My first foray into the world of ordering custom musical instruments came to a close this past Monday as I am now the proud owner of a custom Deimel Firestar Bass! Not a brand that gets much attention on this forum, but hopefully that will change soon. Let me share my quick little story about how this beauty of a bass came to be mine if you will.
While the high end, high-tech Foderas, Zons, Spectors, etc. of the world are certainly beautiful, I've come to realize that my tastes in basses do not align with what many of the in vogue boutique builders offer--rare woods, active electronics, composite materials, etc. Tone-wise and aesthetically, my tastes gravitate far more toward the vintage side of things. That said, like many Talkbassers, I'm very particular about what I want in a bass, so I always knew that I would go the custom route one day when I a) could afford to and b) found someone who could build what I like.
Fast forward to 1.5 years ago and I stumbled upon a new bass called the Firestar from a German builder I had never heard of before named Deimel (thanks no treble | the online magazine for bass players Instantly I was in love--the body is a combination of two of my all-time favorite bass/guitar body styles, the non-reverse Gibson Thunderbird and the Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar. Pickups were Lollar thunderbirds, which I have used before in previous basses and love. Everything else about the bass screamed vintage, impeccable design and bass beauty to me. So, last April I made the jump and placed an order for my very own custom Firestar from Mr. Frank Deimel. Here are the specs:
-1 piece swamp ash body
-1 piece flamed maple neck (60s Jazz "C" shape) w/ Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard (9.5" to 12" compound radius)
-3 (yes, 3) Lollar thunderbird pickups
-1 pickup selector switch, 1 master vol., 1 master tone and three additional switches: 1 to engage the middle pickup, 1 to engage a piezo disc that's inside the body of the bass, 1 to kill the neck and bridge pickups, which allows for soloing the middle pickup
-Hipshot ultralite tuners with a d-tuner on the E
-Custom hipshot B-style bridge with through-body stringing
-Gold anodized aluminum pickguard
-Trans. white body finish (nitro), matte finish on the neck
-Bone nut and bone glue throughout
That's about it for the major details. Well, I just received the bass on Monday after 10 long months of waiting. Frank initially quoted me 6 months when I first ordered, but since then he became extra busy with more orders coming in and with his duty as a main organizer of the first-ever Holy Grail Guitar show in Berlin setting him back considerably this past fall. Some customers might be upset having to wait 4 more months than they planned, but for a beautiful instrument that was hand-built by one man, I was fine with waiting the extra time.
I know that it's typical for members to post their NBD excitement the day they receive a new instrument around here, but honestly I haven't had the time to do that because I've spent almost every free moment of my time this past week playing my new bass, rather than talking about it on the internet. Anyway, in short, the bass is incredible and I couldn't be happier about how it turned out.
My first impression when I excitedly unpacked it on Monday night was the level of craftsmanship that went in to building the bass. I've owned and played many beautiful instruments by Fender, Warwick, Spector, Fano, Guild (vintage Starfires), etc and this one is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest in terms of fit and finish. Every aspect of it, from the cut of the nut to the fret job to the mounting of the hardware to the finish is perfect. Some would say that you would expect no less when shelling out serious dough for a custom instrument, but I've played many instruments in the same price range as my Deimel that paled in comparison when it comes to craftsmanship. Moving on to the sound--I thought I knew what to expect for the most part as I've owned a bass with Lollar Thunderbird pickups before, but the tones that I've been getting out of the Deimel this week have been astonishing. Despite the passive electronics, there is so much tonal versatility in this instrument that I feel like I might never be able to try out all of the different variations. So far, I've been loving all 3 pickups on (no piezo) with the tone rolled down a little more than halfway, played finger style over the middle pickup. The tones I've been able to coax out of the bass in that setting, even through my little 1x10 GK practice amp have been thunderous, dynamic and beautiful. Soloing the middle pickup and rolling the tone back even more gives a wonderful throaty tone that's actually reminiscent of a vintage P-bass, especially when you add some mild overdrive to the signal.
Anyway, enough blabbing from me. Here are the pics! All of these were taken by Frank and his wife, Kora, throughout the build process and then right before they shipped the bass to me.
While the high end, high-tech Foderas, Zons, Spectors, etc. of the world are certainly beautiful, I've come to realize that my tastes in basses do not align with what many of the in vogue boutique builders offer--rare woods, active electronics, composite materials, etc. Tone-wise and aesthetically, my tastes gravitate far more toward the vintage side of things. That said, like many Talkbassers, I'm very particular about what I want in a bass, so I always knew that I would go the custom route one day when I a) could afford to and b) found someone who could build what I like.
Fast forward to 1.5 years ago and I stumbled upon a new bass called the Firestar from a German builder I had never heard of before named Deimel (thanks no treble | the online magazine for bass players Instantly I was in love--the body is a combination of two of my all-time favorite bass/guitar body styles, the non-reverse Gibson Thunderbird and the Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar. Pickups were Lollar thunderbirds, which I have used before in previous basses and love. Everything else about the bass screamed vintage, impeccable design and bass beauty to me. So, last April I made the jump and placed an order for my very own custom Firestar from Mr. Frank Deimel. Here are the specs:
-1 piece swamp ash body
-1 piece flamed maple neck (60s Jazz "C" shape) w/ Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard (9.5" to 12" compound radius)
-3 (yes, 3) Lollar thunderbird pickups
-1 pickup selector switch, 1 master vol., 1 master tone and three additional switches: 1 to engage the middle pickup, 1 to engage a piezo disc that's inside the body of the bass, 1 to kill the neck and bridge pickups, which allows for soloing the middle pickup
-Hipshot ultralite tuners with a d-tuner on the E
-Custom hipshot B-style bridge with through-body stringing
-Gold anodized aluminum pickguard
-Trans. white body finish (nitro), matte finish on the neck
-Bone nut and bone glue throughout
That's about it for the major details. Well, I just received the bass on Monday after 10 long months of waiting. Frank initially quoted me 6 months when I first ordered, but since then he became extra busy with more orders coming in and with his duty as a main organizer of the first-ever Holy Grail Guitar show in Berlin setting him back considerably this past fall. Some customers might be upset having to wait 4 more months than they planned, but for a beautiful instrument that was hand-built by one man, I was fine with waiting the extra time.
I know that it's typical for members to post their NBD excitement the day they receive a new instrument around here, but honestly I haven't had the time to do that because I've spent almost every free moment of my time this past week playing my new bass, rather than talking about it on the internet. Anyway, in short, the bass is incredible and I couldn't be happier about how it turned out.
My first impression when I excitedly unpacked it on Monday night was the level of craftsmanship that went in to building the bass. I've owned and played many beautiful instruments by Fender, Warwick, Spector, Fano, Guild (vintage Starfires), etc and this one is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest in terms of fit and finish. Every aspect of it, from the cut of the nut to the fret job to the mounting of the hardware to the finish is perfect. Some would say that you would expect no less when shelling out serious dough for a custom instrument, but I've played many instruments in the same price range as my Deimel that paled in comparison when it comes to craftsmanship. Moving on to the sound--I thought I knew what to expect for the most part as I've owned a bass with Lollar Thunderbird pickups before, but the tones that I've been getting out of the Deimel this week have been astonishing. Despite the passive electronics, there is so much tonal versatility in this instrument that I feel like I might never be able to try out all of the different variations. So far, I've been loving all 3 pickups on (no piezo) with the tone rolled down a little more than halfway, played finger style over the middle pickup. The tones I've been able to coax out of the bass in that setting, even through my little 1x10 GK practice amp have been thunderous, dynamic and beautiful. Soloing the middle pickup and rolling the tone back even more gives a wonderful throaty tone that's actually reminiscent of a vintage P-bass, especially when you add some mild overdrive to the signal.
Anyway, enough blabbing from me. Here are the pics! All of these were taken by Frank and his wife, Kora, throughout the build process and then right before they shipped the bass to me.
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