Bass of the Week: New York Bass Works Cremona 5
This week we check out a custom Cremona 5 by New York Bass Works. Built by luthier David Segal for bassist Sean Joynes, the instrument is based around a rare wood from central Africa called Moabi. Joynes gave us the scoop:
“This new Cremona 5 bass is made of Red Alder with a Moabi Pommele (African Pearwood) top,” he wrote. “The fingerboard is birdseye maple along with a 3 piece graphite reinforced maple neck.” The 35.5-inch scall bass also has a nut made of lignum vitae, a hard wood that is naturally oily and wear resistant.
Besides incredible exotic woods, the Cremona 5 also has an interesting set of pickups. “The pickups installed are the renowned out-of-production Bartolini 9w5,” Joynes said. “This particular set was re-casted in NYBW soapbars originally for Richard Bona’s Cremona 5. Even though Richard loved the sound (he went on 2-3 tours with it), he felt it would be best to switch to a pickup with a higher output. Dave swapped Richard’s 9w’s with his custom NYBW pickups; thus, making the out-of-production 9W5’s available for this bass.”
New York Bass Works Cremona 5 Bass Photos:
New York Bass Works Cremona 5 Bass Specs:
Construction: | Bolt-on |
Strings: | 5 |
Scale: | 35.5 |
Body: | Red Alder |
Top, and headstock face: | Moabi Pommele ( African Pearwood) |
Neck: | 3 piece Maple graphite reinforced |
Fingerboard: | Birdseye Maple |
Fret Size: | Medium |
Truss rod cover: | Ebony |
Nut: | Lignum Vitae |
Scale Length: | 35.5″ |
Pickups: | Bartolini 9W5 set re-casted in NYBW soapbars |
Preamp: | Aguilar OBP-3 |
Finish: | Gloss Polyester |
Bridge: | Hipshot A |
Tuners: | Gotoh |
Knobs: | Red Alder/Moabi |
Frets: | 24 |
Beautiful bass. http://newyorkbassworks.com/cremona.htm
Thanks Kevin for the write-up. The sound is just as amazing as the looks.
Thanks Kevin for posting pics of a beautiful bass, proudly owned by a friend, Sean Joynes; and expertly built by a dear friend as well, David Segal!!
^^ Not sure where that image came from, LOL!!
^^lol
Did you like this bass, mark beretta?
Does anyone know if NYBW does short scale stuff? This baby is 35.5″ scale, but I’m more at the 32″ and lower end of things.
Hello Ruben,
I can and will build a custom bass for you in any scale length from 30″ on up in 1/2″ increments. I hope you liked Sean’s bass . I was just made aware of this article . Nice
work by No Treble .
Best always,
David Segal
http://www.newyorkbassworks.com
Hi David,
Do you check the provenance of the Moabi used on your basses?
Hello Terence,
Very good question , thank you for asking, however, I did not check provenance with this Moabi . I purchased it from a very well respected and reliable Hardwood supplier as a 24″ x 16″ x 1″ board, as requested by Sean, and re-sawed it to yield three one piece tops. I’m very confident in it’s stated origin from the seller if that is the reason for your inquiry .
Best always,
David
Thanks for replying David :-) I was asking because I hadn’t actually heard of this type of wood before. I googled the name and found out that although the tree itself is not endangered (just vulnerable), that there is a lot of other bad stuff happening in the part of Africa where this tree grows… deforestation, habitat loss, the native tribes being mistreated by land owners, etc… Of course I realize that none of this is caused by buying one piece of wood but it did make me think quite a bit and curious to ask the question. Thanks again for your reassurance and thanks for building such a beautiful instrument.