5-String Basses

8-24-23.

Evan Meyer’s serial number 5-22-23.

Serial number 11-11-22 made for Haru in Japan.

Serial number 2-5-22.

Rick’s fretless bass, serial number 12-1-21. Rick also owns 4-string 1-4-77.

Andrew’s 36″ bass, 11-1-21, featuring Douglas fir, mahogany, purple heart, morado and an ebony fingerboard. Also pictured is 32″ scale 11-11-07.

Larry’s new fretted bass, 6-6-21. This is a sister to 6-1-21.

Larry’s new fretless bass, 6-1-21. This is a sister to 6-6-21.

Rainbow bass, serial number 4-7-21. Also pictured is 3-1-21.

Rainbow bass, serial number 3-1-21. This bass was finished in January but the serial number position was reversed. Also pictured is 4-7-21.

Magnus’ serial number 5-2-20. The body has a pistachio with a claro walnut back.

J.P. McGuire’s 36″ scale serial number 12-11-19. It has a mahogany body and neck with padauk strips, two Kent Armstrong pickups and weighs in at 7.8 lbs.

Dave’s 36″ scale serial number 12-5-19.

Serial number 11-2-19, photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net

Jonathan Sweeney’s 5-string, serial number 10-9-19.

Joe’s brand new bass, serial number 9-17-19.

Tim from Germany shared photos of his serial number 4-22-19.

Serial number 1-22-19 contains walnut, padauk, Spanish cedar and ebony on the bondy and a mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, pau ferro stripes and walnut veneers.

Palle’s 5-string serial number 11-1-18.

Serial number 8-1-18. The facings are West African Olive, the core is Spanish cedar. The neck is mahogany. There’s ebony accents in a few different places. 2 Dan Armstrong passive pick ups.

Andrew Lloyd’s 38″ scale 5-string semi-frills fretted, serial number 3-29-18. Also pictured is 12-12-12.

David Servello’s 5-string 36” scale fretted “Full-Frills” bass, serial number 7-6-17. Woods used are: walnut, padauk, red heart, ebony, and mahogany.

Pete’s bass, finished in July 2017.

Max’s bass, finished in May 2017.

Serial number 12-13-16, photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 10-13-16, Carl Thompson Semi-Frills 36″ scale 5 string fretted bass.
Mahogany neck with figured ebony fret board. Body is made up of mainly walnut, mahogany and padauk. Headstock has lace wood veneers front and back. 24 frets, Dual Kent Armstrong pickups, Vol/tone/pickup selector/tone switch.

Also pictured is 10-13-16.

Rick’s 5-string, serial number 8-31-15. Flamed maple/walnut/mahogany body, padouk neck with ebony fretboard, Dual Kent Armstrong pickups, 36” scale. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net

Serial number 9-11-14, owned by Magnus. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection, www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 4-14-14, photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection, www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 7-8-13. Also pictured re 6-25-13 and 6-26-13. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 6-26-13. Also pictured are 6-25-13 and 7-8-13. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 6-25-13. Also pictured are 6-26-13 and 7-8-13. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection www.e-basscollection.com

‘Rainbow’ laminated walnut, padauk, lacewood body with flamed redwood center block. One-piece mahogany set neck with wood binding and ebony fingerboard. 36″ scale ith 24 fret markers. Dual coil passive pickups.

Serial number 2-14-13, Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection, www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 8-15-12. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 2-5-11, photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection, www.e-basscollection.com

Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net

This bass suffered damage at some point, and with Carl’s blessing was sent to Pete for restoration. Pete was able to salvage parts of the bass but most was replaced. The later photos show the bass in it’s new form, with walnut top.

Serial number 10-22-10, 32″ scale. Photos by Parkway Music.

Serial number 5-19-10. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection, www.e-basscollection.com

Serial number 5-10-10. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection www.e-basscollection.com

Multi-laminate exotic wood top and back, mahogany core. Mahogany one-piece set neck with side bindings. Pau ferro fingerboard, 36″ scale with 24 frets. Passive dual coil pickups.

