A 1999 DeArmond Starfire bass in for a custom Alembic-style bridge and tailpiece installation.

The tricky part of this installation requires routing the tone block of the bridge into the arched top. The photo above shows my custom saddle slotting jig modified with guides sized to rout the mating pocket in the top.

You can see the original DeArmond factory routs extending outside of the new bridge. The player and I considered various cosmetic options to hide them. In the end we decided to just let them show as they are not that much of an eyesore and fit the vibe of this player-grade workhorse.

This bass is decked out with a crazy amount of wiring ala Phil Lesh. The pickups are Fred Hammon "Dark Star" pickups that are based on the Hagstrom BiSonics. These pickups are recreations of the originals that were popularized by Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane) and Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead) in the late '60s. Note if you are interested in these pickups, check out Curtis Novak as Fred has stopped producing them.

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A 70's style Strat back in the shop to complete it's Lowell George-esque setup with a Tele bridge pickup and Alembic Blastor preamp. Above the body is being routed out for a Seymour Duncan Tele bridge pickup. I forgot to photo the method used to enlarge the bridge in the pickguard (yes, a Tele bridge pickup is bigger than a Strat pickup). What I did was to take a Tele bridge, double-stick taped it to the pickguard and used a violin knife to pare away the excess. It worked fairly well.

The owner found a NOS original Blastor from the 1970's (not the newer Blaster / Strat-o-Blaster). Pictured above is the back of the body is being routed out to accept a 9V battery box to power the Alembic preamp. A battery box is not required, but it's nice to have easy access. You can install the battery under the pickguard but it can be a pain having to take off the pickguard for each battery change. I would not install a battery box on a vintage instrument. Also note that we ended up lowering the action at the nut considerably from last time it was in.

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on the bench

New custom Alembic bridge :: 1999 DeArmond Starfire Bass [9.7 lbs]

Lowell George setup :: 2001 Fender Stratocaster [7.5 lbs]

Made in Mass, not mass made.

LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS