About the builder
then and now...
I find the creative process to be a conversation. Great conversation requires the ability to both express yourself as much as listen. To ask, prod, and listen with the ears of a child. As a musician, composer, performer, those parameters are obvious. As a builder, I now find myself listening to a different audience. That audience can be the client, the wood, or an ethereal concept searching for earthly form. I find each and every one of those conversations intoxicating.
I built my first Bass somewhere in the mid 80’s, mostly because I couldn’t find what I wanted. I built it from a fretless maple P-bass neck I found hiding in the back corner of a music shop. I think it cost all of 55 dollars. Truth be told, I had no idea how to do it. Yet to this day that instrument remains one of my top two “go-to” axes. Later, as a working musician I continued to experiment with builds, but playing and day jobs took precedent. I built out of necessity, either because I couldn’t find what I wanted, or couldn’t afford it. Now that my priorities have shifted I’m finally having those long overdue conversations with wood, metal, wires, and yes, clients. Now, I build for the sheer joy of it.
Michael
We all are created equal...
During the course of the building process each instrument reveals a personality, as determined by aesthetics, function, and ...something else that is undefinable. Rather than a serial number, each instrument is sent to each caretaker with its own unique name and born on date. While there may be others that are similar, the one in your hands is the only one like it.
Woods
Alder:
- Tight hard grain pattern, fairly unremarkable unless spalted
- Primarily harvested from US, Pacific NW
- Light to medium weight
- Well rounded, full bodied tone with pronounced upper mids, and great clarity.
- Excellent sustain with a sharp attack.
Swamp Ash
- Bold, open grain pattern great for clear and translucent finishes.
- Typically harvested in the US, south east from trees with roots growing below water level.
- Highly resonant across the tonal spectrum with a slight scoop in the midrange.
- Typically described as transparent, balanced, bright and sweet with a creamy high end.
- Favored among session players as well as builders for being a great tonal platform for tweaking. Favored among those who want to experiment with their tone.
Northern Ash
- Similar in appearance to the swampy variety, but typically denser.
- AKA American Ash, Hard Ash, White Ash, Biltmore Ash.
- Grows from Nova Scotia to northern Florida, Because of this, tone can resemble Swamp ash, depending on the region it is harvested from.
- Tone is typically described as similar to it's southern variety with snappier mids and slightly brighter high frequencies.
- Typically on the heavy side due to its density.
Limba
- AKA "Korina". Made popular by Gibson in the late 50's with the flying V guitar. Gibson changed the name to throw competing builders off track...or so the story goes.
- Very similar in grain, texture, workability and tone to mahogany, but slightly more "woolly" and aggressive. Also a presents touch more resonance.
- Black limba has dark streaks, and occasionally splashes of orange or gray. The difference from white is purely aesthetic, not acoustic.
Mahogany
- Presents with a lot of thick, present midrange character that is sometimes described as meaty, or chewy.
- The midrange frequencies stack up and produce character, or "bloom".
- well-balanced tone, nice dynamic range and a healthy serving of overtones.
Maple
- An entire page could be dedicated here, but I'll condense it.
- Tone is well balanced with a fast attack, a fundamental targeted overtone, and lots of character (in my humble opinion).
- The perception of maple being "trebly" is more a function of it's fast attack. When measured, the tonal frequencies are actually similar to mahogany.
- It produces a clear, cutting, bright, and fundamental targeted tone. Very responsive in the mid to upper register with clear although un-complex bass overtones. Sustains slightly better than softer maples.
- Of the 128 species, most are found in Asia. The North American variety, and particularly the hardest variety from the north and north east, are considered by many to be the most desirable.
- It competes well with rosewood and African blackwood, though on a different level
Ebony
- Black. Hard. Dense.
- Tight grain, powerful bass, and trebles that ring
- Incredible sustain, very clear tone & projection, and a very articulate bass, concise attack, with a strong voice
- Mostly used for saddles, bridges, and fingerboards.
- Most recognized varieties: Gabon (aka Gaboon), Macassar (from Indonesia), Transval Ebony.