Serial number 12-9-10. Photos by Evan Meyers. This bass is now owned by Larry Streck.

Serial number 1-1-10, originally built for Aaron Martinez and now owned by Tom Mullarkey.

Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net and The Bass Collection, www.e-basscollection.com

Cocobola 5-String.

This bass, serial number 2-5-09, has a mahogany core, a very interesting cocobolo top and back with accents of bicote and maccasar ebony. The neck is maple and bicote with a pau ferro board. Two kent armstrong pickups with ebony covers, hipshot tuning machines and a wooden bridge. The scale length is 36 inches and there are 26 frets. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net

Forest Wilson’s serial number 5-8-08.

Here is a photo that Craig Brody in Ft.Lauderdale sent us of his 2 new Carl Thompson basses. The 5 String is serial # 01-18-06. The 6 String is serial # 7-25-06. It is essentially a “Les” Bass…but as Carl says…”it’s the fanciest bass I have ever made.”

This bass is now owned by Samuele in Italy. Samuele also owns 4-string 7-24-19.

Canary 5-string.

Serial number 11-18-04.

This 5-string was made for Dan Einheuser. Note the stripes that run all the way through the body and then reverse on the cat’s eyes.

Carl Thompson 5 string 36″ scale fretted Pau ferra Finger board. Marado top wings with Padouk center top. Mahogany body core with Padouk back wings and Marado center back, padouk side caps on top and bottom of the body and horns. Single Kent Armstrong Custom pickup with Volume – Tone. Photos courtesy of The Low End, www.thelowend.net . Also pictured are original owner Alan Nunez, Kelvin and Carl.

Bruno came all the way from Switzerland to pick up his bass. In fact, Bruno also came all the way from Switzerland back when he ordered it too! Bruno’s bass was the very first to have a new body style coming out of the shop which combined the old ball scrolls and newer 3D scrolls.

Top Wings Morado w/ Paduk Center core
Back Wings Paduk w/ Morado Center Block
Paduk Cat’s Eye Tips
Head Stock Walnut back and front
Custom Wood Control knobs by David King Paduk/Morado
2 Kent Armstrong PUs
Hipshot Ultra Lite Tuners and Hipshot B style Bridge

Larry Brooke is a good friend (and neighbor) of Les Claypool’s and he recently received this 5-string fretted from Carl, Serial #51402. An incredible Cocobolo top graces the Mahogany core while both the back and the top also feature Morado (Bolivian Rosewood) and Padauk. A single Kent Armstrong pickup finishes the bass off.

Serial number 4-25-02. Three-piece walnut/maple/walnut body.

Our friend Nick sent us some pictures of his bass teacher, Ryan, and his gorgeous 5-string fretless. The bass is serial #102001.

32″ Scale, weight is 7lbs 9oz.

The owner of this bass is Colin Tatum and the serial number is #842000. He was kind enough to send some pics of one of his gigs in Atlanta.

Terry Devlin’s 5-string. It was originally desgined as a Halloween bass, but it was a bit late – the serial number is Carl’s birthday 2-5-00.

The 58th fretless bass. Note the wood bridge and the beautiful pinstripes.

Carl Thompson and Adam Feller with his 5 String fretless. The front of the body is made of Zebra wood, the back is made of Paduk wood. Scale length is 38″

A 38″ scale fretted zebra bass made for Chris Hildrew of Hershey, Pa.

David Kannanstine came into Carl’s shop and asked is he could make him a 38″ scale 5-string, but at the same time, inlay a special piece of wood into the bass. The piece was a design his grandfather had made and put into a piece of furniture back when he was a woodworker. David wanted it to live on in his bass. The body is made of spalded curly maple and walnut. The fingerboard it ebony. It has two bartolini pickups.

5 string fretless striped bass made for Sean Lalor in California.

