Bass of the Week: Igor Krsticevic KIXX Bass

I love finding new instruments and builders I’ve never heard of before, and our bass of the week is a great gem from Croatia. Luthier Igor Krsticevic shared his latest bass with us, which he built for a friend after they commiserated about playing long gigs as they get older. The builder decided to help his friend out, though he doesn’t sell his instruments. Creating musical instruments is a passion and catharsis for Krsticevic, who has been through a lot in his life.

“[He] knows that I make guitars, but also that I never sold my guitars, I make [them] for myself [or] for family,” he explains. “I give them to friends for gigs, studio recordings, or stage backup or for no deadline usage. Building guitars kept me sane during that ’90-’95 nonsense war (6 and half years in combat units) and for all those years of police work… experiences and pictures that normal people must believe only exist in Tarantino or Denis Villeneuve moves.”

His friend made a list of wants: lightweight, full, fat bass tone with lots of sustain, a single volume knob, and inspiration from the Tele bass. “Easiest of all he wanted a totally unique guitar [that’s] one of kind,’ Krsticevic adds. “So I did the body design, neck design, ergonomics, top finish, 3-layer binding on body cavity and 2-layer binding on the top plate, same as bleaching and wood toning.”

The result is an astounding and elegant instrument. Krsticevic opted for a samba wood body with a mahogany tone block topped with a bleached pear veneer, which has a subtle figuring reminiscent of a silk sheet. Its top is not glued to the body but instead screwed down with two screws near the neck and eight bridge screws. The top acts as a giant pickup cover, hiding a pair of hand-made single coils with neodymium cores. (See the in-progress photos below.)

True to the demands, there is only one volume control; the second is a rotary switch for pickup selection. Other features include a bleached Bosnian maple neck, a rosewood fingerboard with nitrocellulose Mother-of-Pearl inlays, and copper shielding throughout the entire body cavity. The only parts Krsticevic didn’t make himself are the bridge and tuners, which are built by the Chinese manufacturer Guyker.

Check out how the bass sounds in this quick demo clip showcasing the pickup settings then comparing it to other basses:

Bravo to Igor Krsticevic for making this fine piece for his friend and for his love of the craft!

Igor Krsticevic KIXX Bass Specs: