SMCTek Custom Guitars Home Page

Flame Maple and Birdseye Maple Jazz-Style Bass

This is the first hand-crafted instrument built by SMCTek Custom Guitars, a Jazz-Style bass with a flame maple capped alder body and a birdseye maple neck with an Indian rosewood fretboard. It is now in the capable hands of Josh Lippi, the bassist of Bucho!, a successful regional band in the Sacramento area. Here's what Josh said about SMCtek's instruments:

I found the build, finish and playing qualities of Steve's guitars are far better than those of the big name brands costing three times more!

Josh Lippi - bass player for Bucho!

And here's what Josh's friend Alan said:

It is an ironic trait of our human nature that we blindly accept the inferior qualities of mass produced instruments simply because of brand recognition. Big dollar advertising has fooled us all into believing we're getting the best for less. As a player and collector for nearly 50 years, I've found SMCTek guitars and basses to have all the qualities that I've always expected in an instrument, but rarely found. If you're serious about your music, you simply cannot find a better guitar or bass for the money. SMCTek offers you the rare opportunity to experience the best for less!

Alan Parker - player/collector/reseller

Claro Walnut 5-String Bass with Bartolini Soapbars and Preamp

This bass was a year-and-a-half in the making, started in Sept of 2006 before I started the 6-month ordeal of moving the shop from Roseville to Lincoln. General characterisics:

Three-layer body with a layer of curly maple between two layers of claro walnut
Neck of quarter-sawn maple and purpleheart with a Pau Ferro fingerboard
Hipshot tuners and Type A bridge
Bartolini soapbar pickups and three-band EQ, plus coil-split switches

Here's what Mark wrote after he'd had some time to play with it:

Hi Steve,

I returned home with a beautiful piece of craftsmanship - it was most certainly worth the wait! Thank you very much for a work of art. But the best was yet to be.....I cannot believe why I started with a mass- produced "name brand" when I could have had an instrument like this 2 years ago. You can feel the love that went into making this bass guitar. The materials and the finish are incomparable. You have provided so much variation for tone - I am still experimenting and will be for quite awhile. This is really a responsive and expressionate instrument. It is effortless to play. You have set the strings and tension perfectly - there is absolutely no string buzz even at frentic playing. The neck is so well designed and crafted that there is no strain playing even at a stretch. The sounds are mainly warm and deep but I am getting some punchy sounds too with a fiddle of the tone knobs. Steve, I am recommending you to my friends who are seriously looking for a guitar that will be part of them. In fact when my wife allows me to spend again I am going to order another one from you!! Thanks again!

Mark

Spalted Maple Jazz-Style Fretless Bass

Built for Michael-Scott in Newbury Park CA

Neck: QS Maple with birdseye maple fingerboard and spalted maple headstock overlay
Body: Spalted maple top, walnut layer, then alder
Pickups: hand-wound by Ronnie Sweet of Sweetsounds Ltd.
Hardware: black
Strings: Carvin (LaBella?) nylon tapewound
Body cavities lines with grounded copper foil

This bass was completed in January 2005. When Michael-Scott received it, he wrote this:

Steve:

I love you.

This is an amazing bass. Probably the most expressionate string instrument I have ever played on.

The sustain is unreal. I feel like the note swells and gets louder after I pluck a string.

The vibrato is very easy. I do a little bit of movement and it really comes out in wondrous color.

This really is a work of art both to see and hear. Every time I open the case I gasp a little bit and can't wait to get it in my hands. Though it looks like a painting it feels as solid as a block of cement and the neck feels just right in my hands.

I was worried that I might have not liked it since I was only able to tell you what I wanted through email and not show you want I wanted- but you did a great job of producing a very playable instrument for me.

I've posted a thread on Talkbass. It is a bass player forum that I normally post on (I'm sure you have heard of it)

Here is the link:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162709

I wish I could order another bass from you but it might have to wait till after the honeymoon with my soon to be wife. I'll keep in touch.

