This week we’re checking out an awesome instrument built by Italian amateur bass builder Matteo Marziali, who started building basses after being inspired by the work of Carl Thompson. His latest creation, which he dubbed “The Bad” bass, brings has a dark theme that draws on the work of several of his favorite luthiers.
“I started to design this bass during the spring of 2011, and finally it’s finished,” he tells us. “The idea was to make a ‘metal-looking’ bass, inspired by the ’77 [Carl Thompson] style, [as well as] the Ritter Roya bass and the works of Prometeus guitar.”
The five-string bass featured a fanned fret design with a scale ranging from 36 inches to 34 inches. It’s constructed entirely of wenge with a quartersawn one-piece fingerboard/neck and a chambered body accented by layers of red veneer. Marziali says the bass weighs in at 7.25 pounds without neck dive.
And how does it sound? “It has a unique voice that pushes the mid-range frequency with lots of growl and harmonics,” he says. “It reminds my the sound of [Antrhax’s] Frank Bello in Among the Living.”
For more, check out the Talkbass thread where Marziali documented the whole process.
