This custom build was for my friend Ellen, easily the hardest-working musician I know and all-round legend. The brief was for a light and versatile medium-scale five-string bass with active and passive capabilities. Ember was born out of our shared vision, with a striking colour scheme and a body shape to suit the player. Reminiscent of classic P-style body, but more compact in both height and length, it has been an oustanding workhorse with over 100 gigs in the first twelve months, from dusty outback festivals to heaving inner-city nightclubs, Ember still looks and plays like the day she left the workshop. She is and is as tough and uncompromising as her owner, changing lives everywhere she plays.

Body: reclaimed White Cedar

Neck: seven-piece Queensland Maple, Queensland White Ash, Fishtail Oak and Blue Gum

Fretboard: Queensland White Ash, 32” scale

Finish: body finished in custom Ember burst stain, and hard gunstock oil, neck: linseed oil

Pickups: Sadowsky Precision pickup at the neck and Sadowsky Noiseless Jazz at the bridge

Electronics: Darkglass Tone Capsule with active/passive toggle

Controls: stacked master volume/master tone, stacked high mid/low mid, bass, treble

Bridge: Hipshot Kickass in chrome

Tuners: Gotoh lightweight Y-Key

Nut: unbleached bone

Frets: Jumbo nickel-silver