What we provide
INDIVIDUAL & UNIQUE
My musical journey started in the late 1970s when I started to teach myself how to play guitar. After messing around, picking out tunes on my entry level instrument in my bedroom, I quickly transferred to learning bass, buying myself a Columbus Jazz bass copy and convincing myself that 4 strings would be easier to master than 6! In spite of realizing fairly quickly that this was not the case, it was too late; I was already hooked on everything bass, from preferring the feel of the instrument in my hands, to the rich, warm, velvety tones that my new instrument delivered.
Playing however, was only fulfilling part of my artistic energy and expression. Excelling in carpentry and art at school, it seemed like a natural progression to channel my creativity towards experimenting with luthiery. With limited tools and an old Workmate portable bench, I set out to create my first bass instrument in my father’s shed. My first instrument was a 4-string fretless (mainly because I had no idea how to install frets!). However, I soon discovered that playing a fretless bass required more accomplished skills than I possessed at that age. Undeterred, I returned to the workshop and after some research, I added frets using my thin kerf dovetail saw. This was a turning point for a sixteen year-old young man – creating a bass that played very well, seemed to sound better than my Jazz copy and impressed my friends!
Heading into the 1980s, I was continuing to follow my passion with luthiery, growing in both confidence and skill across all aspects of the building process. Headless basses were a design concept that was really beginning to explode in popularity, so I challenged myself to build myself one. I wanted to create a bass that was light, perfectly balanced and with a wide tonal palette. It needed to be comfortable to play for extended periods of time, as I was now a much more experienced player and was gigging regularly with bands. I have always enjoyed researching my builds and I drew inspiration from many sources, including players and builders that I particularly admired for their skill and creativity. One of my biggest influences was the custom luthier, Martin Petersen at The Bass Gallery. I was fortunate enough to discuss build techniques, design work and tricks of the trade with him in person and his advice was invaluable in helping me shape my own work and design concepts – from woods to electronics. The result of my research was the Sirius 5 – a headless bass that became my favoured playing instrument for nearly 20 years. This humble first instrument became the strongest foundation for my future work and influences my designs to this day – including my present day model – the Zentro.
Over forty years later, my passion for luthiery still burns brightly and I am committed to building high quality, individual instruments that will not only stand alone in their unique design touches, but also sound as good as they look.
