Storywood Music Unveils SWB-3 50s Style P Bass Built From 100% Reclaimed Wood
Storywood Music is a company that specializes in crafting instruments out of 100% reclaimed wood for a style they call “Modern Vintage.” This week, we’re checking out their latest bass: the StoryWood SWB-3 50s Style P Bass.
Builder Tyler Townsend shared the rundown of the bass with us, saying they wanted to “honor the original workhorse by applying some sonic versatility” while using their specially sourced woods.
“The one-piece body is water-recovered Santa Maria, lost in the rivers in Belize over a hundred years ago as it floated toward the coast during harvest,” he says. “The neck is made from California walnut orchard salvaged lumber. When nut trees reach the age where they no longer produce, orchards replant new trees and the old trees are salvaged for their beautiful wood. The rock walnut fingerboard on this bass is also water-recovered, but from Lake Gatun in Panama where the valleys were flooded during the creation of the Panama Canal many decades ago.”
As for the sonic versatility, StoryWood fitted the bass with a pair of Aguilar P51 pickups, situated approximately in a 60s J-bass location. The pickups are wired to a Tele-style four-way switch for four distinct tones:
1. 50s P
2. A tone very similar to but not the same as the middle setting on a J
3. Bridge-only P51 which, again, is like and also unlike a bridge J, and
4. Both pickups in series, providing a big tone with more girth but still in balance with the rest.
Finally, hardware includes a set of Hipshot Ultra-lite tuners and a vintage Leo-Quan “Bad-Ass” bridge from the 70s. Storywood plans to put the bass into production, and those models will use the Hipshot Kick-Ass bridge.
All of these details come together to make a special instrument, with Townsed saying, “The very old wood in this instrument makes it highly resonant with excellent sustain. This combination provides a versatile instrument that can cover a wide range of music – warm and mellow, funky, or driving rock.”
StoryWood SWB-3 50s Style P Bass Photos:
StoryWood SWB-3 50s Style P Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 34″ |
| Body: | Santa Maria |
| Neck: | California Walnut |
| Fingerboard: | Rock Walnut |
| Frets: | 20 |
| Inlays: | Dot |
| Pickups: | Aguilar P51 |
| Electronics: | Passive, 4-way Switching |
| Bridge: | 70s Leo Quan Bad-Ass |
| Tuners: | Hipshot Ultralite |
| Finish: | Natural |
| Other: | 100% Reclaimed Woods |
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.
