Hambone Jazzwick

Jazzwick custom fretless 5.
Made in 2005 in Snellville, Georgia, USA by Allan Hamilton of Hambone Custom Basses.

The neck was an extremely rough, twisted, de-fretted Warwick 24-fret 5-string neck made of flamed maple which needed planed, sanded, re-lined, and coated. The refinish of the wenge fingerboard is absolutely unbelievable. Allan also covered over the inlay of the Warwick "W" logo and made a new inlay of the Greek symbol "Phi" for Philosophy, my field of study in college. He also custom-made a walnut trussrod cover and used small magnets to fasten it in place - a very innovative solution to those annoying little screws.

The solid body of figured walnut wings and flamed maple center stripes was cut according to a revised template which was a compromise of ideas from both Allan and myself. A jazz body was initially chosen, but after some figuring, it became apparent that the 24-fret 34" scale neck wouldn't work with a traditional jazz body. The name of the project was selected before this realization occurred, as the bass was to be a mix of a jazz body and a Warwick neck, hence "Jazzwick."

I chose a plain ol' EMG active 18v J-set with basic Volume/Volume/Tone controls, and Allan ran wild with laminates to match the body. He also custom-made some knobs with walnut caps on them. The electronics cover is also walnut, with the same unique and innovative fastening method that was used on the trussrod cover. Small magnets hold the cover in place, and a bass clef carved into a slightly domed circle of walnut functions as a handle which is unscrewed and then pulled to lift the cover from its position. The battery box was routed as a separate compartment within the electronics cavity, which is both convenient and interesting.

Used 3+2 chrome tuners from a Status bass and a string-thru bridge from CustomShopParts.com were added to complete the bass, along with ferrules for the string-thru functionality and a set of Schaller straplocks.

The bass shipped to me with a Warwick Rockbag gigbag that Allan picked up for me, and he included a sweet Hambone Custom Basses t-shirt.

This bass is exactly what I was looking for in tone. I briefly owned a Mexican fretless Jazz and was immediately repulsed by its poor tone and playability. Fortunately, I remained turned on to fretless and this bass has the fretless tone I hear in my head.

I play the bass through an Eden WT-400 and a Genz-Benz 210T-XB. The bass is nice and quiet, even when turning knobs.

Because of the basic V/V/T controls on the EMG pickups, all the tonality comes from the bass itself and the placement of the pickups. With both pickups full on, the tone is huge and round and very punchy. When I solo the neck pickup, I get a very dark sound reminiscent of an upright bass, with plenty of low end. When I solo the bridge pickup, I get that amazing fretless tone heard from solo artists such as Jaco Pastorius. From one extreme to another, and everything in between, this bass has all the tone I could ever need.

I've not used the bass in the studio or on stage yet, but I plan to use it for both in the near future, and have the utmost confidence that it will perform amazingly.

Allan set the bass up very well. It's very comfortable to play, with low action and great intonation. The pickups are at the perfect height, and feel very good when resting on them. They were secured in place using metal inserts, so I have no worries about them working loose as pickups have done in several other basses I've owned. The 1/4" jackplate is a custom piece Allan made, and the jack feels very secure, as opposed to the loose and noisy jacks found in every one of my Warwicks.

I have no doubts that this bass will stand up as well as any other in live situations. It feels very sturdy and rugged, and hangs very well on a strap, so I never worry about the neck diving to the stage or anything of that nature. The hardware seems durable, and the knobs Allan created are well-made. The finish hasn't been put to the test, but I have no doubts about its durability. The strap buttons were solid as a rock, but I installed Schaller straplocks just to be safe. Very solid. I think this bass will be my number one instrument for quite a while, and I have no intentions of buying another fretless any time soon, so I will feel very comfortable gigging this without a backup.

Allan was absolutely wonderful to deal with. He was very patient with unforseen problems with the pickups (I bought them used) and his pricing was more reasonable than any other custom builders I had heard of. Allan was very personable, and became a friend during this project. If anything should ever need repaired, I have no doubts that Allan would be able to fix the problem.

When I commissioned this bass, I had in mind a slab of wood that my ragged neck could bolt onto for a beater fretless. I figured a piece of walnut with a set of pickups in it would suffice. Needless to say, Allan went all-out and ran with this project, making it something so amazingly far beyong my expectations that I have a hard time believing that this bass is real.

I've been playing for 7 years, and have owned a ton of stuff (Check this site for a complete gear list: http://users.1st.net/milk). This project went as smoothly as any custom project could go, I'd imagine. If this bass were lost or stolen, I would cry for days and days, and I wouldn't be able to bring myself to ask Allan for another. This is a truly one-of-a-kind instrument, and it could never be replaced. I would certainly not hesitate to order another Hambone bass, though.

I love the look, sound, feel, playability, and sheer mystique that this bass has to offer. The only thing I don't like is that there a couple of dead spots on the neck that have very little sustain, if any. These are absolutely not Allan's fault in any way, as the beat up neck I sent him should've probably been burned rather than refinished. Allan did an outstanding job of taking the monstrosity I sent him and creating a beautiful, functional work of art around it.

To anyone looking for a reasonably-priced custom instrument that is sure to turn heads, do yourself an enormous favor and look up Allan Hamilton and Hambone Custom Basses. You'll certainly not regret it.

Sincerely,
Jake Moore