There are many good reasons why we do things the way we do - the philosophy page goes into greater detail on some things. 

Quickie Answers ~ we thank you SO much for your interest!

20 Questions

1. How long is the build time?
It fluctuates; we're a small group of real people in a workshop - no factory here! Generally for 2008 our goals are to get standard Cortobasses built in 90 days, Sadhanas in 120, Fusions around there too. All others, customized orders, multi-wood masterpieces etc. be ready to wait 6 to 9 months. I've stopped taking orders on the 5-strings until we catch up on those. And a Birdsong client in return for the personal touch we give gladly should be ready to give us a little extra time if we need it. We're still at the mercy of parts suppliers (most of our parts are special order), weather (if we have a muggy week, I won't do any finishing or gluing up, etc.), getting slowed down by complex builds, and the fact that we work hard for you with 110% devotion to what we do... but there's only so much that is going to get done in a day, and there's a flow we stay with.  Understand this and everybody's happy and the basses stay great! :) Feel free to contact us to see how your build is coming, you're never a bother. 

2. Are Birdsongs in stores?
No, we deal directly with you to ensure the instrument gets to you the way it's supposed to and to personally make sure you're satisfied. Read the reviews about our instruments and check out our 7-day approval... trying it out in your own environment is the only true test anyways. We understand your concern about buying something you've never played and we realize our instruments are a bit different. But we live in the computer age, which is cool - I mean, how else are we going to be able to find you to build one for you? So we offer you seven days in your own playing environments with your new guitar or bass. It's like setting you up with a friend... you hope it works out, but if it doesn't, you send it back in the same condition you got it (i.e. as new) and we'll refund your purchase price less our shipping costs, and you pay insured shipping back . So there's really little risk (you're risking about a hundred bucks total) and you get a chance to get used to your new friend before you make the big commitment. It's really that simple. And unlike most, we honor this even though these are built with custom touches. 

3. Can I get an endorsement?
If that means free stuff, no. "No" squared if you don't even know what we do and sent out a generic Email... this is how we eat. Our stuff is considered by many to be worth more than they paid, so there's your "artist's discount." We know where & when to give, and sorry, but an email asking for free gear "because our manager says we should seek endorsement deals" etc. just ain't gonna happen. What this means to everybody else is that anyone you see playing a Birdsong is doing so by choice because they think it's great, having spent hard-earned dough for it, and this is the only way an "endorsement" means anything... and the only way small independent companies like ours survive. Playing one because you got it for free cheapens the integrity of our work, misleads the public, and makes you look like something of a whore. For you session guys, a "professional courtesy" is to pay what's required for a professional tool, just as you like to be paid what you're worth for a professional session. :)

4. Will you shorten the upper horn / do a different shape / build my design, etc.?
It has happened occasionally, but generally no. We're not a "Custom Shop" ~ the shapes you see are what we clothed the balance points & measurements of our original designs in once they felt great and balanced perfectly. Basses with LP or "Beatle" bodies (for example) don't balance unless those bodies weigh a ton. And have you ever actually played a Thunderbird? Did anyone at Gibson ever actually play a Thunderbird?! I mean, balance is paramount. Trust us & try a Birdsong the way it is. Having at this point sold quite a number of our little basses, I encourage you to read the feedback and seek others' opinions online then seriously consider whether you want to change anything... they really are complete designs.

Though the classics are great designs, but I began building my own instruments because I was tired of looking and sounding like everybody else and stock, off-the-rack guitars didn't fit or do it for me. Though brilliant, they are 50-year-old designs that have already been copied to death by everybody, their brother, and their weird second cousins from the edges of the piney woods. The Muse would slap me silly if I took my talents and vision and misused them that way. So with extremely rare exceptions (mostly past) we stick to original designs. 

Speaking of which, while we're here...

4 1/2. Is the difference between a Cortobass & a Sadhana mainly looks?
Yes. Same neck, pickups, wiring and hardware. Think of it like this - the Cortobass is a sweet running small block Challenger that handles like a Ferrari. The Sadhana is one that looks like the Ferrari too - it gets the more exotic materials & curves. But it's still a Birdsong, strong and simple. (And you'll never have to worry about synchronizing six dual-throat Webers.) 

5. Why play short scale - what is a "short scale"?
The "Scale Length" is the vibrating length of the string, nut to saddle. Guitars have traditionally been either 25-1/2" (Fender-style) or 24-3/4" (Gibson-style). Paul Reed Smith found a compromise at 25", and for the most part that is what you can buy. Electric basses are predominantly the 34" scale Fender design and copies. The scale length affects most noticeably the distance between the frets (thereby how long the neck protrudes away from you) and the tension of the strings. A shorter scale length means the frets are slightly closer together and the strings are under less tension (due to the corresponding shorter length of the instrument from the tuners to the bridge)... in other words, chords and runs you had to stretch for on a "normal" guitar or bass are a lot more comfortable to play and the strings feel softer and bend easier on a shorter scale instrument. And the reach to the 1st fret is noticeably less as well. You will be AMAZED at the difference this amount can make in comfort and playability! And we worked very smartly in regaining the tone & sustain of a full-scale... something lacking in many other short scales.