Rosewood*
*Even experts can get confused. Once the lumber has been cut, it becomes more difficult to determine exactly what species it is. Many luthiers rely upon the integrity of their supplier, who may in turn rely upon the integrity of their suppliers. And, being dalbergias, two different species may exhibit great similarities, with the individual piece of wood varying enough to obscure what we think are the differences between them. Honduras rosewood may grow in Guatemala and Guatemalan Rosewood may grow in Honduras. What I am doing is trying to explain why even expects may be confused. All told, there are more than 300 rosewood species
- sounds deeper in the low end and brighter on the top end (one might describe the treble notes as zesty, sparkly or sizzly, with more articulation). If you look at its frequency range visually, rosewood would appear to be more scooped in the middle, yielding less midrange bloom than mahogany.
Hand Crafted vs Hand Made
"A handmade product is often created by hand, whereas a handcrafted product is created by hand but frequently employs machines or computers to speed up production."
What I do is somewhere in between, and for different reasons. My hands are involved in the design and crafting of nearly everything, including the building and shaping jigs. The jigs are primarily used to insure uniformity, which also accelerates production time.
Slimline Neck
The shape of the neck has taken years of refinement to achieve a result that I am very excited about. It's based on the modern Fender Jazz Bass of the 4 string variety. The dimensions accommodate both those who prefer tight string spacing while leaving enough room between the strings for slap. It's thin, slick, fast and comfortable. It has a unique V-C-D shape that feels comfortable, hand worn and familiar, while also providing good stability, even in one piece builds. But don't take my word for it, read the reviews. Or better yet, put one in your own hands and see for yourself.
The truss rod is custom made from stainless steel that should outlast the wood. It is a simple, dual-action design with custom thread pitch that allows for smooth, fine adjustment (but not so fine that you risk bottoming out the threads or too tedious to adjust). The adjustment rod spins freely within anti-vibration tubing so the rod can never rattle, or bind up inside the neck. The t-rod construction distributes the load ant the ends, allowing for a thin, stable neck construction.
Nuts/string holders are hand carved from a variety of materials like buffalo horn, bone, walrus tusk, brass, ebony or shell, to name a few. Necks are typically zero fret to maintain stability of tone between fretted and open strings. Therefore, the "nut" primarily exists to maintain string placement and is negligible in tone transfer, and allows for aesthetic liberty.
A word about Frets...
Zero Fret.There's a lot of controversy to be found on this topic. When in doubt, I refer to science.
- The main purpose of this is uniformity of tone. An open note sounds exactly like a fretted note.
- "Zero fret wears down faster". Not true, especially for bass. There are a couple reasons for this.
- Open strings typically are not played more than fretted notes, and the frets under your fingers are the ones also subjected to vibrato. IOW, the opposite tends to be true. The nut, and the bridge are physically subjected to both a different kind of wear, and the least amount of movement. The reality is, if you reach the point where this fret needs to be renewed, your other ones already do.
- If you're still in doubt, ask Brian May of Queen. His Little Red Special survived 40 years, and multiple refrettings before his zero fret finally tapped out. And no one can argue that guitar didn't et played...a lot.
- I take particular pride in frets, and fret ends. Once a "challenge accepted", it has grown to become become a "thing" for me. I approach this aspect with the revere of crafting fine jewelry. The best fret ends are the ones you don't know are there. Fret slots are cut to the arc of the board, not flat. Will the guy/gal in the 32'nd row, stage left, think "That solo would have been perfect, if only the fret slots had been radius cut"?. Nope. In truth, the player never will either. This simply speaks to the pursuit of excellence, love of the craft and the drive for perfection. Just like how we play.
BODY
The Rise body shape is also a culmination of trial and refinement beginning with a specialized neck pocket/lower cut arrangement. This allows allows comfortable access to all 24 frets that resembles a neck thru design, all the way to the top string. Not that a bass player typically needs all 24, but hey, why have 'em if you can't use 'em? Besides, the capacities and options for contemporary bassist have changed since your parents were rockin' out. In addition, the 5 bolt design provides great tone stability and tone transfer. The controls are recessed and ergonomically arranged for easy, effortless access. The control area recess is for aesthetics, and to keep the knobs and toggles clear from accidental adjustments. The placement is ergonomically arranged to match the natural arm movement of the arm from contour and strings. Speaking of ergonomics, the usual cutaways for belly and arm are there too.
