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15-string Prat Bass for Jauqo III-X

pratbasses

pratbasses

Commercial User
Jan 20, 2010
345
73
Spain
www.pratbasses.com
#1
Hi everyone. My name is Oscar F. Prat. In my free time I like to be with my family, listening live music, go to the movies... but the rest of the day I am dedicated to building basses.

I start this new thread to show you the process of building a very special instrument: a 15 string bass (5 triples).
The future owner of this beast is Jauqo III-X. Like everybody knows, Jauqo is a bass erudite, expert on all aspects of this instrument, and also innovative.

So, I think it will be an interesting post. I hope everybody enjoy.

PD: My English is not the best... Please, let me know anything that you don't understand ;)
 
#4
The basic characteristics of this bass will be:

-15 string (5 triples), Tunning is Eee, Aaa, Ddd, Ggg, Ccc
-32" scale, double cutaway (classic shape)
-Ebony Gaboon fingerboard, with maple blocks and brass side dots. 21 frets
-Hybrid neck (1) construction, 7 pieces: curly maple, purple heart, ebony gaboon
-body: Bubinga pomelle top and back, swamp ash core
-Villex electronic system
-Custom Hipshot bridge (2)
-Hipshot tuners
-Octave4plus strings


(1) Jauqo and I had long conversations about what kind of neck - construction would be the most appropriate construction for this bass. Jauqo know very good about sound. He have a lot of experience and theory about frequencies, tone, etc... And, he is looking for the snap, atack, sound... like a jazz bass. So, the logical choice is a bolt-on. But (and here we going to the question without solution: what is better, a bolt-on or a neck thru), we know the benefits of a thru neck bass, like sustain, ring or resonance, and, especially in this bass, we need stability and rigidity... because we have 15 strings pushing!
So, how to have the snap, attack and clarity of a bolt-on? Well, I think the "vibration" from neck to body "stop" because we have 2 pieces (neck and body), and there is a "cut". And very important, the material is different (like maple neck and ash body...), and this vibration stops and / or transform in something different...
In the "Hybrid" neck, whe have a neck thru with "externals" bodies (a full sice top and back and the 2 wings). so, the vibration goes from the neck to tha body, but "crash" with the top and the back.
It is not new, I thing there are some basses with this construction.
I hope I explained well ;)

(2) Hipshot have built this bridge specifically for this bass. It has individual saddles for each string!!!! Piece of art.
I want to say THANK YOU to everyone in Hipshot, specially to Bill.
 
#7
pratbasses said:
Hi everyone. My name is Oscar F. Prat. In my free time I like to be with my family, listening live music, go to the movies... but the rest of the day I am dedicated to building basses.

I start this new thread to show you the process of building a very special instrument: a 15 string bass (5 triples).
The future owner of this beast is Jauqo III-X. Like everybody knows, Jauqo is a bass erudite, expert on all aspects of this instrument, and also innovative.

So, I think it will be an interesting post. I hope everybody enjoy.

PD: My English is not the best... Please, let me know anything that you don't understand ;)
Click to expand...

Subscribed. Excellent thread from a fine craftsman. I am really enjoying the single-course 10-string you made for me. Beautiful looks and sound!
 
#19
giacomini said:
Great! So this means Jauqo found someone to build his 15 string bass! :D
Click to expand...


There are two reasons that it has taken so long for me to have another 15 string bass made.


One.

I wanted the right bridge. And I can thank Hipshot for that. I first talked to Hipshot about the bridge 6-7 years ago but it just wasn't the right time for Hipshot. And I again inquired, recently and Hipshot was like, what do you got? Hipshot was super open minded to the concept of each string having it's own saddle. I wanted each string to be able to intonate just as any other bridge.

I've always felt that if the octave strings that rested on the same saddle had their own individual saddle that that would help the overall presence that I was looking for sound wise. I feel that two octave strings on one saddle cancels the full sound potential out. There is a level of sonic dampening that I no longer wanted to deal with. So Hipshot was up to it.


And as they say the rest is history.

The second reason.

The right Luthier.

I have approached a few luthiers and a few have approached me. But the main reason was just how open minded they were and it would eventually go back to the bridge situation. I wanted a specific bridge and with out it I just didn't want the bass. I felt that my overall vision was compromised with out that bridge :)


I had a chance to play some of Oscars Prats basses and I was really impressed with the sound and the great quality of his builds. Oscar is one of the most adventurous luthiers I have ever encountered. Me and Oscar talked about a bass but I was so impressed with what I had already seen,played and heard from him and his passion was for building great instruments was mind blowin, so much so that I asked him about the possibility of building my new 15 string. I don't know if I was sleep for a blink but all I remember Oscar saying was "Yes Jauqo I can do that" There was no long drawn out moment to think about it, he just dived right in.
 

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