6. Will you put my favorite strings on it?
Your fave brand & gauge string may work great on your current instrument, but the .045 - .105 nickel roundwound strings we equip our basses with (or the D'Addario Chromes .050 - .105 flatwounds) are our choice for what works best on the bass we designed. Just trust us & try it our way - you're already springing for the bass, try it with the strings we know work. :) We currently use Curt Mangan roundwounds. You may think "But I love my DRs..." You love your DRs on your current bass, but this is a totally different instrument. Approach it "as is" and I doubt you'll be disappointed. We really did work at this.

7. Can I get one with a different pickup arrangement?
Same answer as above - basically, this is the design that works best. Putting a P-bass pickup in it won't make it into a P-bass. It's just one ingredient in a tonal soup, and redesigning an instrument is like playing with a Rubik's Cube. Trust us & try it the way it's been designed.

8. What about active electronics?
To my ears, the best tone a bass can have is a natural, woody tone with warmth and a pleasant "voice" to the midrange. It should have natural rich lows and clear highs, but nothing artificial or overly-boosted. This is the tone that naturally cuts through a mix and can be heard onstage. Any boosting and cutting or drastic tonal shaping should be done with your amplifier, not (to my ears) with circuit boards & batteries in your bass. So with all respect to the active electronics community, all Birdsongs leave the nest with simple, warm, natural sounding passive electronics.

9. Does anyone famous play them?
This seems to be a universal benchmark of legitimacy... it's not. I'm not sure. If they do, that's great. I can tell you that famous players often want stuff for free, which is bogus. I can further verify a whole lot of not famous players want stuff for free too, which is also bogus. I don't want anyone playing these just because they got it for free, I wouldn't ask anyone to play a month of gigs for free, and let's face it; this is how we eat. I'd rather build one for YOU, do what I love, and earn an honest living without playing games. We love the famous people who contact us just like we love the workin' folks who play in church on Sunday. They all get treated the same. There are many professionals out playing our instruments, spreading good vibrations through music; there are many artists creating with tools we helped create. That's all that means anything. Fame is relative. Again, anyone with a Birdsong has it because they loved it enough to buy it, and plays it because of its attributes as an instrument... not because they got it for free, and not because they're being paid to do so.

10. What is the wood's effect on tone?
Wood effects the tone as a seasoning affects a soup. It won't turn minestrone into split pea... it's a secondary influence. The fact that an instrument IS wood has a HUGE effect, but the meat and potatoes of an electric instrument come from its construction parameters (scale, neck mounting, etc.) and its pickups (type & location). To give you an example, let's take a plywood $99 plywood Squier P-bass and a $2500 custom shop P-bass. They do not sound all that drastically different. Different as in richer lows, clearer highs, warmer mids? Yeah, a bit. Sure. Different as in one sounds like a P-bass and the other one doesn't? Absolutely not. In many cases, the degree of difference is negated the minute we plug two different players into two different amps, or even move your amp into another room. A ton of it is in your hands & style, your sound, and your environment.
So we're talking seasoning here; a Birdsong sounds like a Birdsong whatever wood we build it out of. They ALL have nice lows, sustain, warmth, and clarity. That said, we can fine tune it to your sonic needs.

Which sounds best is totally subjective, but to me the basic Mahogany Cortobass has a very slight edge on the rest. A nice little nudge in the mids that these pickups REALLY respond to. But remember, these are subtle differences. The basic tonality of all the Cortobasses is very similar. They're really good, warm sounding basses, DEFINITELY unlike any short scale you've ever heard!  

11. Can I get a tremolo?
Sorry - it won't fit and will negate much of what makes a Birdsong feel & sound better than many other short scales.

12. Why don't you start a message board / guestbook?
We've got our hands full building basses and guitars for folks who get what we're doing; they're now played in 5 other countries and all over the states, many professionally. While we're completely honored and grateful for the interest & support, we simply don't have time to police a public forum of our own OR to debate / correct / participate on a public board. Sorry :) In fact, it's our policy not to get involved in online forum talks about us. We prefer you come to us for information and consult the reviews out there for informed opinions.