Thanks again,

Michael-Scott

Sunburst P-Style Bass with Double Pickups

This bass is a custom job for Khoa in New York City (Brooklyn, actually), who wanted a Precision-style bass, sunburst body, maple neck, and two sets of P-Bass style pickups. The body and neck are MightyMite, and the body cavities are lined with grounded copper foil to suppress hum. The neck pickup is a Kent Armstrong, and the bridge pickup is the Bartolini model 8-CBP, from their new classic series. Khoa provided the tuners, neckplate, and bridge, which are all genuine Fender parts.

Here's what Khoa has to say about this bass:

I just got the bass. She is gorgeous! This is the best passive bass i've ever played! Definitely much better than the American Fender basses. Man, I love the chunky P-neck. The finish on this bass is superb. Suprisingly the Kent P-PU is astoundingly deep and punchy. The Bartolinis give me that little extra flavor, just enough to enrich the mids and highs of the tonal spectrum for this P-bass.

...And the wooden case you've sent me! I thought I was getting a bazooka!

Simply amazing! Leo Fender would have been proud of your work Steve!

I love this bass! It shows that you've put allot of yourself into this piece of art. It is exactly what I was looking for. The MightyMite body & neck are great! Did I tell you I love the tobacco burst finish?

yes, i saw your jazz bass that you are building from scratch. it looks real cool. i've been busy playing with my new fav. p-bass. i swear, this thing sounds better & better the more i play with it. and the feel is just incredible. i haven't felt this good about a bass since the 80s. the weight, the balance, the neck, everything is so perfect.

currently i have 9 basses but you are right, one can never have too many basses. if only i had discovered you 2 years ago when i had serious loot and had a crazy buying binge. as soon as i save up some more cash, i will probably have you build me another great bass. maybe next time, you could build it from scratch? i'd like to explore different woods for different tonal possibilities (although, right now i am almost convinced it is 75% of the PUs and 25% wood type materials).

thanks again for such an incredible bass. you can definitely take allot of business away from fender at this rate. i don't know about the west coast, but here in NY and at least PA i've seen allot of people buying the mexican fenders and i hardly ever see people buy american fenders any more. i can tell you my p-bass you've put together is 100 times better than what fender has put out in the last 10-15 years or so.

Comment from Steve at SMCTek: I just installed one of these Bartolini 8-CBP pickups in my own Jazz Bass (the natural ash bass shown in the "My Music Stuff" pages), along with a Bartolini 9-JL pickup in the bridge position. I love the sound! Much better than the 15-year old EMG active set that they replaced. I liked the tone of the EMG's, but they tended to pick up a lot of pops & clicks from my fingers & stuff. Just too bright for my taste. I'm definitely a big fan of Bartolini pickups!

The Docmaster Guitar

SMCTek built this guitar for Bruce, a high-school teacher from Fresno who came to play our guitars in May at the Mountain Peddler's Fair. In June Bruce and Steve worked out the design, which is based on the Fender '62 reissue Jazzmaster, which they started calling the "Docmaster." Here's what Bruce said about it after he picked up the guitar at the Fall Peddler's Faire in August:

Steve,

Gotta tell you that I am thoroughly pleased with my Docmaster guitar! It feels great, sounds terrific, and plays remarkably. It is by far, the finest guitar in my collection! I am so glad that I met you at the Peddler's Faire and we were able to collaborate on building my dream guitar!. Kudos!!!

Bruce

Cherry Sunburst Strat-Style with Fotoflame body

This guitar was purchased by Nathan in South Dakota. The guitar has a Cherry Sunburst fotoflame body, Fender Made-In-USA pickups, a rosewood-on-birdseye neck, and all-gold hardware.

Nathan's Ebay feedback:

Great service! The item was carefully packaged and arrived in a timely manner.

In addition, he wrote the following in an email:

Steve;

She's absolutely gorgeous; her clean tones are so sweet.

Simply unbeatable for the price!

