Madlad Instruments Masterpiece Curly Shedua Danish Oil Finished PP Bass Jazz Bass JBass Style Body (custom made with pride in north Texas)

Every once in a while you have a body that you don't want to let go. A piece of wood so figured it impresses even the most scrupulous of builders. Madlad Masterpieces are those rare gems. The "once in a while" materials and builds that are super rare and super special.

At long last, we're stoked to finally offer of the best offset bass shapes out there meets one of the most versitile (and funny named) configs out there. Introducing the Madlad PP Jazz Bass!

Playing on the success of its older more precise brother, the Jazz bass came on the scene in the 1960s to much acclaim. With a new offset (and really comfy) body design that fit into your lap and a killer new pickup layout that fit into your mix, the Jazz bass quickly broke out of it's namesake and has tracked in all sorts of styles from Metal to Country (and everything in between).

To continue this momentum we've had clients reach out to do a PP config on this legendary shape to give an even cooler sound and more versatile pickup layout that many had enjoyed on our PP PBasses. And now all the fun (and giggling at the name) is available on this, the new Madlad PP Jazz Bass!

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

-Vintage Inspired J-style body dimensionally accurate to ~2mm (~8/100ths of an inch)

-Body is made from an extra curly 2-piece Curly Shedua top and 3 piece back. The reason for the difference is to allow for the curliest stuff to be used up top and still be able to use the rest of the cut so as not to waste. BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING MORE MADLAD THAN BEING ECOLOGICALLY AWARE. Oh, and all my lumber is sourced from a local mill here in McKinney, Texas

-Each body is made-to-order and combines CNC for the milling and hand finishing done by yours truly

-Each body is sanded to 320 grit (as a builder myself I want to save your wrists and your time)

-Body finished with a natural Danish Oil finish (because it would be a sin to cover such a gorgeous piece of wood with color/stain)

-Double P pickup route (bridge or neck orientation can be reversed. Just shoot me a message!)

-Outlined neck holes that can be drilled at no extra cost (in case you want to use a different neck screw layout)

-outlined “helper holes” for easier pickup mounting and drilling. these holes can be hidden under the pick guard too if you end up using a different shape

-Can be grain filled with a choice of different colors for that extra pop! (I can do clear too)

-Built with care by one builder in his garage and proceeds help small businesses and the local music scene here in north Texas

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

The MadLad Vintage Inspired bodies are all made to fit the original specifications of their decades-old counterparts. This particular body follows the design of vintage Fender J-Basses and each dimension is accurate to ~2mm (~8/100ths of an inch). And yes... there was a lot of calipering, checking dimensions, and singing sweet-nothings to my CNC machine so it can hold that kind of tolerance. I hear from all the cool bass-playing cats out there that the reversed bridge route tightens up the bottom end. So this body has all kinds of sonic sauce built right in.

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 it's way in.

The body itself is made from Curly Shedua which I source from a local mill not 10 miles from where I live. Shedua is a cousin of Mahogany and has similar weight and aesthetic properties. One thing Shedua has on Mahogany however is the zebra stripe pattern throughout the wood and it's deep curly figure.

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

As a builder myself I know what parts I dread in the body fabrication process so I've done all of those for you ahead of time! Each body is sanded to 320 grit for an ultra smooth feel.

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

Head Madlad @MadladInstruments