American Basses: An Illustrated History & Player's Guide(Book). The first comprehensive book on American-made electric and acoustic bass guitars, American Basses offers a wealth of well-researched information about all of the important builders, from one-man shops to the biggest manufacturers. Hundreds of full-color photos illustrate the wide range of instruments available, and special insider essays take you step by step through the bassmaking process, from concept and design to final setup. Includes how-to tips from top builders and designers on topics such as: neck and bridge setup; active vs. passive pickups; bolt-on vs. neck-through design; tonewood characteristics; defeating hum and buzz; string angle and tone; and more. "What a book! I feel much closer to my bass guitar after having read American Basses ." Will Lee, Bass Player for The Late Show with David Letterman |
Contents
THREE VIEWS Starting from Scratch | 1 |
Making a Concept Come to Life | 2 |
Breaking the Rules | 4 |
THE QUEST FOR TONE | 5 |
A | 11 |
A FIELD GUIDE TO ALEMBIC BASSES | 16 |
WHY ACTIVE? | 19 |
TOOLS AND SAFETY | 24 |
NECK WOOD AND TONE | 108 |
L | 110 |
CREATING SIGNATURE MODELS | 111 |
M | 116 |
GOOD FRETWORK THE KEY TO A GREAT BASS | 120 |
N | 131 |
O | 136 |
P | 137 |
B | 27 |
C | 31 |
DEMYSTIFYING BASS SETUP | 37 |
IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PICKUP | 39 |
D | 44 |
E | 49 |
F | 51 |
WHEN WAS IT MADE? | 57 |
BUILDING BERRY OAKLEY JRS TRACTOR REPLICA | 64 |
SOME THOUGHTS ON HARDWARE AND PICKUPS | 68 |
G | 71 |
H | 85 |
J | 87 |
K | 92 |
THE WOODS OF KEN SMITH BASSES | 96 |
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF INLAY | 100 |
FINGERBOARD FACTORS | 144 |
R | 147 |
HOW TO DEFEAT HUM BUZZ | 152 |
S | 160 |
ACTIVE ELECTRONICS | 161 |
BOLTON vs NECKTHROUGH | 167 |
T | 176 |
UV | 180 |
W | 182 |
Z | 185 |
STRING ANGLES TONE | 187 |
A Brief Look at the International Scene | 189 |
SOURCES | 193 |
PHOTO CREDITS | 198 |
INDEX | 199 |
Common terms and phrases
5-string acoustic bass guitar acoustic guitars active electronics alder body Alembic Ampeg ash body Azola Balafon Bass Player basses and guitars bassists began body shape bridge builders building basses built Charvel configuration created custom Danelectro double-cutaway ebony fingerboard electric bass electric guitars factory Fender Bass fingerboard Fodera fretted or fretless Gibson Gibson EB-2 graphite graphite necks Gretsch Guild hardware headstock humbucking inlays instru introduced J-style Jazz Bass Ken Smith Kubicki Lakland laminated Leo Fender look luthier magnetic mahogany maple neck Mike models Modulus Mosrite musicians neck-through neck-through-body Ned Steinberger offered options original P-Bass P.O. Box Peavey Pedulla peghead pickguard piezo PJ pickups playing preamp Precision Bass production prototype purpleheart Rickenbacker rosewood Sadowsky says scale length semi-hollow Series short-scale single-coil single-cutaway Smith basses solidbody sound Spector standard Steinberger string swamp ash through-body Tobias tone tuning Turner vintage walnut wood