---Nathan

Sunburst Jazz-Style Bass

These comments were from Eric in Arizona, who bought the Sunburst Jazz Bass with a MightyMite neck and body shown on the right:

Excellent Transaction AAA+++ Quick Shipment, Recommended!!!!! (Ebay Feedback)

You the Man!! This thing kicks A** Its sitting in its case acclimating as i write!Its just like its Little brother, The mighty mite P! Nine more days.....It'll be agony! Thanks Again, Steve. Hope we can do business again soon! - Eric

Last week I took the bass in for a jumbo fret job. (just a preference thing, I guess!) I did get to play it for a couple of practices....The thing sounded better than i remember the Mexi jazz i had (it felt "foreign" for some reason) this thing feels more like a 80's Japanese made fender which were superior to the Americans at the time(briefly). Any way, sounds like your brewin' up another e-bay jewel. Good luck, I hope your next buyer is as satisfied as I am! - Eric

Sunburst Strat-Style Guitar

The Sunburst Stratocaster-style guitar shown on the right was purchased by Jay (SMCTek's first customer!) in Oklahoma. Here are some of the comments he made:

Excellent communication, thanks Steve! Above and beyond:) (Ebay Feedback)

Already put some Fender Tex Mex pickups in it. I had and just soldered them in and left your controls. Very vintage and Strat looking and sounding. Also got a couple more of those Fender decals and will put them on. If you find a 2 1/4" neck let me know. I'll leave good feedback. Thanks for all you've done. Jay

.... Currently I own Paul Reed Smith, Gibson, Jackson, Fender, Parker Fly, and various other guitars and throughout my musical journey have owned over 100 (much to my wife's chagrin) and I just thought I'd tell you that I enjoy playing your 'reconditioned'' guitar just as much as I do any other guitar I own now or have owned in the past. I know they are bits and pieces but you 'reassemble' them well! Thanks again,

Jay

Natural Alder Strat-Style Guitar with Birdseye Neck

I just shipped this Stratocaster-style guitar with a natural alder body and a MightyMite Rosewood-on-Birdseye Maple neck to Dale in Oregon. Here are some of Dale's comments:

Man...I had to force myself to take a minute to email...I just keep
playing!!!

The guitar is very cool!!! I'm having a blast playing it!

I've played the guitar a lot and really like it...I'll give more details soon, gotta run off to teach all day then back here to get some studio things done...

you did a nice job on this and helped me out! Thanks!

Ya, the guitar is way cool...I can't wait to do some emg's... it's gonna be really sweet I think....a couple students that saw it think it's HOT....

Sunburst Strat-Style Guitar

This guitar was built for a repeat customer, Jay in Oklahoma. The guitar has a three-color sunburst body, birdseye maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, vintage-style pickups with staggered pole-pieces and black covers on a tortoise-shell pickguard, and chrome hardware.

Here are Jay's first comments on this guitar:

Hi Steve,

It arrived in it's 'coffin' :) today! Not much of a chance to play it but I did some. Me like! Will get back to you on it. It looks, sounds and plays great! Very round neck and fat. I like it. Will get back to you in a couple of days.

Thanks a ton.

Good to hear from you. Everything is good here. Love your guitars and wouldn't trade 'em (might sell one 'cause just about everything's for sale if the price is right! :)). The black one looks very good. It'll sell for sure. How do you like the neck now that it's strung up? Looks good. I'll wait to see it on E-bay and see how much it brings. Just curious.

Alder P-Style Bass with Bartolini Pickups

This is a Precision-Style bass that I custom-built for Scott in Pennsylvania. He provided the body & pickguard, and I provided everything else. The body is hand-oiled alder, the pickguard is black anodized aluminum, the pickups are a Bartolini P/J set, and the bass will has a MightyMite Jazz-style Fender licensed neck. All the hardware is black (tuners, bridge, screws, neckplate), and the control and pickup cavities are shielded with copper foil.

