ThE “Madrigal Bass”

is a fully acoustic, multiscale Archtop bass based on my 17” “Madrigal” body shape.

The "Madrigal" bass came to be in the wake of another bass commission, The “Roux” Bass, during the time when most of my instruments came to life in Tom Ribbecke’s shop.

Anytime you work for someone else, especially if it is a creative type of job, you have ideas that you can't use in the job.  I had been involved in making a number of incredible basses over the years with Tom, including a handful of the “Halfling” Basses, inspired by Bobby Vega and also a handful of the "Diana Basses" for the legendary Jack Casaday. All really cool instruments and all acoustic archtop basses.

I began to wonder what a bass version of my guitar designs would sound like.  Working on the “Roux” amplified that curiosity and then I stumbled across the material that I used for the back and sides which really got me fixated on the idea...  A lot of the instruments that I make are inspired by the materials, not necessarily the design, but the vibe.

Originally the Madrigal Bass was going to be a 5 string with the same scale lengths as the “Roux” Bass, but I decided to make it a 4 string with 33”-34” scale lengths to make it a bit more traditional, even though it is far from traditional.  I wanted to create an easily amplified Acoustic bass that was easier to lug around and could take the place of a standup at a gig or in a small ensemble, while also having a voice that was compelling to play as a solo instrument.

Like my acoustic archtop guitars, all of the electronics are connected to the pickguard and are floating, so it is easy to amplify, but there is no pickup in the top that will have an effect on the way that the top vibrates/acoustic voice of the instrument.

I feel like it is up to others to say if I was successful with my goal, but I can say that I probably played this instrument more than any other instrument that I have built and had a ton of fun exploring what it had to say across the fretboard, particularly acoustically with diads and triads.

Details:

BASE PRICE: $14,500

Materials:

• Top: Western Red Cedar

• Back and Sides: One Piece Sipo Mahogany

• Neck: Sipo Mahogany, 3 Piece Tapered Lamination

  • Carbon Fiber Reinforcement

  • Allied Lutherie Flex Strong Truss Rod

• Fretboard: Ebony

• Nut: Bone

• Binding: Black ABS

• Purfling:

  • Top and Back: .06” White/Black/White

  • Side: .02” Single White

• Bridge, Tailpiece, Headplate, Pickguard: Ebony

• Inlay and Position Markers: Copper

• Tuning Machines: Hipshot Ultralite

• Finish: