Lesser known companies/luthiers

[B-Mac]

glad it's completed, tread with caution.

This bloody thing... Jon Letts bloodwood bass! | TalkBass.com

I’m not going to proliferate rumors.

You never know who the flamer really was.

Jon’s been very communicative on Reverb all the way through the buying process down to helping me with obtaining a HS guitar case (it's 27" scale) that fits this bass snugly.

 

[JReno]

Love this. Learning lots of new names I had never heard of before.

 

[drewphishesp]

CHC guitars in austin tx made me this
fair warning it needed a new nut and some fret work but a wonderful guitar

 

[scuzzy]

I’m not going to proliferate rumors.

You never know who the flamer really was.

Jon’s been very communicative on Reverb all the way through the buying process down to helping me with obtaining a HS guitar case that fits this bass snugly.

Not saying you should. But it's wise to really research when purchasing from small builders. It appears that purchasing completed builds from this builder has been without complaint.

 

[Thegreatzambini]

I’d say Muckelroy (sp?), Devon, and Roscoe are kinda in the middle of that category.

As are several others, I imagine.

Roscoe was a lot more popular in the early 2000s but it seems in the last 10 years they dropped off a little

 

[Killing Floor]

Serek has been blowing up lately
Moollon is lesser known but still bigger than most

He’s had great mainstream media presence too. Great builder.

 

[cnltb]

By this point I think it's safe to say that the Lulls(RIP), Dingwalls, and Sadowskys have grown way beyond relative obscurity(I grew up near Saskatoon, so Sheldon Dingwall used to just be "that local luthier who made really cool stuff"), but now I'm wondering who's out there who we may not know yet, but are putting out instruments worth our attention/GAS fund. Think of it a shout out for the little guys who do fantastic work, but maybe aren't supplying major touring musicians with gear. There's not really a metric for this so there are no wrong answers. Perhaps those of us reading this post will discover who will be building our next bass. My personal shout out goes to a local luthier in Calgary AB, Rosche Custom Basses. I've owned 2(posted about them before), though they were both prebuilt so I never got to experience the whole build process from design to finish, but they're top notch.
View attachment 5088165 View attachment 5088166 View attachment 5088167

What are the two on the left of the 1st photo?
- I really like the body shape!

 

[Poobini]

Decibel Sound Implements - I think there are two TBers, myself included, who have one of Jerimy's builds. They rock.

Also J Douglas Guitars, for our friends across the pond. Both are very Gibson-inspired builders from what I can tell.

 

[Dincrest]

I remember back in 2004-2005 when I first joined TalkBass, I caught wind of luthiers like Pete Skjold, Cliff Bordwell, Matt Pulcinella, Bud LeCompte, and so many more. I don't know how many are still plying their craft.

Back in the 90s, I first caught wind of Scott Surine's basses via little ads in Bass Player magazine. I love the body style of those basses. I would love to try one, but I don't think he's building any more? Surine was not as well known as the likes of Ken Smith, but I hear his basses were beyond superb.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I mean, there's a bunch of guys over in the Luthier's Corner of this forum building some awesome stuff. I'm gonna specifically call out @Freekmagnet and his Sirena Basses -
Sirena Uno - Funktronic Pickups

 

[JReno]

What are the two on the left of the 1st photo?
- I really like the body shape!

I'm unsure exactly which models those are, but he lists the different models here: Rosche Bass – Calgary Custom Bass

and I just grabbed the image from his facebook page here: Rosche Custom Bass

 

[Giffro]

‘Long Lady’ Bass models designed by iconic bass maker Neil Kennedy - Cole Clark Guitars, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

LLB Bass Series | Cole Clark Bass Guitars

 

[Folmeister]

Sei

 

[JReno]

I mean, there's a bunch of guys over in the Luthier's Corner of this forum building some awesome stuff. I'm gonna specifically call out @Freekmagnet and his Sirena Basses -
Sirena Uno - Funktronic Pickups

Ok, that's a bass that definitely(pun intended) strikes the right chords with me. Really liking that. That "Mega bolt neck joint" looks interesting.

 

[Freekmagnet]

I mean, there's a bunch of guys over in the Luthier's Corner of this forum building some awesome stuff. I'm gonna specifically call out @Freekmagnet and his Sirena Basses -
Sirena Uno - Funktronic Pickups

Aw shucks, thx!

 

[BTL]

This list would be incomplete without @Bruce Johnson.

 

[Koog]

Andrew Drake and Pete Hilton. Just superb in every way.

Koog

 

[scott sinner]

Lesser known company - Maruszczyk. Known-ish on this forum, but not well in the wider world. Hey, I'm been on TB for years and only got clued into them last year. They do a custom shop type thing, not fully custom, but you pick from a good array of options, woods, and finishes.

My Frog below. Plays and sounds like a dream.

The Official MARUSZCZYK CLUB!

 

[Rib 13]

Lowe's Guitars from Tampa.
Ive always wanted to get my mitts on one of these beauties
Check out this gallery:
LEGACY GALLERY | LOWE CUSTOM GUITARS

Edit: @BeeTL - I just saw you are in this thread lol

 

[Danny O Danny]

There are some smallish Japanese companies that make fantastic basses: Atelier Z, Bacchus, Dragonfly, Edwards, FGN, Momose and Moon, to name a few.