Madlad Instruments AU79 Gold Goldtop PJ-Route Precision Bass PBass Matte Finished Body (made with pride in north Texas)

Gold is Best. but the Madlad Au79 PJ Bass body better-er than best. If you're wondering what Au79 means consult your periodic table.

The Au79 starts as a Madlad Ash PJ-route Bass Body with tons of great grain character and heft from the Northern Ash it is carved from. Ash is a rather porous wood however so shortly after carving and sanding I slap down a few coats of grain filler to give the color something to live on top of.

One of the coolest parts of this particular color job (in my opinion) is how the Ash grain lines are so prominent that, even with grain filler, the grain lines can still be seen like veins peeping through the finish as the light crosses over the top of the body. I an also just forget about the filler all together to pronounce this effect even more!

From there I spray multiple coats of poly on top to add all sorts of depth and color to the already gorgeous striations and grain of this wood. And with how Ash takes finish you get a gorgeous matte finish with some pores just peeking out and giving the body a "natural" look like no other.

The MadLad PJ Bass builds on the popular Ash P-Bass body you know and love but adds a J route near the bridge for those tight punchy lead lines when you need it.

Here's the TL;DR (high points):

• Vintage Spec P-style body dimensionally accurate to ~2mm (~8/100ths of an inch)
• Body is made from 2 pieces of Ash which is sourced from a local mill here in McKinney, Texas. With gorgeous striations and nice open pores each body clocks in between 6-7 lbs.
• Each body is finished with multiple coats of polyacrylic which is sprayed and sanded between coats to get a consistent matte surface.
• Each body is made-to-order and combines CNC for the milling and hand sanded, sprayed, and polished by yours truly
• Pictured here is a PJ style routing but the body can be done with just the single P-Bass route as well. Just shoot me a message!
• Drilled neck holes that can be drilled at no extra cost (in case you want to use a different neck screw layout)
• Built with care by one builder in his garage and proceeds help small businesses and the local music scene here in north Texas

B2B and volume discounts are available if you're a builder or shop interested in partnership! Feel free to drop me a message for more details.

Here's a bit more about how this body came to be!

The MadLad PJ Bass starts as a vintage inspired PBass body designed to mimic the original specifications Fender set out decades ago. Each dimension is accurate to ~2mm (~8/100ths of an inch)

What that means for you is you get the most dimensionally accurate body I could possibly produce and this body will accept the standard Fender tapered neck pocket with a rounded heel.

Please keep in mind that Fender neck pockets are a TIGHT fit - and while my neck pockets are routed to spec and hold a solid tolerance some necks may need a little sanding to get the heel to make it into the pocket itself. You want this joint to be snug-as-a-bug for a number of reasons so don't worry if it doesn't fit initially. That's by design and can happen pretty regularly. Just sand the sides of your neck heel evenly and it'll make its way in.

The body itself is made from Ash which I source from a local mill not 10 miles from where I live. Ash is a gorgeous wood with beautiful striations and grain and I inspect each piece of lumber to at the mill to find the best grain and patterns I can. I personally love the way Ash grain "rolls" over the contour/relief cuts and gives you this beautiful contoured look that you don't get with veneers. 

All production is done locally in my home shop and with the desire to make your guitar building journey as fun as possible.

The part that does kind of bum me out is that our craft and instruments are made from wood. Which means a tree somewhere had to fall for us to make our beautiful tools of the trade. Not wanting to leave the story there a portion of each body purchase goes to support reforestation charities so we can still have fun with our instruments and the next generation still gets the natural beauty of our tall and green friends :)

When you buy Madlad you support me and a host of local businesses that I source parts from such as my local lumber mill. I also make it a priority to use some proceeds to go support local artists who are on the rise here in the DFW area. It's probably not a huge selling point in the grand scheme of things - but you can maybe find a bit of joy knowing that while you're getting a great guitar body the local scene is also thriving as a result of that purchase too, so thank you!

If you've made it this far a big thank you for listening to my rambling - As a small operation presently working out of my garage I know how valuable time can be so thank you for giving some of yours to check out the listing and see what we're all about. Whether you're pulling the trigger right now or we look at getting you something down the road, I hope you'll consider becoming a Madlad yourself!

All the best,

Drew