Bass of the Week: Convolution Bass

Convolution Bass

When longtime friends Edwin Paanakker and Frans Haarmeijer decided to join forces to build basses, they knew they wanted to make something different. Enter the Convolution Bass: a lightweight, handmade bass that shares mechanical properties of an upright bass.

Built with a red cedar body topped by Zebrano wood, the fretless bass has a gorgeous ebony bridge with piezos in it. The fingerboard is also ebony, mimicking that of an upright, and has offset luminous, blue inlays for position markers. In keeping the design lightweight yet balanced, it has a lightweight carbon fiber reinforced neck and lightweight Schaller tuners.

Check out this demo video of Paanakker playing the bass (Haarmeijer is on drums):

For more info, check out the Convolution Instruments Facebook page.

Convolution Bass Photo Gallery:

Convolution Bass Specs:

  • Scale: 35?
  • Body: Red Cedar
  • Top: Zebrano
  • Neck: Carbon Fiber
  • Fingerboard: Ebony
  • Inlays: Luminous, Blue
  • Headstock: Rosewood
  • Bridge: Ebony
  • Tuners: Schaller Lightweight
  • Pickups: Piezo

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Leave a Reply to Edwin Paanakker Cancel reply

  1. Thanks for making this bass “Bass of the week” guys! Much appreciated!

  2. Very smooth… Price?

  3. Interesting concept. I’m surprised it hasn’t been done before.

    • Fabrice Gouji a french luthier made the same thing 10 years ago.

    • That can’t be. Maybe such an instrument, but you need extra hardware with software to get the sound. Back then it didn’t exist.

    • Maybe I was wrong by saying “the same thing” , I should have sayed a similar instrument. Here you used the same type of pickups that guitar players use to make an electric sound like an acoustic right ? In the gougi I think the pickups are inside the wood. Anyway the instruments you make are great ;).

    • There are many luthiers who use piezos nowadays. The very old acoustic guitars of Ovation had them too. They were one the first to start with it. Also hybrid systems using piezos and regular pickups you see more often nowadays.
      But nobody thought about doing with it what we do now. And that’s the new thing about it.

  4. I cannot wait to play a Convolution!

  5. GIMME…A left handed version ;-).

  6. amazing sound, how do I get one?

  7. I think someone said this already… but the E string does sound pretty dead. Is there any reason for this?

  8. God, that is gorgeous, I like it with the spalted maple. Just need a price.

  9. Here another demo of it. Recorded with the microphone of the camera. Still the instruments character comes through.
    This is a teaser for more better recorded songs with the bass.
    http://youtu.be/3tQCiefUXzA