{"id":602,"date":"2015-10-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&p=602"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:46:54","slug":"bass-of-the-week-spalt-instruments-terminator-1","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-spalt-instruments-terminator-1","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: Spalt Instruments Terminator 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we first started this column, our goal was to present instruments that range from beautiful to bizarre. This week we\u2019re featuring a bass that falls somewhere in between.<\/p>\n

\"Spalt<\/p>\n

The Spalt Instruments Terminator bass is part musical instrument and part modern art, thanks to luthier Michael Spalt\u2019s creative background. He studied painting, photography, film, and set construction between schools in California and Austria before he began his career in guitar making. The model is part of his Hybrid line of instruments, which Spalt says is the culmination of his artistic background and building skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cHybrids employ an aluminum skeletal structure with wooden wings and wood necks. These instruments embody my sculptural approach to guitar\/bass building \u2013 they are stripped-down to the essentials. The wood neck dials in the tonal color and is comfortable to play. The aluminum imparts a warm tone and clarity to the sound. All metal and wood work is done by hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re focusing on the first Terminator bass built, which features flame koa body wings, a wenge neck, and a cocobolo fingerboard. The five-string bass\u2019s frame is black anodized metal, which is fitted with a pair of EMG soapbar pickups matched to a BQC preamp. <\/p>\n

\u201cAluminum as neck material has proven to be problematic, and I felt it was important to retain the comfort and feel of a wooden neck,\u201d Spalt explains. \u201cThis led to the design based around the central mounting plate (\u201cbody\u201d), to which all the other parts are bolted. The low end on these instruments had a wonderful warm clear tone, and, since the initial response from guitarists was rather lukewarm, I decided to apply this concept to a bass \u2013 figuring also (correctly, as it turned out) that bassists would be a little less conventionally inclined than guitarists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that the bass won\u2019t fit on a conventional stand, Spalt also includes a custom stand for the hybrid configuration. <\/p>\n

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For more information, check out the Spalt Instruments website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spalt Instruments Terminator 1 Specs:<\/h2>\n
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When we first started this column, our goal was to present instruments that range from beautiful to bizarre. This week we\u2019re featuring a bass that falls somewhere in between. The Spalt Instruments Terminator bass is\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1926,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-602","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/602","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\/1926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}