Bass of the Week: A Lacewood-Laced Masterpiece from Beardly Customs
This week, we’re featuring a jaw-dropping build from Rick Link of Beardly Customs. Completed on 1/29/26, the four-string features a walnut body sandwiched between book-matched ambrosia maple. It also features a Lacewood rear core with a maple veneer, delivering a rich tone and appearance to the back. Link continues the lacewood theme in the neck and fingerboard, which is inlaid with flamed maple blocks to mark its 24 frets.
Even more aspects of the bass are completed with exotic woods: the cavity cover is figured purpleheart, the nut is snakewood, and the walnut headstock is capped with koa.
For electronics, it’s fitted with a pair of Turner multi-coil pickups and a passive volume/volume/tone control set. Hardware includes a Hipshot Kickass bridge and Ultralite tuners.
Beardly Customs 1.29.26 Bass Photos:
Beardly Customs 1.29.26 Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 34″ |
| Body: | Walnut with Lacewood Rear Core |
| Top and Back: | Book-matched Ambrosia Maple |
| Neck: | 2-piece Lacewood |
| Nut: | Snakewood |
| Fingerboard: | Lacewood |
| Frets: | 24 |
| Inlays: | Flamed Maple Block |
| Pickups: | Dual Turner Multi-Coils |
| Electronics: | Passive |
| Controls: | Volume, Volume, Tone |
| Bridge: | Hipshot KickAss |
| Tuners: | Hipshot Ultralite |
| Finish: | Natural |
| Other: | Figured purpleheart cavity cover, Purpleheart pickup rings, Walnut with Koa cap headstock, GHS strings, Bitterroot Guitars hardware |
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.
It’s actually leopard wood. Not lacewood. 😉