You know what, I'm sorry about not writing you about it... it's phenomenal!
One day I hope to be worthy of it :-)

-Scott

The Black & Blue J-Style Bass with Bartolini Pickups

This is the first bass that I built for sale. It has a black MightyMite body, WDMusic Jazz neck with a double-action truss rod, Bartolini pickups, a Schaller bridge, vintage Fender tuners, and a Warmoth silver blue shell pickguard. I built this one very similar in design to my own jazz bass, which is a Fender Made-In-Mexico bass that's been upgraded the same way as this one. It was purchased by Dennis in Kansas.

Sunburst P-Style Bass with P/J Pickups

This bass was purchased by Cody in Seattle. His Ebay feedback comment was:

It's everything you said it would be!

The bass plays really well. I'm quite happy with it,
considering the cost. The only flaw I've noticed so
far is that I get a sizable amount of ambient buzz
from the J-bass pickup. The p-bass pickup doesn't hum
at all, but the j-bass one is quite loud. Ever had
that problem?

--Cody

The Phuzaxeman777 Guitar

This is the guitar we built for Ken Sarmiento of Phuz, who endorses SMCTek Custom Guitars. Here's what Ken had to say about the guitar:

Finish and Looks:This guitar looks sharp! It has a wet natural look that definitely is eye catchy. With a smooth V-maple neck, chrome hardware, and simulated black anodized aluminum pickguard, this guitar is an eye catcher. The quality, build, and sound of the Phuzaxeman 777 Series guitar SMCTek has custom built for me definitely exceeds many of your standard big name guitars you see at your local music store. You don't need to be a "rock star" to own your own personalized guitar. You can order your own axe right here at SMCTek!

Play and Sound: First off, it's a loud guitar. The Custom Seymour Duncan distortion humbucker and Fender twin noiseless pickups give it a a raw overdriven edge you don't get on most Fender Strat guitars. In contrast, the alder body, maple neck, and Fender pickups setup provide warm clean tones with excellent sustain.

I'm proud to endorse and play SMCTek Guitars. SMCTek was able to build an excellent guitar that fit my needs in both studio and live settings. Nothing is better than having a custom designed guitar.

---Ken Sarmiento, Lead Guitarist with Phuz (www.phuz.com)

Here's a cool website for links to anything to do with basses:

www.basslinks.com

All Pictures and Text
(c) Copyright 2003 by Stephen Cyr
Last updated May 14, 2003
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Flame Maple and Birdseye Maple Jazz-Style Bass This is the first hand-crafted instrument built by SMCTek Custom Guitars, a Jazz-Style bass with a flame maple capped alder body and a birdseye maple neck with an Indian rosewood fretboard. It is now in the capable hands of Josh Lippi, the bassist of Bucho!, a successful regional band in the Sacramento area. Here's what Josh said about SMCtek's instruments: I found the build, finish and playing qualities of Steve's guitars are far better than those of the big name brands costing three times more! Josh Lippi - bass player for Bucho! And here's what Josh's friend Alan said: It is an ironic trait of our human nature that we blindly accept the inferior qualities of mass produced instruments simply because of brand recognition. Big dollar advertising has fooled us all into believing we're getting the best for less. As a player and collector for nearly 50 years, I've found SMCTek guitars and basses to have all the qualities that I've always expected in an instrument, but rarely found. If you're serious about your music, you simply cannot find a better guitar or bass for the money. SMCTek offers you the rare opportunity to experience the best for less! Alan Parker - player/collector/reseller

Claro Walnut 5-String Bass with Bartolini Soapbars and Preamp This bass was a year-and-a-half in the making, started in Sept of 2006 before I started the 6-month ordeal of moving the shop from Roseville to Lincoln. General characterisics: Three-layer body with a layer of curly maple between two layers of claro walnut Neck of quarter-sawn maple and purpleheart with a Pau Ferro fingerboard Hipshot tuners and Type A bridge Bartolini soapbar pickups and three-band EQ, plus coil-split switches Here's what Mark wrote after he'd had some time to play with it: Hi Steve, I returned home with a beautiful piece of craftsmanship - it was most certainly worth the wait! Thank you very much for a work of art. But the best was yet to be.....I cannot believe why I started with a mass- produced "name brand" when I could have had an instrument like this 2 years ago. You can feel the love that went into making this bass guitar. The materials and the finish are incomparable. You have provided so much variation for tone - I am still experimenting and will be for quite awhile. This is really a responsive and expressionate instrument. It is effortless to play. You have set the strings and tension perfectly - there is absolutely no string buzz even at frentic playing. The neck is so well designed and crafted that there is no strain playing even at a stretch. The sounds are mainly warm and deep but I am getting some punchy sounds too with a fiddle of the tone knobs. Steve, I am recommending you to my friends who are seriously looking for a guitar that will be part of them. In fact when my wife allows me to spend again I am going to order another one from you!! Thanks again! Mark

