Bass of the Week: Aron Bach’s Stunning Austrian Curly Maple DCH34-6
Luthier Aron Bach has created some jaw-dropping instruments through the years, and they just keep getting better. His latest creation is the DCH34-6, a six-string double-cutaway with a hollow body.
Bach is based in the U.S., but honed his craft in Europe, including Finland, Austria, and Germany. The DCH34-6 reflects his travels by featuring stunning pieces of 5A Austrian curly maple. Beyond the hypnotizing top, he used it for the quartersawn three-piece body and quartersawn 9-ply neck, which is sandwiched with Birdseye maple. It’s finished in Lynx Grey, which complements the Ziricote fingerboard.
Bach fit the bass with a pair of Nordstrand Neo Blades underneath a custom matching Austrian curly maple ramp. The pickups feed into a powerful 3-band Richter preamp for plenty of tonal control and versatility. Other features include Gotoh hardware and Tahitian Black Mother of Pearl inlays, as well as Bach’s signature Chrysanthemum headstock logo. That detail alone took about four hours of engraving.
“The image of the Chrysanthemum flower in its flowing complexity has always inspired me. For this reason, I chose it as my logo,” he told us in 2022. “After having been personally instructed in pearl engraving by William ‘Grit’ Laskin, I use the logo on every instrument as an opportunity to keep these engraving skills alive.”
No Treble got to stop by Bach’s shop to test out the bass, and it plays as amazing as it looks. The DCH34-6 has 19mm string spacing and a slim “C” neck shape, and the combination of a wider fingerboard and a thinner neck lets you fly across frets. It also has an incredibly low action. Bach routed the bridge into the body, then gave both the rampbucker and fingerboard a 20-inch radius for the perfect clearance. Such a low action doesn’t lend itself to slapping, but it’s perfect for four-finger-style plucking and strumming.
Even with a low action, the bass speaks clearly. Every note has an immediacy, making for a very responsive instrument. The flexible Richter preamp gives a range of sounds, but whether we set it to dubby bass or crystalline highs, the bass always has a singing quality.
Hear the DCH34-6 in action with this demo clip by Mikel Combs:
Aron Bach’s DCH34-6 is available for order. Visit Bach’s Instagram or email him at [email protected] for more information.
Aron Bach DCH34-6 Photos:
Aron Bach DCH34-6 Specs:
| Serial Number: | 2601 |
| Body Type: | Double Cut / Hollow body |
| Top: | Quartersawn 5A Austrian Curly Maple |
| Body: | Quartersawn 3 piece 5A Austrian Curly Maple With Neck Tapered Toneblock |
| Neck Wood: | Quartersawn 9-ply Austrian Curly / Birdseye Maple |
| Neck Profile: | Slim C |
| Fingerboard: | Ziricote |
| Fingerboard Bindings: | Ziricote |
| Fingerboard Radius: | 20″ |
| Rampbucker Radius: | &20Prime; |
| Fret Markers: | Tahitian Black Mother of Pearl |
| Frets: | 24 |
| Frets To Body: | 19 |
| Fret Material: | EVO Gold |
| Pickup: | Nordstrand Neo Blades |
| Preamp: | Richter |
| Electronics Cover Plate: | Ziricote, Magnetically attached |
| Headplate: | Ziricote |
| Backstrap: | Ziticote |
| Bridge: | Gotoh |
| Tuners: | Gotoh |
| Tuner Finish: | Gloss Black |
| Headstock Inlay: | Logo in Tahitian Black Mother of Pearl |
| Instrument Finish: | Gloss Nitrocellulose |
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.