ELECTRONICS
wiring
Most wiring is solid core silver. Stranded silver is used for movable components like battery connectors and tone modules. All have high temp, cut resistant PVC coating for durability and added stiffness to resist breakdown of the wire over time and use.
shielding
All wires, cavities, and p'up covers are shielded and properly grounded whenever possible to maximally resist RF interference. Particularly helpful with passive configurations.
Passive tone modules
There are currently two passive tone modules available. Of course, each instrument sounds great as -is. But, for those who like to tweak, or simply like to explore, I provide these options.
- The mid-enhancement module is a selection of capacitors and micro switches inside the control cavity, and is user adjustable. The module consists of two banks of two capacitor values. Any combination cna yield three ranges for each bank (1,2, 1+2). Bank one (switches 1&2) are light cut capacitors. With resistance near 0 (tone knob < 2) the resonant peak frequency of the p'up shifts down into the midrange. While technically not a boost, your ear hears it as such. Each of the three ranges will flavor that mid enhancement differently, and is tunable to the user's preference. With more resistance (ie, tone knob > 2) it behaves as a very light treble cut. Great for preserving the natural tone of the instrument while only cutting the harsher highs of hum, or fresh strings.
- Mid cut module. I can't claim credit for this. It's an effective, old-skool device (found here) I've modified it to provide different tonal capacities that are user adjustable. As a side note, mild distortion can be achieved as well when near 0 on the knob, similar to this. All instruments are delivered set to what I feel is most usable. But then, it's your baby, your gig. Make your tone known!
Preamps
Nordstrand Pre's can be configured to work in place of, or in tandem with passive controls. They're my 1st choice. Incredibly transparent, hugely adjustable with preset mid range boost/cut frequencies. For help with this, please reach out.
Control configurations
Nearly any control configuration can be arranged, it just depends on what works for you. Pot's are custom built by me, to accommodate your proclivities.
Finishes
Laquer
- Nitro is my absolute favorite medium! Nothing beats the workability and buttery feel of it. The down side is it adds a month (at least) to build time due to the need to dry.
- For those who don't know, lacquer doesn't cure like poly. It dries. This is why old skool lacquer checks, as it never stops drying out. Newer lacquers are engineered to avoid this, however.
- lacquer gets harder as time goes by. Contrary to popular belief, it's soft-ish initially, but becomes very, very hard over time. Plus, because it's solvent based, it's relatively easy to repair.
Polyurethane
- Poly cures rapidly and is durable. It's the flexibility of the finish that actually provides its durability. Rather than scratch, the surface will flex to accommodate an intrusion (ie, more pressure) before the damage becomes permanent. The downside in the opinion of many, is that poly doesn't feel like laquer, and a gloss finish can actually feel sticky with a little bit of sweat. Not good on a neck, which is one reason why I never use it there.
Cyanoacrylate
- Amazingly hard.
- With a satin finish it is as slick, fast, durable and repairable as lacquer. It's my personal favorite for necks.
- It can penetrate the wood deeply with even the lightest of application providing excellent protection to the wood, and stain, with minimal effect on the organic tone of the wood.
- With more porous woods, like spalts, or sometimes burls, it can provide structural reinforcement within the pours and gaps.
Details Matter...
Fasteners
- Wherever possible, steel threaded inserts are used.
- Neck. Provides more precise torque, (similar to securing a cylinder head to an engine).
- Bridge. See above. I took this idea from post secured bridges. The key to maximal tone transfer between the bridge and the wood is contact area. I believe this method provides less variability and greater precision than wood screws.
- P'ups. This allows greater precision and durability when adjustments are warranted for things like changes in string gauge, desired action, pickup change, maintenance & cleaning, etc.
- Most fasteners I use are hex drive to help avoid over tightening when manipulated. Plus, I think they just look cool.
My Favorite Builds
Fretless
- One piece maple neck
- one piece limba body
- Nordstrand Big Man
- Nordstrand 2B preamp, wired in parallel with passive circuit
- Passive mid cut module
- Passive tone select modules
- Schaller 3-D5 bridge
- GHS Phosphor Bronze, 40-120
Fretted
- Limba neck, maple fretboard
- Alder body
- Nordstrand Big Blade, underwound (3%)
- Nordstrand 3B preamp, wired in parallel with passive circuit
- Passive mid cut module
- Passive tone select module
- Medium Jumbo nickel frets
- Schaller 3-D5 bridge
- Dunlop Super Bright Nickel Wound, 45-125
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