Spalted Maple Jazz-Style Fretless Bass Built for Michael-Scott in Newbury Park CA Neck: QS Maple with birdseye maple fingerboard and spalted maple headstock overlay Body: Spalted maple top, walnut layer, then alder Pickups: hand-wound by Ronnie Sweet of Sweetsounds Ltd. Hardware: black Strings: Carvin (LaBella?) nylon tapewound Body cavities lines with grounded copper foil This bass was completed in January 2005. When Michael-Scott received it, he wrote this: Steve: I love you. This is an amazing bass. Probably the most expressionate string instrument I have ever played on. The sustain is unreal. I feel like the note swells and gets louder after I pluck a string. The vibrato is very easy. I do a little bit of movement and it really comes out in wondrous color. This really is a work of art both to see and hear. Every time I open the case I gasp a little bit and can't wait to get it in my hands. Though it looks like a painting it feels as solid as a block of cement and the neck feels just right in my hands. I was worried that I might have not liked it since I was only able to tell you what I wanted through email and not show you want I wanted- but you did a great job of producing a very playable instrument for me. I've posted a thread on Talkbass. It is a bass player forum that I normally post on (I'm sure you have heard of it) Here is the link: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162709 I wish I could order another bass from you but it might have to wait till after the honeymoon with my soon to be wife. I'll keep in touch. Thanks again, Michael-Scott

Sunburst P-Style Bass with Double Pickups This bass is a custom job for Khoa in New York City (Brooklyn, actually), who wanted a Precision-style bass, sunburst body, maple neck, and two sets of P-Bass style pickups. The body and neck are MightyMite, and the body cavities are lined with grounded copper foil to suppress hum. The neck pickup is a Kent Armstrong, and the bridge pickup is the Bartolini model 8-CBP, from their new classic series. Khoa provided the tuners, neckplate, and bridge, which are all genuine Fender parts. Here's what Khoa has to say about this bass: I just got the bass. She is gorgeous! This is the best passive bass i've ever played! Definitely much better than the American Fender basses. Man, I love the chunky P-neck. The finish on this bass is superb. Suprisingly the Kent P-PU is astoundingly deep and punchy. The Bartolinis give me that little extra flavor, just enough to enrich the mids and highs of the tonal spectrum for this P-bass. ...And the wooden case you've sent me! I thought I was getting a bazooka! Simply amazing! Leo Fender would have been proud of your work Steve! I love this bass! It shows that you've put allot of yourself into this piece of art. It is exactly what I was looking for. The MightyMite body & neck are great! Did I tell you I love the tobacco burst finish? yes, i saw your jazz bass that you are building from scratch. it looks real cool. i've been busy playing with my new fav. p-bass. i swear, this thing sounds better & better the more i play with it. and the feel is just incredible. i haven't felt this good about a bass since the 80s. the weight, the balance, the neck, everything is so perfect. currently i have 9 basses but you are right, one can never have too many basses. if only i had discovered you 2 years ago when i had serious loot and had a crazy buying binge. as soon as i save up some more cash, i will probably have you build me another great bass. maybe next time, you could build it from scratch? i'd like to explore different woods for different tonal possibilities (although, right now i am almost convinced it is 75% of the PUs and 25% wood type materials). thanks again for such an incredible bass. you can definitely take allot of business away from fender at this rate. i don't know about the west coast, but here in NY and at least PA i've seen allot of people buying the mexican fenders and i hardly ever see people buy american fenders any more. i can tell you my p-bass you've put together is 100 times better than what fender has put out in the last 10-15 years or so. Comment from Steve at SMCTek: I just installed one of these Bartolini 8-CBP pickups in my own Jazz Bass (the natural ash bass shown in the "My Music Stuff" pages), along with a Bartolini 9-JL pickup in the bridge position. I love the sound! Much better than the 15-year old EMG active set that they replaced. I liked the tone of the EMG's, but they tended to pick up a lot of pops & clicks from my fingers & stuff. Just too bright for my taste. I'm definitely a big fan of Bartolini pickups!

