Bass of the Week: Bird on a Wire #38 “Sil Nora”
Luthier Tom Molstad of Bird on a Wire Stringed Instruments recently posted photos of his first-ever bass build, and by the looks of it, he’s off to a great start. “Sil Nora” is a six-string, multi-scale bass with a rich combination of colors thanks to its mahogany neck, rosewood top, and ebony fingerboard.
Molstad used Gold Mother of Pearl for the fret markers with a sweet bass clef inlay at the 12th fret. For electronics, he fit the Sil Nora with a pair of Nordstrand Zen Blade 6 pickups separated by a finger ramp. Each pickup has a three-way switch to toggle between parallel, single coil, and series operation. Its four knobs are Volume (with push/pull for active/passive), Blend, Bass, and Treble.
Hardware includes a Babicz FCH-1 bridge and Schaller M4-90 tuners.
Bird on a Wire Stringed Instruments #38 “Sil Nora” Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 850mm-825mm (32.5″ to 33.5″) |
| Construction: | Bolt-on |
| Body: | Mahogany |
| Top: | Rosewood |
| Neck: | Mahogany |
| Nut: | Bone |
| Fingerboard: | Ebony |
| Fingerboard Radius: | 20″ |
| Inlay: | Gold Mother of Pearl |
| Pickups: | Nordstrand Zen Blade 6 |
| Bridge: | Babicz FCH-1 |
| Tuners: | Schaller M4-90 |
| Finish: | Velvet Oil |
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.
