A 2007 Carl Thompson Six-String Guitar.

2007 Carl Thompson Six-String Guitar.

This Carl Thompson solid-body guitar was made in 2007 and weighs just 6.50 lbs. Unique walnut body with a wide mahogany center strip. The edges of the body are mahogany and there are two zebrawood strip inserts on the widest part of the body. One-piece Flame Maple neck with mahogany edges. The neck has a nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a really fast thin profile. Ebony fretboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets and inlaid 'Mother-of-Pearl' side-position markers. Three-layer rosewood and ebony nut. Specific ebony veneer faced headstock with shaped logo in walnut with branded "Carl Thompson", secured by three screws. Mahogany and ebony truss-rod cover secured by a single screw. Individual Sperzel USA 3+3 T/L black locking tuners. Back of headstock also veneered in ebony and serial number "52407" stamped in blind. Two Kent Armstrong Super Rocker High Output Humbucking pickups with rosewood pickup rings and outputs of 14.95k and 14.50k. Two controls (one volume, one blender/tone) plus a mini three-way pickup selector switch and a specific mahogany jack input, all on a shaped mahogany panel secured by four screws. The control knobs consist of a 0.79 inch diameter volume control and a 0.64 inch diameter blender/tone control, each one with knurled sides and a domed top with tiger-eye inserts. Ebonized Nashville style Tune-O-Matic bridge with metal saddles and three-layer metal, ebony and rosewood stop-tailpiece secured to body by two screws. This fine, hand-built guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition with just two very small and barely noticeable indentations on the top. Housed in the original "Gator" three-latch, rectangular black hardshell case with black leather ends and black plush lining (9.25).

"Carl Thompson (born 1939) is a luthier and musician specializing in the construction of high-quality custom bass guitars. He is based in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania to a large musical family, Mr. Thompson moved to New York City in 1967 to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. After working in a guitar shop to supplement his income, he started his own guitar repair business. He made his first instrument in 1974 and quickly gained renown in the craft. Unusual custom bass guitars made by Carl Thompson are the piccolo bass - a guitar of the same dimensions as a normal bass but tuned an octave higher - and five- and six-stringed contra-bass guitars. Carl is attributed with creating both the first electric piccolo bass (commissioned by Stanley Clarke) and the first fretless six-string bass. Carl's most popular endorsee is Les Claypool of the band Primus, who plays and owns seven Carl Thompson basses, his most famous being the Rainbow Bass, a six-string fretless bass made of several different woods. He has made at least three basses for Stanley Clarke and one for Mr. Clarke's famous brother-in-law, Charles Farnsworth. Mr. Clarke honored Thompson at one of his concerts and invited him on stage, calling him "a very great bass maker. He made one of my first piccolo basses. In fact, he made the first piccolo bass." The bass for Mr. Farnsworth is a four-string all cherry fretless (see image below in external links). He has also designed and built the world's six string bass for Anthony Jackson, based upon Mr. Jackson's vision. Mr. Thompson has invented several important designs for modern basses. The most important ones are how the neck is locked into the body of the bass and of course the piccolo and six string basses. The piccolo bass was envisioned by Mr. Clarke and built by Carl Thompson. The six string bass was envisioned by Anthony Jackson and subsequently built by Carl Thompson. These features have been copied by other many other luthiers. Thompson basses are sought after, and he maintains a two-year waiting list, though some orders can take well over three years to complete. The cost for a basic four-string bass made by Thompson is about $4,000. Basses such as the "Rainbow Bass" can cost well over $10,000, although Carl will not make copies of the bass for his clients despite being asked to do so in the past. He maintains that all his basses are one-of-a-kind. Thompson continues to be an active musician, practicing several hours a day, and performing once a week at a local Brooklyn restaurant. He has a fascination with jazz singers, and is a respected vocal coach of young singers." (Wikipedia)

Although the instrument under notice is a six string guitar, the following statement is certainly applicable…

What exactly is a Carl Thompson bass?
It is the Stradivarius of the electric bass guitar. Carl Thompson has been building basses since 1974 at the rate of about ten or so every year. He has made instruments for such greats as Anthony Jackson, Stanley Clarke and Les Claypool, as well as created the first electric 6-string bass and the first piccolo bass. All of his instruments are custom order and completely unique, there is no assembly line. All instruments are hand crafted by Carl Thompson himself. Styles range from four string piccolo basses, to guitars, all the way to six string basses and even more exotic instruments.