Bebop Classic philosophy

While the standard Bebop was designed as a modern bass, versatile, comfortable, reliable, in short as a musician’s work horse, our Bebop Classic was designed for the purist who seeks that authentic vintage tone. In my mind, this bass was to be the best vintage Jazz bass available, other than a real vintage Jazz bass. 

Some of the differences between Classic Bebop and standard Bebop are: a steel bridge (as opposed to brass), heavy steel tuners (as opposed to light weight aluminum tuners), no carbon rods inside the neck, thin veneer fingerboard (as opposed to 6mm thick slab board), thin nitro finish, carefully selected pots and tone cap, the most vintage sounding pickups, light body wood, and of course more vintage correct looks (without sacrificing the flowing De Gier curves).

Each of these ingredients has their influence on the sound. You can read more details at the hot-spots section of our overview page. 

The standard look for these basses is a mildly aged finish, with light wear on the paint and hardware, and oil finish for the back of the neck. These things help with overal vintage vibe of the Classic series. I have a holistic view of bass building. Looks, sound, feel, vibe, handling, all these things matter and should merge into a total concept that feels like these are one. 

One of things I am really excited about is the compound radius veneer fingerboard. The veneer board is the thinnest of fingerboards, which allows for a bit more maple in the neck than a ‘normal’ fingerboard would give. This makes a veneer board sit nicely in between an all maple neck and a maple/rosewood neck. Something that was unique to vintage basses. We took it to the next level however. Our veneer board has a compound radius. This allows for both vintage character and tone, as well as modern adjustability and setup. 

The best thing to do however, is to try it out for yourself.  

-Sander de Gier