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Frequently Asked Questions
Q:
How long will it take to build my bass?
A: It certainly depends on the
options selected, but typically 3 to 6 months depending our
backlog of work.
Q: Do you do custom
body shapes?
A:
We have 4 body/headstock
styles to choose from. They range from conservative to
extravagant in the order of Earth, Wind, Water and Fire. These
are proven designs that have been painstakingly tweaked for
comfort and balance.
Q: Why do you use the woods you do for the
necks? Can I pick other woods to use?
A: Over the years we have found
that these three woods offer us optimum tone, stability and
absence of dead spots. To allow someone to choose their own neck
woods could possibly result in a bass that lacks in one or more
of these areas.
Q: What makes the Fishbone bridge system (patent
pending)
better than conventional bridges?
A: We have long since had a beef
with conventional bridge design. Obviously, basses produce a lot
of low-end harmonics (and fundamentals). The string height on
conventional bridges is adjusted by turning set screws in the
bridge pieces. These very small, pointy set screws are the path
of transmission for all the string vibration, through a large
metal plate and into the wood. This results in a very poor
coupling between the string and the instrument. What’s the point
of paying for a neck-thru construction, only to de-couple the
strings at the bridge? Some contemporary bridge designs attempt
to solve this problem by locking the bridge pieces together
horizontally. This results in a solid, but massive block of
metal that, although has good sustain, tends to interfere with
rather than enhance the natural tone of the wood. The Fishbone
bridge system (patent pending) provides an extreme amount of coupling via almost
a full square inch of contact area directly into the wood. The
forces on a Fishbone bridge system, by nature of the
through-body string capture, combine to force the bridge pieces
down into the body. Conventional bridge systems forces are
working towards pulling the bridge off of the wood. Finally,
separate bridge elements help to isolate each string from its
neighbor. The result of all this is that you get more of a
natural warm and complex wood tone with plenty of sustain. It
really works!
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