The Docmaster Guitar SMCTek built this guitar for Bruce, a high-school teacher from Fresno who came to play our guitars in May at the Mountain Peddler's Fair. In June Bruce and Steve worked out the design, which is based on the Fender '62 reissue Jazzmaster, which they started calling the "Docmaster." Here's what Bruce said about it after he picked up the guitar at the Fall Peddler's Faire in August: Steve, Gotta tell you that I am thoroughly pleased with my Docmaster guitar! It feels great, sounds terrific, and plays remarkably. It is by far, the finest guitar in my collection! I am so glad that I met you at the Peddler's Faire and we were able to collaborate on building my dream guitar!. Kudos!!! Bruce

Cherry Sunburst Strat-Style with Fotoflame body This guitar was purchased by Nathan in South Dakota. The guitar has a Cherry Sunburst fotoflame body, Fender Made-In-USA pickups, a rosewood-on-birdseye neck, and all-gold hardware. Nathan's Ebay feedback: Great service! The item was carefully packaged and arrived in a timely manner. In addition, he wrote the following in an email: Steve; She's absolutely gorgeous; her clean tones are so sweet. Simply unbeatable for the price! ---Nathan

Sunburst Jazz-Style Bass These comments were from Eric in Arizona, who bought the Sunburst Jazz Bass with a MightyMite neck and body shown on the right: Excellent Transaction AAA+++ Quick Shipment, Recommended!!!!! (Ebay Feedback) You the Man!! This thing kicks A** Its sitting in its case acclimating as i write!Its just like its Little brother, The mighty mite P! Nine more days.....It'll be agony! Thanks Again, Steve. Hope we can do business again soon! - Eric Last week I took the bass in for a jumbo fret job. (just a preference thing, I guess!) I did get to play it for a couple of practices....The thing sounded better than i remember the Mexi jazz i had (it felt "foreign" for some reason) this thing feels more like a 80's Japanese made fender which were superior to the Americans at the time(briefly). Any way, sounds like your brewin' up another e-bay jewel. Good luck, I hope your next buyer is as satisfied as I am! - Eric

Sunburst Strat-Style Guitar The Sunburst Stratocaster-style guitar shown on the right was purchased by Jay (SMCTek's first customer!) in Oklahoma. Here are some of the comments he made: Excellent communication, thanks Steve! Above and beyond:) (Ebay Feedback) Already put some Fender Tex Mex pickups in it. I had and just soldered them in and left your controls. Very vintage and Strat looking and sounding. Also got a couple more of those Fender decals and will put them on. If you find a 2 1/4" neck let me know. I'll leave good feedback. Thanks for all you've done. Jay .... Currently I own Paul Reed Smith, Gibson, Jackson, Fender, Parker Fly, and various other guitars and throughout my musical journey have owned over 100 (much to my wife's chagrin) and I just thought I'd tell you that I enjoy playing your 'reconditioned'' guitar just as much as I do any other guitar I own now or have owned in the past. I know they are bits and pieces but you 'reassemble' them well! Thanks again, Jay

Natural Alder Strat-Style Guitar with Birdseye Neck I just shipped this Stratocaster-style guitar with a natural alder body and a MightyMite Rosewood-on-Birdseye Maple neck to Dale in Oregon. Here are some of Dale's comments: Man...I had to force myself to take a minute to email...I just keep playing!!! The guitar is very cool!!! I'm having a blast playing it! I've played the guitar a lot and really like it...I'll give more details soon, gotta run off to teach all day then back here to get some studio things done... you did a nice job on this and helped me out! Thanks! Ya, the guitar is way cool...I can't wait to do some emg's... it's gonna be really sweet I think....a couple students that saw it think it's HOT....



