This is a kind of question I wanted to ask you for a long time. Imagin there is no limitations of any kind ( money, options, details ) what kind of bass would be the bass of your dreams?
Well, this is very open question, I know but I would like to hear your thoughs, ideas, visions.
Also I would like to know what you would hate, and never would like to have on your bass, things you really dislike.
Feel free to to leave your comment, thanks !
jerzy
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Esta es de las questiones que hos quiero preguntar desde ya hace tiempo. Imaginate que no hay limitaciones de ningun tipo ( dinero, opciones, detalles ) ¿Como seria tu bajo ideal?
Esta es una pregunta muy abierta, ya lo sé, pero megustaria saber tu opinion, ideas, visión.
Tambien megustaria saber lo que odias o odiarias o nunca quisieras tener en tu bajo ideal, bueno cosas que realmente te desagradan.
Porfavor dejame tu comentario, gracias !
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#1 by Edo Castro on March 18, 2009 - 16:49
Hi Jerzy
There are things that I look for in a bass that fit my ideal. I’m not sure if they’d be considered qualities of a “dream bass” because as I have matured as a musician the things that I seek out in a bass are obtuse and no matter how many times I described “the sound” no one has ever come close. I also realized that most of the time the sound is coming from my hands. What is perhaps the “dream” is that I can have an instrument built by you and a select few.
What I think is perhaps the most “ideal” for an instrument is
Design:
- 33 inch or 34 inch scale lenght. Anything else is damaging.
- Is the weight 10lbs or less? 9 or less is ideal
- Is the neck of the bass fit into the body of the bass so the Left arm is not stretching out but comfortably angled?
- Playability. Can I can get the lowest action that I prefer without fret buzz or not being limited by the Saddle of the bridge. For fretless basses I want to be able to go ALL THE WAY DOWN and raise it up until I find that magical place.
- Bolt on neck or Jointed. I favor the sound of a bolt on neck instead of a neck through.
IF I have the above I feel anything you add to that would add to the total sound.
#2 by Franklin D. Ayala on March 18, 2009 - 17:27
Hello Jerzy, having your own blog rocks man.
As for my dream bass; this would be the specs:
34″ scale
Light instrument (maybe hollow body with a killer top that covers all) with 28 frets with extended cutaway in the body
5 string with 16mm string spacing at the bridge
Pasive with no knobs
Only one single pickup at the bridge position (like the old fenders)
A ramp (that has the necks radius) between the pickup and the neck
2 + 3 headstock design (B and E tunners further from the nut)
As for wood options: Swamp ash or maple (if its a hollow body); nevertheless when it comes to woods your the man Jerzy. Have no doubth that your advice will be the best.
String gauge that goes from 0.45 to .135
Somethings I hate in a bass:
If their heavy they kill my arm and back…Im getting old.
Very wide string spacing… I love but dont do slap.
35 ” scale is to much for me… Im not that big of a person
#3 by VICTOR HERNANDEZ on March 18, 2009 - 18:51
HOLA:1-EL BRAZO NO PUEDE SER MUY PESADO,TIENE QUE ESTAR UN MAS O MENOS EQUILIBRADO CON EL CUERPO.AUNQUE EL PESO DEL CUERPO ES LO DE MENOS,NO ME GUSTA QUE MI BAJO SE DESBOQUE.2-PARA MI GUSTO UN BAJO PERFECTMENTE TOCABLE,EN UN 5CUERDAS TIENE QUE MEDIR DE 3″ O UN POCO MAS, AL FINAL DEL BRAZO,NO MENOS DE ESO.EN UN 4CUERDAS 2Y MEDIO DE PULGADA ES PERFECTO.3-ME ENCANTAN LOS BAJOS DE CUERPOS GRANDES,PORQUE ME DA LA IMPRESION DE MUY BUENA RESONANCIA MAS QUE EL DE UN CUERPO MEDIANO O PEQUENO.ESTOY VIENDO MUCHAS MARCAS CON LOS CUERPOS MUY PEQUENOS Y CON MEDIDAS INCOMODAS DE TOCAR,UN EJEMPLO DE MUCHOS ES SCHECTER E IBANEZ SINO ES UN PEDIDO CUSTOM EN EL QUE PUEDAS ALTERAR ESAS MEDIDAS POR UN PRECIO ADICIONAL Y BASTANTE COSTOSO.USTEDES TIENEN UNA LINEA MUY BONITA, ME ENCANTA SU SONIDO,NUNCA HE TENIDO UNO EN MIS MANOS,PERO CREO QUE EL CUERPO,POR LO MENOS EN EL 5CUERDAS QUE ES MI FAVORITO ES ALGO PEQUENO, NO CUMPLE
CON MI ESPECTATIVAS, DEJANDOME LLEVAR POR LAS FOTOS DE LOS ARTISTAS DE SU CATALOGO,EL SONIDO ES FENOMENAL LO PUDE APRESIAR EN CONCIERTOS DE ARTISTAS DE ESPANA.PERO ESTOY LOCO POR PROBAR UNO, EN PUERTO RICO NO HAY DISTRIBUIDORES PARA IR Y PROBARLOS,SUERTE, LES DESEO MUCHO EXITO ME MANTIENEN AL TANTO, LLEVAN 5 ANOS TENTANDOME A COMPRARME UNO.
