Home
OLD NEWS ARCHIVE....
May 25, 2006
Site
updated! Check out new pics on the Mesquite
Guitars
page - they're starting to come together... as are the 2nd
Anniversary pair of wild Pecan Cortobasses.
The Shop Tour
is almost done, but I put it up anyway. Yard Sale
has a new
item, too.
Early Birdsong sighting confirmed - Guitar Player magazine
with Tom Petty on the cover, Leigh Stephens is on page 41.
I'm honored, but divert all my joy to Leigh getting props
in one of these mags ~ I mean the guy's a legend! So again,
CONGRATS to one of my biggest influences, original and
premier guitarist of Blue Cheer, and a good guy too, from
all of us at Birdsong Guitars!
In the CD player is FuManchu The Action Is Go.
Good God, I love this band.
Peace,
~Scott
May 23, 2006
Wow,
we've reached the point where the Latest Creations page
is now going to be a pictorial of ONE of our recent builds -
there's no way of documenting every one. I know I sound
like some gushy waif at the Academy Awards, but I really
do want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart, the
bottom of OUR hearts 'cause Jamie and Wyatt and Lyzz
give you their all doing what they do too... I'm just the
captain of this little ship, I don't keep it afloat.
LOVE keeps it afloat, people...
(background music starts)
DEVOTION keeps it sailin' on!
SURRENDER has set us free!!!
Ok, enough melodrama. I may be just a twig afloat in the
river, but I sure am grateful it's flowin'! Just wish there was
more of me to go around... so I'll get to that Latest Creations
page soon. But not now.
ALL POINTS
BULLETIN -
Anyone in the DC area looking
for a cool, early, custom color (black) Pedulla MVP to help
this soul get a Birdsong, check
it out! And if you're from
somewhere else and want it, I think if you can
somehow
prove you're not going to screw him over, he might
reconsider
his "pick up only" deal. Can't blame a guy for bein'
careful
these days. Just wanted to put the word out, help this
bass find a loving home & help a new member of the
Birdsong family pay for his new bass!
UPDATE
- Here's another bass he's selling to fund the
Birdsong. If it strikes your fancy, I bet you can pick this
funky fretless one up dirt cheap. Here's
the auction.
Also, rumor has it psych-rock heavy guitar legend Leigh
Stephens is in the latest Guitar Player mag with a guitar
I built for him back in '98. I haven't seen it yet, but props
to GP and of course a BIG thanks to Leigh for being a
"big bang" of wild electric guitarness to so many!
Peace,
~Scott
In the CD player:
T.O. Nelson
Tim Mungenast Birth of Monsters
May 16, 2006
The
Sadhana in inventory sold. Guess the word
is out these days! Jeff's review of his Purpleheart
& Mahogany Cortobass is up now - check
it out!
Lots of stuff to do here, best go get the woodchips
flyin' and the soldering iron warmed up...
Peace,
~Scott
In the CD player:
Willis Alan Ramsey
The Who Who's Next
May 15, 2006
Howdy
folks, Rex Trailer here... no wait, that's just
some TV flashback from childhood. I'm Scott.
Keep checking Harmony Central, I got a heads
up that the new owner of a particular purpleheart
piece proudly professed profound pleasure...
There's a great, fresh Sadhana in inventory,
and
as always some interesting instruments coming
together. More pics 'n stuff to come, but it's
time for ol' Sawdust-In-The-Beard-Boy to
pack his happy ass into Joe the truck and
go search out some grub. Laters to me!
Peace,
~Scott
In the CD player:
Corey Osborn
Miles Davis ESP
Rage Against The Machine
May 7,
2006
BAGS O'NEWS!
Greetings
& happy Spring. It's hot here, no surprise -
it is Texas - but we just got some much needed rain
and some great lightning storms. Fun!
Another SADHANA review
from Harmony-Central;
Number two, the ad & photo bass, has gone to live
with Ben and his wonderful family of basses - including
a Carl Thompson, two Clarke Spellbinders, a Warwick,
an Alembic, two Spectors and a Jazz Bass. Cool!!
