Is there a wood type or model, when someone commissions, that you kind of, in the back of your head dread, as it’s tedious to deal with?

by | May 15, 2023 | FAQ

definitely. Anything with a pickguard for sure. Anything with P or J pickups. Those take a ton of extra prep work and time to route. Extended range (7 strings or more) can be a chore. Set neck is also one of those things that I have to really be in the right head space for. As for woods; buckeye burl is one that ends up being very tedious to deal with. Last but not least; CA glue treatments on fretless fingerboards. I love the result, but the process knocks me out of commission for a few days.

Q: Why a pickguard?

A: they take a lot of time to make (especially the wooden ones). One tiny mistake and you have to start from scratch.

Do you endorse bassist? I’m in a funk fusion jazz trio.

by | May 15, 2023 | FAQ

funny. To anyone wondering what the heck is going on here, it’s a long standing “funny ha ha” based off an email I received about endorsements. IYKYK.

In regards to endorsements;

I have a few artists who constantly bring value to my brand. They are doing it right! Looking downrange, I doubt I’ll be taking on any new artists unless things work out to where my company grows. For now, I’m proceeding with caution.

Can you share some insight on the muck pre? Frequencies you chose, design, etc? That mid freq is just in the right place.

by | May 15, 2023 | FAQ

Prior to building, I was an endorser of Bee Basses. Fred Bolton (Bee basses owner/builder) had a friend making these preamps for his basses. His name is Dave McKeen. When I received my first Bee bass, I couldn’t believe my ears. It was like pulling the blanket off the cab! When I began building, Dave was one of the first people I called. We moved a few center frequencies around. The bass is centered at 40hz, mids at 560hz and treble at just under 7khz. The thing that sets this apart from other 3 bands is the musicality you will experience. Set flat, there is an overall 3db of gain which causes your signal to hit the amp with more clarity. It’s like a souped up version of what your bass sounds like passive. Each band has a full 18db worth of boost or cut. It is extremely powerful. Something I enjoy about this preamp is how the bass boost doesn’t get out of control. Things stay tight and focused. These are top shelf, hand made by Dave and in extremely limited supply.

Beyond the center-block, neck & fret board woods, what difference in sound do the wing woods bring?

by | May 15, 2023 | FAQ

On a neck through build, the wings don’t have as much of a tonal contribution as a neck/body combo you’d experience from a bolt neck. The wings are more-so along for the ride. Some of the heavier/more dense woods can weigh in a bit tonally. Most of my builds are geared towards being lighter vs heavier. With neck through, the majority of the tonal influence comes from the neck woods and the fingerboard. The wings (especially if they’re on the lightweight side) serve more of a means of weight reduction, giving a more neutral tonal response. The wings are important to the overall full body resonance of the instrument. So; with that in mind, they are part of the sound of the instrument.