SOULMATE
BRING YOUR SOUL ALIVE
EACH NOTE YOU PLAY
After comparing many old basses from the 50’s and 60’s, and together with the input from
many players, an idea began to form in my mind of what Soulmate should be. For that vintage
vibe, a wide neck was essential. The wide neck fights back, but at the same time it lends a
helping hand so you can focus on groove, timing, phrasing, and coloring.
And to me, this is the soul of bass playing.
-Sander de Gier
A SALUTE TO THE ORIGINAL…
…BUT ALSO A 21ST CENTURY BASS
NECK STABILITY
Nobody likes a neck that’s constantly on the move. I implement a steel dual action trussrod and carbon fibre reinforcements into each neck. This creates stability and allows for comfortable neck adjustments, as well as easy future servicing. This neck is designed to last.
LIGHTWEIGHT TUNERS ON A THICKER HEADSTOCK
Lightweight tuners help to eliminate the neckdive caused by heavy tuners. However, the mass of heavy tuners does add to tone, but a thicker headstock does the same thing. So on Soulmate you have both goodies: light weight, balanced, and enhanced tone.
FRETSLOTS
I use a fairly unique method for creating fretslots. You can learn more in this video. In short: I found a way to make use of the inner strenght of the wood instead of cutting it away. That enhances stability, it also prevents fretends from sticking out over time. It’s also quite elegant.
SMALL FRETS
Many vintage basses have small frets. They play so easy, it’s almost as if you play better. But if they wear down, you can’t level them anymore, you need a refret. On Soulmate I use small vintage frets, but made from a harder nickel silver alloy. They last.
FINGERBOARD RADIUS
Soulmate features a compound fingerboard radius of 6.5” to 8”. This stays close to the 7.25” of vintage basses. The advantage of a compound radius is that it allows for a lower setup than a constant radius. But if you don’t like low action, I can always set it up any way you like.
NOISE
The pickup is a splitcoil and therefore humcancelling. The control cavity is shielded with thick copperfoil, the pickuppoles get grounded and the whole pickguard is grounded to eliminate electrostatic noise. It is quiet.
CONTROLS
There is passive Volume and Tone. I feel that the Fatboost would be a mismatch with the soul of the instrument.
FIND YOUR SOULMATE
CONFIGURE ONLINE
Configure the Soulmate of your dreams! Choose woods, colours, pickups and a lot more in our Soulmate order form. After submitting this form, you will receive an email with a confirmation and payment details within 24 hours (workdays).
SEE OUR STOCKLIST
We always have some instruments in stock that were not ordered. We do this to serve our customers who first want to try out a few guitars or basses before they decide. Of course these are for sale too.
CONTACT US
Let us help you make the right choices. Feel free to contact us and we will be happy to discuss the possibilities with you. Of course you are also more than welcome to visit our shop.