{"id":393,"date":"2019-10-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&#038;p=393"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:46:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:46:47","slug":"bass-of-the-week-kelvin-daly-musical-instruments-7-string-subcontra-bass","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-kelvin-daly-musical-instruments-7-string-subcontra-bass","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: Kelvin Daly Musical Instruments 7-String Subcontra Bass"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass.jpg?resize=733%2C236&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Kelvin Daly 7-String Subcontra Bass\" width=\"733\" height=\"236\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-64994 img-fluid\"><\/p>\n<p>Kelvin Daly has been building instruments since 1992, always with an artistic bent. \u201cMy original training in visual arts and sculpture migrated into building functional musical objects as I became more seriously involved in playing music,\u201d he writes on his website. It doesn\u2019t hurt that he has apprenticed with the legendary Carl Thompson since 1998. <\/p>\n<p>This week we\u2019re featuring a gut-rumbling bass Daly custom-designed for a player. The 7-string Subcontra Bass has an enormous 38-inch scale and is tuned E A D G C F A. The lowest string, which is an octave below a standard bass\u2019s E, registers at just 20.5 Hz. Besides the functional depth of the instrument, its construction is a thing of wonder. Its body core is kaya (aka African Mahogany) with a padouk stripe, while ebony and hand-dyed flame maple adorn the top. The back details are bocote and more hand-dyed flame maple. Its neck is a seven-piece laminate of sapele, ipe, cocobola, and pau ferro topped with an ebony fingerboard. <\/p>\n<p>Other features include Hipshot hardware, custom-wound Kent Armstrong soapbar pickups, and a 3-band EQ. <\/p>\n<div class=\"section\">\n<div class=\"carousel-sync-wrap\">\n<div class=\"carousel-gallery carousel-sync-main\">\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Back-of-Headstock.jpg?fit=750%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Back.jpg?fit=737%2C491&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Body-Back.jpg?fit=751%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Body.jpg?fit=720%2C480&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Headstock.jpg?fit=750%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Lower-Horn.jpg?fit=750%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.notreble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kelvin-Daly-7-String-Subcontra-Bass-Upper-Horn.jpg?fit=750%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item -->\n\t\t    <\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-sync-main -->    <\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-sync-nav\">\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item --><\/p>\n<div class=\"carousel-item\"><\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-item -->\n\t\t    <\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-sync-nav -->  <\/div>\n<p><!-- .carousel-sync-wrap --><\/div>\n<p><!-- .section --><\/p>\n<div class=\"photo-caption\">Photos: Adrian Buckmaster<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kelvin Daly has been building instruments since 1992, always with an artistic bent. \u201cMy original training in visual arts and sculpture migrated into building functional musical objects as I became more seriously involved in playing\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1528,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-393","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/bass"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}