Adam Handley's "Cream Soda"

Reverse Root Beer... That's kinda like a Cream Soda, right? Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Adam Handley of Las Vegas contacted Norton Customs looking for something similar to the "True Blonde" custom from early 2004. Violin corners? Check. Beautiful spruce top with figured maple sides and back? Check. But rather than having a more heavily colored vintage blonde, Adam suggested an even more subtle finish. Not clear, but not aged amber or yellowish-blonde. He also suggested a translucent brown binding, set off with a black pinstripe on the top and the back. Essentially, the same color scheme as the Root Beers, only in reverse... Oh yeah - and throw on the two-tone scroll treatment a la the Cemetery Swinger...

The result is the Cream Soda - a backward Root Beer - a bold, yet classy instrument, ready to pull duty in the dive-y-est of dive bars or the smoothest of candle-lit jazz spots.

Strung with all plain-gut strings, the bass has the old-school slap and jazz pizz tone that hits you down low, and slap clicks as clean as your April-fresh line-dried linens. The look is rounded out by a black bridge to compliment the tailpiece and ebony fingerboard, and a set of elegant, yet clean individual tuning machines.