#4 by Alberto Muñoz on March 18, 2009 - 19:46
A mi me encantaría tener un bajo hecho de una sola pieza todo él. Creo que tendría un sustain increíble.
#5 by Nico on March 19, 2009 - 01:05
Hola!
Q suerte, te puedo contar mi bajo ideal!!
Sería un bajo de 4 cuerdas, que técnicamente me ofreciera la posibilidad de tener una gran pegada en mis líneae de rock-pop y que cuando me pase a funkear en slap no me dejara atrás el sonido con respecto a mi banda; es decir, versatilidad de sonido con un gran punch.
Me gustaría que fuera ligero y que las cuerdas estén líneadas al mástil de manera que tocarlo sea muy suave y apenas requiera esfuerzo pisarle.
Por otro lado, estéticamente, me gustan los de color madera que parezca recién sacado de la naturaleza, como si fuera una obra de Dios. La forma del cuerpo bastante clásica, pero no muy grande.El mástil no me gusta que sea excesivamnete fino ni grueso, ya sabes…, espero. Y por último, me imagino el clavijero dos a dos en paralelo.
Lo que odio son los clavijeros de 3 arriba y uno abajo, o 4 arriba y uno abajo en 5 cuerdas. No me gustan los instrumentos con estéticas muy puntiagudas, me gustan las formas circulares.
Espero que os ayude,
Muchas gracias.
#6 by Stefan on March 19, 2009 - 01:20
Would never like to have on my bass:
– too many knobs and switches (like 6 or more knobs, 3 or more switches…)
– plastic cover for electronics cavity (unless the bass is painted black and the cover is, too)
– flat top
– colored led marks on the side of the fretboard. They just look to “technical” for the type of bass I like. White would be cool.
Dream Bass:
– hard to describe the sound I would want it to have…
– no sharp edges
– Wenge/Walnut/Wenge sandwich would look great… wait, I’m building that one right now
– matching wood covers for the back, knobs, pu-covers… What I mean is that the I would want to have as little non-wood things on the bass as possible, only the frets, tuners and the bridge. But… see point above
– a dragon skeleton inlay, with the tail ending at the nut and then reaching all the way down the fretboard
– self-tuning tuners, since I’m lazy…
#7 by Pedro Reixach on March 19, 2009 - 03:49
Un modelo de 5-6 cuerdas:
Cuerpo de Caoba / similar.
Tapa de arce / bubinga / nogal.
Mastil de Arce (con tiras deotra madera).
Diapason de ëbano o Pauferro.
Modelo atornillado (bolt-on)con la unión del mastil al cuerpo que imite un neck through.
Que permita una acción muy baja.
Con electrónica activa de dos bandas (bajos y agudos), switch serie – paralero y switch de activo-pasivo.
Clavijas Gotoh.
Cejuela de metal.
Puente tipo Badass II / similar.
Straplooks de seguridad para la correa (Shaller).
#8 by Spencer on March 19, 2009 - 08:16
Hey Jerzy,
Here are the specs for my dream bass (and the next bass I’ll be ordering from you!):
-5 string tuned BEADG
-34″ scale
-Bolt-on
-Fully passive
-No controls (just an on/off switch for each pickup)
-A ramp between the pickups
-18mm string spacing
-Ebony fretboard
-Graphite rods in neck (This should be standard in all of your basses. I love my Drozd, but the neck isn’t very stable)
-Body wood: something that sounds good.
-Top wood: something pretty!
-Hipshot ultralite tuners
-Dunlop recessed straplocks
-Pickups: Not sure. I want to try your dual-coil pickups, but your split-coil neck pickup sounds EXACTLY like a P-bass pickup!
Things I don’t like in a bass:
-35″ scale. It’s fine for a while but my hands start to hurt after a 3-hour gig.
-Preamps. Your basses sound so good passive!
#9 by Stephen Mitchell on March 19, 2009 - 17:15
Hello Jerzy,
Nice blog.
