Luthier Frank Deimel of Deimel Guitarworks recently shared photos of this version of his Firestar Bass, for which he seems to have pulled out all the stops. Aside from the Hipshot tremolo system, the three-pickup design has more than meets the eye.
“What a sound machine! This Firestar Bass comes with 3 Deimel B90 pickups, a built-in piezo AND a built-in LesLee!” Demiel wrote.
The LesLee is Deimel’s own take on the effect of a Leslie speaker. “We revitalized a revolutionary idea of my old pal Pascal Stoffels: the unit he invented, is to literally rotate the two pickups of any guitar, and let this rotation of bridge and neck pickup be adjustable in speed and intensity. After years of research and prototyping, we are proud to finally offer this unit as an onboard effect on our guitars.”
Other features on the bass include a one-piece swamp ash body, a figured maple neck, a pau ferro fretboard, and a Hipshot B-style bridge. All that plus a Laguna Bay finish makes it the total package.