13. Why only natural finishes?
'Cause we like it that way. :) Hand rubbed in several coats, our oil blend seals the wood while leaving it looking & feeling like WOOD, not plastic. We love the natural beauty of the woods the way they are. An oil finish, to our eyes, ears & hands is a far superior finish for a MUSICAL instrument. An oil finish will wear and will not stand for abuse such as studded wristbands, spilled beer, or being carelessly leaned against amp corners. They make instruments for folks like you with thick clearcoats, you know :) And as it wears over time, it wears in like a good pair of jeans... go find a picture of Victor Wooten's 1st Fodera or Stanley Clarke's old Alembic; those are well-loved basses. If I have to explain it... 


And we love wood's natural character and work to include it whenever possible... if you want a clearer, character-free piece of wood, let us know ahead of time and we'll do our best. And if you like wilder, we can handle it. But I'm afraid if you want one in metalflake purple or with a mural of a busty mermaid with a forked tongue crawling out of a skull next to a shipwreck, you'll have to make your own arrangements there, bub.

14. Can I get a tour of the shop?
Give us a call if you'll be coming through town, we'd love to meet you! We'll see what we can arrange. :)

15. What is a varitone?
It is a series of tone filters designed to change the tone of the bass with each setting of the switch. There are five settings and one bypass setting which allows the stock, unaltered tone of the pickups to pass through. 

It's not a circuit designed to emulate the tones of other basses, it's not a pickup selector... it replaces a standard useless muddy tone control with five variations on the voice of whatever pickup or blend you select. No batteries required! (Note: at no cost, I'll substitute a standard tone knob if you'd like, voiced so it's woody sounding & very useable.) 

16. Can I get a master vol. / blend instead of two volume controls?
I found better "all the way up" tones by optimizing each pickup's signal path. To shove them both through one value of potentiometer compromises that. Tone being higher on my list as designer than convenience, two pickup Birdsongs have two volume controls. 

17. Will you sell me one of your necks? Can I get a fretless neck fitted to my Birdsong?
Sorry, we really don't want Birdsong necks floating around without the rest of a Birdsong bass attached to them. They wouldn't even come close to fitting anything else (even the heel is in a different spot); you'd have to design a bass around it. And we already did that. As for a retrofit (fretted to fretless or vice-versa), we do them - ship your bass to us paid both ways and it'll leave here like it was born that way. We keep the old neck, though. Cost is $360 USD

16. Do you offer custom inlays / lines in the fretboard?
Most Birdsongs come with side dots that are bigger than average, and no dots on the fretboard. It gives a nice clean look and you can't see them when you're standing up playing anyways. We do offer the option of pearl face dots, though. Our fretlesses (fretli?) are unlined and we don't currently offer lines. Custom pearl wildness has happened (we have sources for such work) but we generally don't because of the time, expense, and possibility of complications. Just chalk it up to the fact that we build simple, organic instruments, and we stick to what we do best.

19. What amplifiers do you recommend? 
My favorite individual amp (brace yourself) is an old Peavey TKO 115 combo. It took years to blow up the original Black Widow speaker, and basically its just all the stage power I've ever needed with a graphic EQ in a box small enough to manage and big enough to sound good. It's a basic amp with no tonal personality, and I like it best flat with a Cortobass. The theory there is that if it sounds good flat through such a humble amplifier, it's a good sounding bass! For bigger & better, find an old GK 400RB and a 1x15 cab. Sorry, this is what you get when you ask a guy who drives a '74 Dodge about amplifiers. I want it simple & indestructible with good basic tone... I'll take care of the rest.

20. How should I care for my Birdsong?
Play the heck out of it 'til it looks like Stanley Clarke's Alembic or Victor Wooten's old Fodera. It's not laminated in plastic; it will age, it will scar. You both can do this together in your relationship and fill the air with music whenever possible as you journey onwards together. Otherwise, check the Online Owners Manual. It's a beautiful instrument, but it's a tool first and if I ever see it back here I want it looking well used and respected like the handle of Grandpa's hammer.

BONUS - OK, I'm in - how do I order?
In all cases, make contact with us at 512.847.6014 or via Email at first. Instruments in inventory are paid for, then shipped. We are PayPal verified and also accept money orders or a personal check, though that delays delivery until it clears. Anything else is a custom order and we need 50% down to start and the balance before delivery. You'll find us really cool to deal with and we'll make the whole thing as easy as possible. All checks should be made out to Birdsong Guitars and all Texas orders add 8.25% sales tax.

The big question: Are you for real?
In other words, is this really just some division of some huge monolithic guitar manufacturing empire, 
you know, like a whole microbrewery facade really run by guys in suits and ties with calculators? 


So real it hurts: Sawdust Boy & Cortobass - tools of the Creator!

 The Birdsong Hand Built Guitar Co.
PO Box 1745 Wimberley, TX 78676
512.847.6014
contact us