Bass of the Week: R.Hyde Guitars Soul Machine
This week we check out the R.Hyde Guitars Soul Machine, an instrument Ryan Hyde calls a blend of traditional and modern values. Hyde honed his skills in Ken Smith’s shop before starting his own in Philadelphia.
“The Soul Machine is meant to be a work horse instrument of the highest caliber,” he states. “It exudes the classic vibe of yesteryear, but plays and sounds like the hand-made, over-engineered, rock solid work of art that it really is.”
Hyde builds each Soul Machine to order with options including 4, 5, or 6 strings, bolt-on or set-neck construction, and an array of woods to choose from. The model that caught our eye features a stunning walnut body with full binding. This particular bass is a bolt-on and has a 6-bolt ultra contoured neck joint. Its neck, which is also bound, is a three piece laminate with a layer of wenge sandwiched between two layers of padauk.
This Soul Machine is fitted with a pair of Nordstrand Neo humbuckers and a 3-band Nordstrand preamp. It has volume, blend, treble, mid and bass knobs as well as a switch to toggle the pickups between serial, humbucking and single coil operation. The volume knob doubles with a push/pull function to switch the preamp on or off. Hardware includes Hipshot Ultralite tuners and a Hipshot B-style bridge.
For more, check out the R.Hyde Guitars website.
R.Hyde Guitars’ Soul Machine Bass Photos:
R.Hyde Guitars’ Soul Machine Bass Specs:
| Construction: | Bolt-on |
| Scale: | 34″ |
| Body: | 2-piece Walnut |
| Neck: | Padauk/Wenge/Padauk |
| Nut: | Bone |
| Pickups: | Nordstrand Neodymium Humbuckers |
| Electronics: | 3-band Nordstrand Preamp |
| Tuners: | Hipshot Ultralite |
| Bridge: | Hipshot B-Style |
| Finish: | High Gloss Lacquer |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
I want one!
For the curious re: weight & fretless, Mr Hyde tells me:
Hello Wayne!
The weight can vary a bit depending on the woods used…I just weighed a Walnut body 4 string and it came in at 7.5 LB’s.
Since Walnut is one of the heaviest woods I use, that’s about as heavy as they get.
I can certainly make a fretless version with whatever fret markings you might want!
Thanks for the inquiry, let me know if you have any more questions :)
Ryan
I’ve seen it and played it. Its an amazing instrument.
Looks like the neck is really Padauk/Wenge/Padauk not Wenge/Padauk/Wenge. Very nice.
You’re right. Fixed in the specs. Thanks.
That bass is beautiful to me. Where can I go try one?