finest pickups and preamps around.
The BigMan pickup chosen for this bass takes the alnico magnets we all know and love and supercharges the output for an aggressive, clear, thick sound. The series/parallel switch allows for the traditional, clear sound people love (parallel), as well as a more aggressive, angrier series mode. When mated with the 2 band preamp, it is simple perfection! Another facet we wanted was the ability to turn the preamp on and off as needed, unlike the "active only" setups found elsewhere. This bass has a bypass switch when you pull the volume knob. And another upgraded feature is a passive tone control that can be used in either active or passive mode.
There is also an internal switch to adjust the high frequency. This fantastic feature allows for even more tonal adjustment and is easily accessed by the magnetic control cover area, which doesn't require any tools to open. That also allows for easy, tool free battery changes.
All of this was a HUGE improvement over the old designs. You can opt for active or passive operation, with balanced output and tone control in both. It's kind of like having multiple basses in one.

Rounding out the hardware selection is an ABM brass bridge with lockdown saddles and Hipshot Ultralight tuners and string tree.
ABM bridges have been found on the finest instruments I've ever played for many years. The rock-solid brass construction bolsters the strings to the body and allows them to vibrate to their fullest capacity.
And Hipshot makes fantastic tuning hardware that is light, sturdy, functional, and let's face it: gorgeous!
The D'Addario stainless string set is strung between all that and yields a nice clear sound, as well as a balanced feel.
The finish choices made were based on the notion of keeping things simple to allow for maximum resonance from these woods.
The neck has a gunstock oil finish, a technique which has served many builders well for many years. It leaves a protective, long lasting finish that is pleasant to the hands, easy to touch up as needed, and allows the wood to resonate freely. It can be made glossy or matte, depending on preference and is easy changed as needed.
The body has been sprayed in a light coat of water-based poly, which was designed for use on wood flooring. It protects the wood well using a light coat, allowing it to vibrate better than something encased in a thick finish. It shows the grain, it's not super fancy looking or bulletproof, but many high end companies have adopted this ethos over the years and personally, we like it a lot.

All of these features result in a bass that really impressed both of us. It has the inspiration of many basses which we loved, but modifies their traditions in ways that function better, it has more output, and frankly is something we are happy to hang our hats on as an improved design.

This has been lightly used by us as a demo/prototype bass. There's a few surface scratches here and there, as well as spots where you can see that I was kind of new at finishing, but it all functions well. I've gone over the bass completely and it's ready for action!
The bass will ship in a Mono Vertigo gig bag.

Here's the spec sheet:

- Swamp ash solid body, enhanced grain and finished in a light poly
- 1-piece mahogany neck, finished in gunstock oil, dual action truss rod
- Ironwood fingerboard, 33.5" scale, 20" radius
- Stainless steel frets, 22 + zero fret
- Nordstrand BigMan pickup, series/parallel switch - Nordstrand 2B preamp, with active/passive switch, passive tone control - ABM brass lockdown bridge, 18mm spacing
- Hipshot Ultralight tuners, string retainer
- Dunlop StrapLocks
- Magnetic control cover plate, nickel shielding - 1.75" nut spacing - D'Addario Stainless 45-135 strings
- 9 lbs

To order a similar model from me, built from scratch, would be $2,500 or more, depending on options. This is a chance to "get in on the ground floor" with a lightly-used demo model.

FREE SHIPPING TO THE USA!
Anywhere else, please contact me for a shipped price, as international shipping prices vary wildly, or sometimes can't even be sent.