Bass of the Week: Memphis Guitar Spa Cinnamon Gurl
As a Neil Young fan I’m also a huge Rick Rosas fan, so I was pumped to see pictures of his newest bass pop up on Facebook. Rosas called on Kevin Ferner of Memphis Guitar Spa to create a bass to bring a different sound to his studio work. This week we check out the resulting beauty they call Cinnamon Gurl.
The first thing you notice about the Tele style bass is its rich Indian Rosewood top. Its distinct grain is further accented by curly maple binding, which also extends to the fingerboard. Phases of the moon made from black and white mother of pearl are inlaid for fret markers. They are also complimented by 146 hand cut pieces of Indonesian donkey Shell mother of pearl that lines the pickup cavity and body. The pickup itself is a Jason Lollar custom wound vintage tele bass single coil. Hardware on the bass includes Hipshot Lakland tuning machines, a Hipshot FB2 aluminum bridge, a handcut bone nut, and an Elecktrosocket output jack. Finally, it’s strung up with flatwounds for a classic thump.
Rosas debuted the bass with Neil Young at Farm Aid 2013 in Saratoga Springs, New York earlier this year and used it on the upcoming Pegi Young and the Survivors album. For more, check out Memphis Guitar Spa’s website.
Memphis Guitar Spa Cinnamon Gurl Bass Photos:
Memphis Guitar Spa Cinnamon Gurl Bass Specs:
- Construction: Bolt-on
- Scale: 34″
- Body Core: Alder
- Top: Indian Rosewood
- Body Binding: Curly Maple
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Fretboard Binding: Curly Maple
- Inlays: Black MOP, White MOP Phases of the Moon, Abalone Side Dots
- Pickup: Jason Lollar Vintage Single Coil Tele Bass Pickup
- Tuners: Hipshot Lakland Tuning Machines
- Bridge: Hipshot
- Nut: Bone
- Other: High Value Sprague Orange Drop Cap, DR Flat Wound Strings, CTS pots, Elecktrosocket Jack
I thought you weren’t supposed to string flats through-body?
I do all the time. I use Ernie Ball Group III flats.
Nice Bass….How Much?
No
I’ve never heard anything about not using flatwounds on a string through. I do it all the time, and use them on one of my own basses. True, its a good idea to angle the top hole of the bridge where it exits the body and comes up towards the saddle to ease the angle of the string, but I do that on all basses, flat wound OR round wound. When we built this for Rick, it was because he had seen a similar one we did with flatwounds and string through. Rules or no rules, it sure is a great sounding combination with this pickup!