Bass of the Week: Zakrzewski Exclusive

Polish luthier Piotr Zakrzewski has some pretty great bass designs, including his Exclusive model. The mid-range of his three basic basses, the Exclusive is a double-cut bass with the lower horn being significantly deeper to provide easy access to the very end of the fingerboard.

Zakrzewski Basses Exclusive EX1 01 closeup

The Exclusive EX1 01 really caught my eye with its faux f-hole, which provides more than aesthetic appeal.

“My observation is that a fretless bass should not have a heavy body,” Zakrzewski explains. “[The faux f-hole] takes away some wood, making the bass lighter. A lighter body provides more air and subtlety, and fine construction of the neck preserves the sustain, so I feel it’s a win-win.”

Featuring bolt-on construction, the bass is built with a mahogany body topped with curly maple, a 3-piece mahogany/flame maple neck, and an ebony fingerboard.

The pickups are Aero HPJ5 Type 4A split single coils tailored to the string spacing and housed under one big pickup cover, while the bridge includes RMC Bass Excellence piezo saddles. The whole setup blends together into an RMC Hybrid Pro “B” preamp, though separate outputs allow for using one or the other. Three switches also control the pickups: one for toggling single coil/hum canceling, one for bland piezo/magnetic pickups, and one that acts as a mute.

For more, check out the Zakrzewski website.

Zakrzewski Exclusive Bass Photo Gallery:

Zakrzewski Exclusive Bass Specs:

  • Construction: Bolt-on
  • Scale: 34?
  • Body: Mahogany
  • Top: Curly Maple
  • Neck: 3-piece Mahogany/Flame Maple
  • Headstock: Curly Maple
  • Fingerboard: Ebony
  • Pickups: Merlin Hum Canceling Single Coils; RMC Piezo
  • Controls: Magnetic Volume, Piezo Volume, Magnetic Tone, Piezo Tone
  • Preamp: RMC Hybrid Pro “B”
  • Switches:
    • 1: Single Coil / hum canceling
    • 2: Bland piezo / magnetic
    • 3: Instrument Mute
  • Bridge: Zakrzewski Basses Design
  • Tuners: Gotoh

Get Bass of the Week in your inbox.

Don’t miss a Bass of the Week. Sign up for email alerts (every Monday).

Leave a Reply to Ermann Bassman Cancel reply

  1. amazing! my compliments!

  2. why haven’t I heard of these basses before? they are gorgeus! I haven’t seen them on the Musikmesse, I know, because if I would have, I would remember them. maybe I’m getting one of these or a Ritter as my next bass :)

  3. thank you :) visit our website and facebook page for more info.

  4. the price of Zakrzewski Basses 5/6 strings in italy.