Read more comments from him on our feedback
page!
And a great new CortoClassic review
too!
Thank you so much for the encouraging words!!!
A review for the Sadhana also showed up here.
In shop news, here are some beauties we've been
working on. Check out the photos to the left.
I'm too busy at the moment to write more so for
now here's a photo from last year of Cheesehenge.
Bon Apetit!
~Scott
In the CD
player recently (we've been busy!):
Soundtrack to Singles
A wonderful recording of Hank Jr. drunk onstage
Beck Mutations
John Coltrane Newport '63
Kalinka Somewhere My Love: Russian Gems
The Groundhogs Scratching the Surface
Rage Against
The Machine's
1st CD
Bruce Springsteen Born To Run
Tranquility
Rory Gallagher Live In Europe
Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin Love Devotion Surrender
April 10,
2006
All kinds
of cool stuff happening 'round here! Just were
reminded about this
great review of a Cortobass on
BGRA.net. Dustin in North Dakota got his Sadhana
and gave us a review
on Harmony-Central. Cool!
Site tweaks include the featured build pages
(here's featured build #1)
showing some of the wilder instruments to come
out of our workshop. The series of these pages
will be linked from the home page and also from
the gallery as I update it. Coming up is #2 on
the "rainbow" Cortobass from last year.
Other site tweaks are in the works, as is a new
bass model. It'll be svelte, fretless, and very cool,
we promise. More to come as it comes together.
Currently taking their spring vacation here in
lovely Wimberley is Millard & family, some of
you know him as the owner of the first Cortobass
from way back in '04. We love it when clients
come to tour the shop and visit the Hill Country.
If you'd like to come pick up your new bass or
come pick out woods or what have you, we have
great connections for cabins by the river and the
best Mexican food you ever put in your faccia.
And we love that this is more to everyone than just
"sell a bass"... we build tools of creation, we pour
ourselves into each one, and getting to know whose
lives these little gems are touching is one of the best
parts. Know you all touch us as well. We're having
lots of fun! Hope you are too...
In The CD Player:
John Coltrane The Heavyweight Champion, disc four
Terry Riley/The Kronos Quartet Cadenza On The Night Plain
Bada Haridas Om Purnam
Afro Celt Sound System Vol. 1 Sound Magic
Hi Dad,
can't wait to come check out your new digs! ~J
Peace,
~Scott
March 27,
2006
Well hi! Astute scourers of the site may notice a change
in the Cortobass lineup. The CortoCustom, where we
put a Cortobass neck & electronics onto a custom body,
isn't advertised anymore. We've reached a point where
custom one-offs are difficult to fit in time-wise. We'll
build wild & unique Cortobasses and Sadhanas,
tailored to your visual & playing tastes & needs,
but the one-offs at this point will be prototypes
of upcoming models, R&D work, and the
occasional oddball we design and build
for sale on the inventory page.
One custom we have done recently is the
Greendog, now up on our Latest Creations page.
It was a special build for a cool cat in Michigan with
some hand muscle problems. A handle, big knob,
and our little Cortobass neck means nothing has to
be "gripped" to play or carry this instrument.
"I
used to think I was a crappy bass player -
I just had the wrong basses all these years!
It's
like my crippled up old hands have healed
themselves. I have been transformed BACK in
time about 30 friggin years! I can actually
run scales with all 4 fingers on all 4
strings clear to the first fret."
Is that cool or what? And there's also a rare bird
now in assembly - a custom Birdsong guitar.
Check the pic to the left... this one is how we
know our time limitations! What a beauty though.
OH YEAH - lest I forget, we're now offering a
F-R-E-T-L-E-S-S
option on Cortobasses & Sadhanas! Imagine a
big, thick slab of smooth Ebony on our great
Cortobass neck, and that warm short scale
voice. This is going to be fun! Check the
Cortobass & Sadhana
pages for details
Peace,
~Scott
In the CD player:
Jeff Beck (Not sure of the title - the recent "techno" one.
