This is a hybrid neckthrough with a ribbed cedar top freely floating over the neckwood and hollowed mahagony wings, providing strong acoustic properties. It has a deeply satisfying mwah but can still produce a nice growl soloing the bridge pickup. The body was designed to be reminiscent of a kinora (lyre) and an oud (lute) simultaneously by fitting the oud-shaped cedar into the kinora-shaped tulipwood / mahogany body. Carving of the knobs and headstock gives the appearance of the scrolls of earlier stringed instruments.
The bass features a headless design with tuners in the ebony tailpiece, and employs a 35" scale. Two Lane Poor passive pickups are enclosed in ebony cases with Acacia's Tree of Life logo in the lower right corners. Electronics consist of a master tone control and separate volume controls. A circular ebony inlay between the pickups provides the illusion of an O hole (actual air passages are provided by 1/16th inch gaps between the pickup covers and the cedar top). In the center of the "O hole" is a silver Mogen David from Israel and in the center of the star is a piece of Elat stone, a green mineral that is a combination of lapis and malachite and has only been found in the mine sunk by King Solomon. The neck is a laminate of zebrawood in the center, two wide strips of wenge on the outside, and narrower strips of padouk sandwiched in between, with two truss rods and a graphite spar under the G string. The fingerboard is ebony, as is the hand-carved bridge. The nut is hand-carved guayacan. Total weight is 8.5 pounds.
Click here or on the logo to visit Acacia Instruments' Web site. There's a lot of neat information there about the different woods used. It also features numerous links useful to bassists.
The LORD provided the inspiration, materials, and the spirit of Bezalel and Oholiab needed for this project. Elaine A. Craig performed the photography. Film developing and conversion to JPEG was provided by Ritz Camera. The page construction and image editing were accomplished by David L. Craig.