7-22-99, originally owned by Ryan Thompson and now by Jeremy Raphael. It has a bolt-on 36″ scale maple neck with epee fingerboard and Sperzel tuners, and active Kent Armstrong pickups with a 3-band pre-amp. Also pictured is 10-14-13.

This 5-string (serial #7498) is loaded with tons of rare exotic woods (Flamed Paduk, Cocobolo, Walnut, Canary wood, Bocote and Purple Heart). EMG pickups, Sperzel locking tuners and sliding bridge. The cat’s eyes appear to be figured Bocote. The body is amazing with stripes on the top and running vertically through the body. Originally owned by Steve Zorilla. In 2004 the bass was brought back to the shop to have a second pickup added.

Carl Thompson 5 string fretless bass. All custom wood selected with red custom pinstipes through-out entire guitar. Completed on 3-3-98. This bass is now owned by Magnus.

38″ scale, 5 string fretless, canary wood topped, CT. The center strip is Padauk, the back is Curly Bubinga, the main body is Walnut the fretboard is Bubinga and the bridge and tailpiece are Cocabola. The single EMG pickup (with Sadowski electronics) is covered with a wood veneer. The serial # is 12/25/97. This bass, owned by Chuck Bernklau, was described as having “the deepest B string I have ever heard, most bass amps freak out from it.”

Erick Warner’s 38″ fretted 5 string. Erick was an integral part of Carl’s outfit and is responsible for the Jazz Cat logo, T-shirts and upcoming CD design.

Dave Muntner originally located this bass (#12-12-96) and then we were fortunate to actually be contacted by the bass’ owner, Yoshiaki. Not only that, he actually took more pictures of the bass for us! This is one gorgeous striped 5 string with some great detail work (check out the nut).

Serial number 3-20-96, owned by Jakub Muhle.

Serial number 8-9-95 5-string bass originally owned by the late Mike Merriman and now owned by Jeff Barnhart. Mike used to play in Carl’s trio in Pennsylvania before he moved to New York.

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This is the first Carl Thompson pic I found on the internet when initially putting together the website. I recieved an e-mail from Adam Shah informing me that it was his friend Matt Chait. Matt used to live in NY around 1995 and was playing this impressive 5-string at 48th Street Custom.

LennyB’s 70’s Fender Jazz bass with a Carl Thompson 5-string neck added in 1986.

LennyB’s Black Walnut 5-string, serial number 10-18-87. This bass was originally a 4-string bearing the serial number 10-18-83 but it was changed when Carl added a string. Also shown in the photo is an early 70’s Fender Jazz bass with a walnut neck that Carl had laying around the shop. The rosewood fingerboard was made by Guild for a joint project that never took off.

1978 era 5-string. Note the three p-bass pickups used before 5-string pickups were being produced.

Edwin wrote: “I was lucky enough to come across this early 1978 CT and as you can see it was pretty banged up, missing the scroll portion, pickup covers were damages and chunks of wood were missinf from different areas of the bass. A local luthier/tech took the challenge of restoring this bass back to its glory days… surprisingly enough the electronics were still functional… an excellent passive tone machine.”

This bass was originally build for Greg Piontek (pictured) however it was stolen not long after it was built. It whas since resurfaced and has been refurbished and painted.

Late 1977 era 5-string with no serial number. note the two jazz and space for three p-bass pickups.

Harry Max’s very unique mahagony 1976 5-string built in a style that Carl calls the “battle bass”. This one came back to the shop for a fret job.

In 2020 the bass was refinished by Carl. The top routing was repaired and walnut stripes were added, a new brass and wood bridge tail was made, the bass was refretted and a single passive Kent Armstrong HBNM-1 ‘Musicman’ pickup with volume and tone controls as well as an on/100nF tone/off switch was added. Weight is 3534g / 7.8lbs. The nut is 1.875”.

This is quite possibly the first ever purpose-built ‘low B‘ five string bass (a few months earlier Jimmy Johnson modified a high-C Alembic to take a low B, however the bass was not originally designed for this).