Soulmate 51 philosophy
“While the design seems minimalistic, the Soulmate 51 is remarkably versatile. It's a bass I find hard to put down.”
There isn’t a lot that you can’t do with this bass. It sounds cool with flats and rounds. It can do rock, soul, pop, jazz, and just about anything in between. Soulmate 51 is a ‘get it right the first time’ bass. And although we stay close to the original, we did find ways to improve it.
Much has to do with the neck. I had a real 52 in my shop for a while, that had a very nice neck. It was chunky, and not a little bit. But still it didn’t feel that way. I discovered that it had to do with the string spacing in the nut. That was closer to a Jazz than a P bass. We took note of that in designing our own neck. The back contour was patterned after the 52, but we made it thinner at the first fret. These two things combined give a beefy neck, that plays remarkably easy.
Ash, maple and a single coil, it’s a glorious combination. It’s also a recipe for hum. We have a solution, our in-house custom wound dummy coil, that allows a true single coil tone to shine through, without noise.
The neck is a one piece maple neck. There’s something cool about those one piece necks. It’s one of those things that adds to the overall vibe of the instrument.
Another cool feature are the phenolic bakelite saddles, like the original. Ours are angled however, to provide more precise intonation.
While the design seems minimalistic, the Soulmate 51 is remarkably versatile. It’s a bass I find hard to put down.
-Sander de Gier
