2022 Tucker #7 "Kashtan"
This bass was commissioned by Sydney bassist Will Hansen, who was very keen to have a unique instrument from me using Australian timbers.
We settled on a model evolving from, and slightly larger than, my two preceding "Castagne" basses.
The back and sides are highly figured Tasmanian blackwood, with a slab-sawn black walnut dart. Purfling inlays are a simple stripe of red Jarrah from Western Australia. Neck and scroll are maple, with blackwood cheeks. Fingerboard is Solomon Islands blackwood, a beautiful very hard and dense timber from the pacific region. Top is imported Carpathian spruce - there are very few Australian woods suitable for soundboards.
The bass has a string length of 41.75" in the old money, an overstand of 40mm, and is a delight to play. Neck is bolt-on, as in all my previous instruments.
The scroll is a copy of a beautiful italian scroll that came through the workshop last year.
Internal bracing is the Responsive system of course, and the bass bar is again, a "Lamarre" design.
I named this bass "Kashtan" after the Ukrainian word for chestnut, a symbol of Kyiv.