Interesting question posed by you. I do have a dream bass that I would love to have built, preferably by you.
35″ scale 12 string (6 bass string/ 6 guitar string octave) Excellency.
Maple neck w/ebony 28 lined fretless finger board.
2 Graphite rods and truss rod
You’re suggested body and top woods to get that big, growly, cut thru the mix tone.
Black hardware.
Passive and active toggle switch, your suggested pre and pups.
Volume, pickup blend, bass, treble, and mid range.
I currently own an older 28 fret Excellency VI and love it.
I have bad gas for the redwood topped Excellency VI that is at Luthiers Access Group but I really want the dream fretless if it is something that could become a reality.
#10 by Mauricio "Cooper" Barrios on March 20, 2009 - 06:36
Hola…Genial esto de las ofertas, l{astima de estar tan lejos (Chile)para ir a probarlos…
El bajo ideal? un poco subjetivo pero hay algunas cosas que nos van molestando con el paso del tiempo
como la versatilidad del sonido al momento de interpretar variados estilos, habría que tener un bajo para cada estilo musical…sería ideal un bajo que se pueda tocar funk, jazz, metal, pop solamente en un bajo…
lo otro que siempre me quejo es el peso, ya se que si tiene un mejor cuerpo, mejora el sonido, pero un bajo liviano ayudaría bastante a mi espalda, jajjaja…otro son los diseños qu eso obviamente es personal y que le da la estética o sello personal, instrumentos con incrustaciones que den identidad al bajista…otra cosa es la cantidad de selecores para buscar un sonido apropiado, se podrían omitir algunos selectores selectores?.
gracias por querer mejorar, se agradece…
Cooper…La Serena, IV Región, Chile.
#11 by Rick ("Debased" at Talk Bass) on March 22, 2009 - 19:23
Hi Jerzy,
I already own my ‘perfect’ bass: It’s the ’06 NAMM fretless Legend VI shown at the top of your website’s Legend page (and the one shown in your JD forum avatar). FWIW, I’ve reviewed it here: http://www.talkbass.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1257/cat/all
This instrument surpasses my expectations in almost every way, but in order for it to quality as “perfect” for me, I’d:
Change the string spacing from 18.5mm to 17.5mm with a commensurate decrease in neck width.
Change the JeDXD double-coil pickup to a true single-coil design and deal with a bit of extra noise if I have to.
Change the 400Hz/800Hz midrange frequency select switch to a sweepable mid frequency pot.
And, as mentioned in my review, it would be nice to be able to intonate the bass without tightening and loosening the strings over and over again, which tends to prematurely deaden a new set, but you can’t move the bridge saddles or access their lock-down screws with the strings under tension.
None of the above are criticisms about the design so much as my own personal preferences. Thanks for building such an amazing instrument!
Dislikes? At the top of my list has to be the me-too, play-it-safe Fender-clone bandwagon that far too many talented luthiers are buying into these days. Watching great craftsman like Mike Tobias and George Furlanetto, etc. dumbing down their work to the level of these quick ‘n cheap, spray paint and plastic, assembly-line designs is not a pretty sight. If I’m going to pay a luthier top dollar, I expect originality, innovation and creativity, not a subtle refinement of the same tired mass-market design from the ’50s.
Good luck on your new blog, and I’m really looking forward to checking out your new bass.
#12 by sam tuck on April 16, 2009 - 17:07
I think the perfect bass is your Legend Obsession, I love the 35 to 36 scale it would hae to be fretless and have 8 strings. I love the semi acoustics the number of knobs is perfect. I love looks, I juxt wish I could afford one.
Thanks for your time
#13 by admin on April 17, 2009 - 15:31
Hi Sam,
Thanks for joining my blog, I´m sure you will get one of my basses some time in the future. You know: any desire if strong enought, turn into real thing
Jerzy
#14 by Emmo on May 20, 2009 - 07:34
I think this poll will tell you nothing but the fact that everyone has a different taste. But I guess you're trying to elicit some crazy ideas and then turn them into a vailant design. I don't have any crazy ideas, I'm all about the harmony of the design aspects. But still, watching this is fun
And I agree with the cats above, posting your blog rocks.
