Custom Bass Guitars
The bass community has always been one of the most open-minded groups of players — in the last thirty years, everything from active preamps to 5-string, 6-string, and beyond have been enthusiastically embraced by forward-thinking bassists looking to expand their own range, and push beyond the instrument's traditional role.
Just as we've done with our guitars, Veillette has always catered to the needs of these adventurous bassists. Over the years, we've built some very special and pretty wild basses, with everything from MIDI output and specialized controls all the way to over-the-top multi-string monsters and custom shapes. With our long experience customizing almost every aspect of our instruments, we have the flexibility and background to take even the most extreme bass concepts and turn them into inspiring tools for musical exploration.
Click to see a sample of our Special Order Bass Guitars
Rob Dahmes Paris Doublecut #1072
Our customers are often a source of inspiration. When Rob ordered his second bass from us, he wanted something even more special than his previous Paris model. He asked for a doublecut and we worked with him to design this new body shape. When it came time to build it, we went with a spectacular Buckeye Burl top along with GraphTech piezo bridge and pre-amp and an Aguilar 2 band EQ for power and flexibility.
The GrooveShoppe's Walnut Centaur #450
This gorgeous Centaur, built for NYC's Groove Shoppe bass boutique, features a number of unusual custom features — the Nordstrand pickups are concealed underneath matching walnut pickup covers for a sleek and seamless look. Angled tuning machines make adjustments easier and streamline the headpiece. An onboard LED tuner displays through the bass side of the low-B bridge unit. Finally, a 35" scale gives the bass tremendous punch and low-end clarity. This bass was a stunner and was hard to let go!
Rick Shoda's custom 4-string acoustic bass #730
Often, we have an instrument in mind that just seems like a great idea, but just can't justify building it just for fun. Sometimes, though, we get really lucky and someone comes along and orders exactly what we had in mind (or close).
That's what happened with this acoustic bass. Our customer's concept lined up perfectly with ours — a medium-scale 4-string based on our 16. Grand acoustic shape. The compact size and comfortable scale made for a extremely playable and very comfy instrument. The medium scale also produced lower string tension, which let us lighten up the bracing a little, to give this instrument a respectable low end response — it sounds like a real bass, not just a big guitar.
This was great fun to build, and Ande and Martin both wanted to keep it when it was done — always a good sign!
Phil Ward's Blue Paris 4 #715
Our visual style usually leans towards the subtle, natural look — but sometimes we get an order for something a bit more flashy! To be honest, it's always a lot of fun to make these.
This Paris 4-string is cloaked in solid Lake Placid Blue, with unpainted maple headpiece — the classic '60s combination, given a modern twist on this piezo-powered fretless! Chrome tuners and knobs further contribute to the "vintage" vibe. Although we love the classy and complex look of figured woods under clear finishes, we just can't deny that this is one cool-looking axe.
Custom 9-string Bass for Steve Nishimura #358
"What is that ?!?!" ...That's the first thing most people said when they saw this...
Well then, what is it?
Custom 9-string Bass:
Solid maple body, flame top, 36 fret ebony fingerboard, Full 3/4" (19mm) bridge spacing,
RMC piezos and custom Nordstrand FatStack pickup, Aguilar and RMC electronics.
This bass was built for Steve Nishimura, a phenomenal touchstyle bassist. Think Bach and Schubert, played note-for-note, and you start to get the idea of Steve's playing...
The bass weighed in at around 14.8 pounds, and Steve said it balanced better than his old 6-string. 1st string action at the highest fret was just over 1/64".
This bass amazed us by being really quite playable, and sounded even bigger than it looks.
Custom Arched-top 6-string bass #359
This Arched-top bass, built for a customer in Japan, was full of special custom features:
offset dot markers, matching wood pickup cover, and ebony thumb rest (which can be unscrewed without leaving any visible screw holes...holes in that top would just be such a shame!).
Our Japanese distributor said this bass had the "voice of God". It was certainly huge-sounding, and one of the most striking-looking basses we've ever made.
Special Edition Concorde Bass #722
This Concorde Bass has a 14" wide semi-hollow body with a Sitka Spruce top and Mahogany back along with a robust wooden bridge. It has a 34" scale Mahogany neck with a lined fretless Pau Ferro fingerboard. All of this contributes to the airy, woody and powerful sound of this bass. A ToneStyler tone control provides precise tone selection.
A beautiful burst finish really added to the look of this bass.
Groove Shoppe Custom 'Paris' 5 #451
This custom fretless 5 represents several special features, brought
together for David Beasley at the Groove Shoppe. They add up to a pretty special
bass:
- Two color Katalox fingerboard and bridge, with contrasting 2-color
fretlines
- Nordstrand pickup in wooden cover
- 35" scale
- Reverse 2+3 Headpiece
- Built-in TriColor tuner
Brad Caudle's Mark IV
Acoustic/Electric 9-string bass #245
Ordered as a surprise birthday present, this beast is tuned from a high Bb to a thundering low F# (at 22Hz!). The factory-installed string set went from a plain, unwound .015" to a whopping .150". A custom-wound humcancelling pickup in matching wenge cover, piezo-equipped bridge and onboard tuner rounded out the specs.
Despite its size, this bass was surprisingly easy to play, and was useful and musical in both extremes of its range.
Rob Sherr 'Bass VI' #1060
Longtime customer Rob Sherr wanted our take on the old Bass VI short scale 6 string bass. Starting with our new Paris Doublecut shape, we worked to create a lively, easy playing instrument that captured that electric guitar vibe in a E-E tuned bass and added a beautiful burl top. A great sounding, great looking bass.
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