Sunburst Strat-Style Guitar This guitar was built for a repeat customer, Jay in Oklahoma. The guitar has a three-color sunburst body, birdseye maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, vintage-style pickups with staggered pole-pieces and black covers on a tortoise-shell pickguard, and chrome hardware. Here are Jay's first comments on this guitar: Hi Steve, It arrived in it's 'coffin' :) today! Not much of a chance to play it but I did some. Me like! Will get back to you on it. It looks, sounds and plays great! Very round neck and fat. I like it. Will get back to you in a couple of days. Thanks a ton. Good to hear from you. Everything is good here. Love your guitars and wouldn't trade 'em (might sell one 'cause just about everything's for sale if the price is right! :)). The black one looks very good. It'll sell for sure. How do you like the neck now that it's strung up? Looks good. I'll wait to see it on E-bay and see how much it brings. Just curious.


Alder P-Style Bass with Bartolini Pickups This is a Precision-Style bass that I custom-built for Scott in Pennsylvania. He provided the body & pickguard, and I provided everything else. The body is hand-oiled alder, the pickguard is black anodized aluminum, the pickups are a Bartolini P/J set, and the bass will has a MightyMite Jazz-style Fender licensed neck. All the hardware is black (tuners, bridge, screws, neckplate), and the control and pickup cavities are shielded with copper foil. You know what, I'm sorry about not writing you about it... it's phenomenal! One day I hope to be worthy of it :-) -Scott

The Black & Blue J-Style Bass with Bartolini Pickups This is the first bass that I built for sale. It has a black MightyMite body, WDMusic Jazz neck with a double-action truss rod, Bartolini pickups, a Schaller bridge, vintage Fender tuners, and a Warmoth silver blue shell pickguard. I built this one very similar in design to my own jazz bass, which is a Fender Made-In-Mexico bass that's been upgraded the same way as this one. It was purchased by Dennis in Kansas.




Sunburst P-Style Bass with P/J Pickups This bass was purchased by Cody in Seattle. His Ebay feedback comment was: It's everything you said it would be! The bass plays really well. I'm quite happy with it, considering the cost. The only flaw I've noticed so far is that I get a sizable amount of ambient buzz from the J-bass pickup. The p-bass pickup doesn't hum at all, but the j-bass one is quite loud. Ever had that problem? --Cody

The Phuzaxeman777 Guitar This is the guitar we built for Ken Sarmiento of Phuz, who endorses SMCTek Custom Guitars. Here's what Ken had to say about the guitar: Finish and Looks:This guitar looks sharp! It has a wet natural look that definitely is eye catchy. With a smooth V-maple neck, chrome hardware, and simulated black anodized aluminum pickguard, this guitar is an eye catcher. The quality, build, and sound of the Phuzaxeman 777 Series guitar SMCTek has custom built for me definitely exceeds many of your standard big name guitars you see at your local music store. You don't need to be a "rock star" to own your own personalized guitar. You can order your own axe right here at SMCTek! Play and Sound: First off, it's a loud guitar. The Custom Seymour Duncan distortion humbucker and Fender twin noiseless pickups give it a a raw overdriven edge you don't get on most Fender Strat guitars. In contrast, the alder body, maple neck, and Fender pickups setup provide warm clean tones with excellent sustain. I'm proud to endorse and play SMCTek Guitars. SMCTek was able to build an excellent guitar that fit my needs in both studio and live settings. Nothing is better than having a custom designed guitar. ---Ken Sarmiento, Lead Guitarist with Phuz* (www.phuz.com)*







Here's a cool website for links to anything to do with basses: www.basslinks.com