#15 by miguel perez on June 12, 2009 - 11:05
Perhaps a bit late for suggestions, but I’ve just come across this blog. Things I hate: jazz bass style knob plates on basses without pickguards, difficult to open battery compartments, truss rod covers, knobs without center detents, fingerboard dots, bizarre volutes (Carl Thompson style) in headstocks or horns, lyre-style bottom of the bass (like Phil Lesh’s new Ritter bass), too curved fingerboards, fake f-holes, screws to attach covers, any kind of plastic, string trees on headstocks, bodies that force you to bend your wrist or to extend your elbow, pickups with too strong magnets, non having passive-active switch in active basses, any cosmetic feature that is not functional or clearly integrated in an unified project, and my most hated: necks that dive. They compromise your balance and playing even more than very heavy instruments. Things I love: adjustable Willis ramp (I wrote about it in the forum), piezo bridges to blend with magnetic pickups, open truss rod accesible in the back of the neck (Igor Saavedra’s idea), modular preamps (I think Brubaker offers them); I’d like to get rid of batteries, I don’t know if a bass could have phantom power supply like a condenser mic; look-wise, your designs, period. I haven’t seen anything remotely similar o more beautiful. I haven’t tried any JD, so I can´t say anything else sonic-wise. I hope I will in the (next) future.
#16 by Craig Thompson on June 24, 2009 - 07:36
Thanks for the chance to share my thoughts on how my dream bass/perfect bass should be. The bass should be as beautiful as I want it, play and feel the way I want it, and sound the way I want it. It’s a bass that puts me in awe everytime I see it, it’s the bass that I dream of. Please, don’t wake me!!!!! The Lord God bless You and keep You.
#17 by juan on August 4, 2009 - 07:32
Hola a todos!
Me parece una pregunta muy bien hecha desde el principio. NO EXISTE EL BAJO PERFECTO, existe el bajo perfecto para tí.
Actualmente tengo un fender jazz bass vintage 75 y lo adoro, le he colocado el cubrepastillas del mástil y es genial.
Hay gente que dirá ¿Qué utilidad tiene eso, incluyendo golpeador o los inlays? mi respuesta es siempre la misma ¿por qué no? a las cosas que te gustan no tienes que darle más explicaciones.
Mi bajo JERZY DROZD ideal sería:
Un excellency 4 cuerdas con tapa de arce flameado y acabado honey stain, el cuerpo de la madera standar del excellency, eso sí, me gustaría que sus dimensiones fueran algo mayores, me gustan los bajos con bastante cuerpo.
Respecto al mástil me sería suficiente los 20 o 22 trastes, en un mástil de arce con diapasón de pau ferro o birdseye maple (depende de la madera), ¿inlays? me gustan los pájaros que incluye PRS.
¿Electrónica? Pasivo, cuanto menos controles mejor me gustan más (2 volumenes, tono general o volumen/balance/tono).
Sonido clásico aspecto algo más exótico.
#18 by ricardo Molina Cruz on August 5, 2009 - 19:56
Hola todos admiro mucho los Jerzy me gustaría un bajo de una sola pieza sandwich de palo rosa y maple con alerones de roble rojo o mostaza
con acabados mate diapazon de evano 24 trastes un solo single coil volumen y tono jumbo frets clavijas livianas con cortes ergonómicos muy suave la acción cinco cuerdas escala de 35 ”
3.5mm en cejuela para la separación entre ellas 24 trastes
#19 by Julio Perez on August 6, 2009 - 03:16
hola Jerzy, para mi el bajo perfecto en estetica es el jerzy drozd signature v, exactamente el de esta pagina-http://www.luthiersaccessgroup.com/jerzydroz.html
que por cierto veo que ya esta vendido, que bien, aunque no conozco su sonido, nunca he tenido uno, los he escuchado por internet y me encantan, gracias por tener en cuenta nuestros comentarios.
#20 by 05Ric on August 12, 2009 - 07:58
Hello Jerzy
The Barcelona is very close in design and tone.
For myself I favor 7 strings as my bass is my main composition tool and the seven strings give me the range I like to work in.
Lightness – the weight of an instrument is most important for 2 factors. One is tone/sound, in my experience the lighter the bass the warmer the tone/sound. Secondly a 2hr set with a light bass is much easier on the body then one that is 10-12 lbs, But there is also a kind of spiritual/connection factor that happens with a light instrument, because it resonates easier, that physical connection with the resonating body makes the instrument feel like an extension of your own body. These “words” are not really doing the “experience” justice, yet it has become a major factor to why I like lighter instruments.
Ergonomics – As I works sitting down in the studio for most of the day (composition/practice) I need an instrument that is easy to play while sitting that does not put extra stress on my body. My views about ergonomics can be viewed here:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=185739813&blogId=491767107
32 – 33 scale length (my current is 32 and I love it).
Electronics passive, there are a myriad of other things (such as body carving which facilitate in the ergonomic department), but i have mentioned the most important to me so far.
Blessings
Ric