Bass of the Week: Zoot Bass Chaser “Northern Lights” Turns a Shelved Build Into Something Special
Our Bass of the Week comes to you from Zoot Bass luthier Mike Walsh, who shared the details of this gorgeous four-string with us. This Chaser model got the nickname “Northern Lights” for its incredible finish, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Walsh gave us the rundown on the bass’s origin, which began as a customer commission. Unfortunately, they ran into bad luck and couldn’t continue with the build.
“The bass was put on ice until I could find another customer who might want it,” Walsh explains. “At this stage, the bass had no color or finish to the body, neck or headstock. A couple of years went by, and the unfinished bass was just hanging up in the corner of the workshop collecting dust. One of my regular customers (James Nell) visited the workshop to collect a Zoot bass Boudica ‘Wal-a-like’ that I had just finished for him. He told me that he was going to order another bass from me, this time a 5-string. He saw the bass hanging up in the corner and asked about it. I told him the story, and he became interested in it; however, the bass was made as a 4-string, not a 5-string as he wanted. James then said, ‘Why not just build it up as a 4 but tuned B,E,A,D?”
The bass features an American swamp ash body topped with figured flame maple, a flame maple neck, and a Birdseye maple neck with black crackle block inlays. Walsh gave the neck a compound radius for extra playing comfort. It is fitted with a pair of his handmade “Wal Style” multi-coil pickups with a comprehensive control setup. It has a five-way switch to select the pickup coils (see the diagram below) as well as a three-way switch for selecting the tone capacitor.
Other features include a Hipshot A-Style bridge, Hipshot Ultra-Lite tuners, and an 18.5mm bridge spacing.
Zoot Bass Chaser “Northern Lights” Bass Photos:
Zoot Bass Chaser “Northern Lights” Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 34” |
| Body: | American Swamp Ash |
| Top: | Figured Flame Maple |
| Neck: | Flame Maple with capped headstock |
| Top nut spacing: | 38mm |
| Fingerboard radius: | Compounded 16” |
| Fingerboard: | Birds-eye Maple |
| Inlays: | Black crackle block inlays |
| Frets: | 24 |
| Fret wire: | Dutch, medium/heavy |
| Strap buttons: | Schaller 'S' locks in black |
| Pickups: | Individually Hand made by Mike Walsh “Wal style” multi-coil pickups |
| Controls: | Passive, Volume, Tone, 5 way coil selector switch, 3 way tone cap selector |
| Bridge: | Hipshot 'A' Bridge in black with chrome saddles |
| Bridge spacing: | 18.5mm |
| Machine heads: | Hipshot Ultra-lites |
| String retainer: | Hipshot |
| Body finish: | Custom stained “Northern Lights” with hi-gloss polyester clear |
| Strings: | D'Addario B,E,A,D |
| Weight: | 8.6Lbs (3.9Kgs) |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
