Felix Büttner Bass – 2016

Description

Felix Büttner started his apprenticeship in 2010. Since these days he focused on the threads of acoustic bass guitars (huge bodies but small sound). With the beginning of his studies in Markneukirchen he wanted to change this on his instruments. Basis for the design was quickly found in the researches of Michael Kasha on the acoustics of guitar instruments which have found their places in several guitars and basses of other luthiers (e.g. J.T.Hargreaves, Thomas Ochs). The whole construction is asymmetric to support the different frequencies played on the instrument. Especially the lower ones require great areas of the plates to vibrate freely. On the top the sound hole is therefore moved aside and the back is designed to work like the membrane of a speaker. This construction lowers the frequencies emitted by the instrument. With its 810 millimeters medium scale the bass is just slightly taller than a regular jumbo steel string. This grants an easy playability and due to the elevated fingerboard even the higher registers up to the 24th fret are accessible. The bass comes with an installed compensation on saddle and bridge. To tie the strings through the soundboard the bass has a big service port on its bottom.
It enables an impressive view on the inside of the body an additional pickup system can also be easily installed. Eight heavy magnets hold the cover in place. The soundboard is made of spruce wood. The back and the sides are made of padouk a type of mahogany. This light wood enables the construction to vibrate on lower frequencies than a rosewood or ebony body would. The neck is made of mahogany with several layers of maple for stability and design. It is laminated with a fingerboard made of fine makassar-ebony. The instrument is coated with a hardened oil to resist humidity. The tuners by Schaller are extremely light weight an grant a perfect tuning.