{"id":808,"date":"2011-11-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&p=808"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:47:15","slug":"bass-of-the-week-spalt-instruments-vviper","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-spalt-instruments-vviper","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: Spalt Instruments vViper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Spalt<\/p>\n

This week we look at the Spalt Instruments vViper, a custom built bass with a unique pickup design that pivots. The idea for the \u201cwiper\u201d arm pickup is the brainchild of proprietor Michael Spalt, a luthier who started building after studying film, photography and painting in San Francisco. After consulting on it with Bill Bartolini, the end result allows infinite positions between the two extremes of the pickup cavity while allowing you to lock it into a favorite position. <\/p>\n

The tonal range varies on its placement \u2013 moving it all the way to the front approximates a typical P-bass position, where the middle resembles a Musicman\u2019s tone and the rear is similar to bridge pickup of a Jazz bass. Spalt also explains the single pickup is advantageous to a dual pickup design because it eliminates phase cancellation issues, and the wider arc on the bass side of the strings compensates for \u201ca lesser change in tonal character in the lower strings vs. the higher strings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spalt has eight vVipers listed on his website, but number three, nicknamed the \u201cMadras vViper\u201d, really caught our eye. The 5-string custom piccolo bass features a swamp ash body with a brilliant red flame maple top, maple neck, and Macassar ebony fingerboard. According to Spalt, the pickup design only supports 4-stringers (Bartolini hasn\u2019t gotten around to making one 5-string compatible yet), so he used a Lane Poor Jazz pickup to accommodate the 5-string spacing which was relatively narrow. <\/p>\n

The bass features the Novax fanned fret system, with Sperzel locking tuners and single-string bridges rounding out the hardware. The owner of this bass also requested the slit in the lower bout, which is made to hold picks.<\/p>\n

The Spalt Instruments vViper runs about \u20ac3,300 (~$4,500 USD), though prices vary as each bass is custom. For more, visit the Spalt Instruments website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spalt Instruments vViper Gallery:<\/h2>\n
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Spalt Instruments vViper Specs:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Bolt-on Construction<\/li>\n
  • Body: Swamp Ash<\/li>\n
  • Top: Flame Maple<\/li>\n
  • Neck: Maple<\/li>\n
  • Fingerboard: Macassar Ebony<\/li>\n
  • Pickup: Lane Poor Jazz<\/li>\n
  • Tuners: Sperzel Locking Tuners<\/li>\n
  • Other: \u201cWiper\u201d Arm Pivoting Pickup Design, Built-in Pick Holder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This week we look at the Spalt Instruments vViper, a custom built bass with a unique pickup design that pivots. The idea for the \u201cwiper\u201d arm pickup is the brainchild of proprietor Michael Spalt, a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2272,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-808","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/808","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\/2272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}