Great!)
William Shatner The Transformed Man (Yeah, for real!)
March 20,
2006
Hi all!
It totally amazes me that what we're doing here,
this little bass that could, this little dream company that is,
this way we are trying to manifest our devotion to giving
something to the world and putting some good into the
universe... there you are reading this, and into it!
I'm so humbled, and I know I speak for all of us when
I say thanks and mean it from my core. All of you - who
now play out with our little basses, sharing the good vibrations
with the people... those waiting for your instruments to be built
and sent to you... and those just stopping in for a look-see.
All of you, Birdsong or not, grab an instrument and PLAY,
paint the air with music, with all your colors and voices, all
of your tones and tunes. That's what it's all about... and we
are so grateful to be sharing OUR song - these instruments -
with you. I think of you all every day and smile. Peace, ~S
In the CD player:
Soundgarden Down On The Upside
Big Star No. 1 Record & Radio City
March 15,
2006
A wild
bunch in assembly right now! This is when we
go piranha on each one, taking the box of parts that
corresponds to your name & order # from the parts
room into the assembly room. Jamie fits the tuners,
I copper line the cavity & bop in the string ferrules.
I fit the bridge, Jamie fits the pickups. Then we fit
one of Wyatt's little masterpiece control plates, the
nut, cover(s), and the strap buttons! Then it hits the
wiring bench for the star grounding & final wiring,
and gets strung up & adjusted. Things happen pretty
quickly once they get here. Seems it's inching up in
the time it takes them TO get here... but that's just
proof the word is getting out and folks are realizing
we're for real and our little basses are as good as
everyone who knows says they are!
Cortobass Standard - Swamp Ash & gold
CortoClassic - Poplar & chrome
Sadhana #4 - Blackwashed Mahogany & black
Sadhana #5 - Solid Zebrawood & gold
Cortobass Standard - Mahogany & chrome
Sadhana #3 - Walnut / Purpleheart & black
Not shown: CortoCustom in Poplar for Greendog!
Not shown: Custom guitar in blackwashed Mahogany
(pics of those are coming)
The next batch is shaping up in the woodshop!
Working with Mesquite, Cherry, Swamp Ash, Mahogany, Purpleheart...
We're having FUUUUUN!
BTW, check out the latest review on Harmony-Central:
Sadhana_Bass-1.html
"Scott
and Jamie from Birdsong are by FAR the best people in the
world I have ever dealt with in regard to ANY product!"
Think we made him happy? What does one even
SAY to a comment like that except THANKS!!!
We're honored to have been of service. :)
Back to the woodshop!
In the CD player -
Steely Dan Countdown To Ecstasy
Pink Floyd Delicate Sound Of Thunder
Miles Davis Bitches Brew
Peace, love & music to all of you
~Scott
March 3, 2006
Namaste,
world! Greetings from the Birdsong nest.
We just finished a really cool Maple Cortobass; it
sounds fantastic and looks even better...
Check it out in INVENTORY...
In the CD Player:
CDs of Blues Jam Jim's Jammin'!
Peace,
~Scott
February 21,
2006
Check out the cool Sadhana ad in Bass Player, this
month's issue with Geddy Lee on the cover. By
the way, that very Sadhana is now in inventory!
Who will be the lucky player???
And when I get the taste for something different,
I work on the first two Texas Mesquite guitars.
When they're ready, two of you with a taste for
something different will wind up with some really
unique pieces of great playing southwestern art!
In the CD player -
Bill Evans Symbiosis
Keith Richards Talk Is Cheap
Peace
~Scott
February 17,
2006
Namaste, world!
Busy busy busy! As you can see to the left. Still holding
at a 90-day build time, this could change for future
orders... I guess the word's out on our little beauties!
We're honored by your enthusiasm and that you'd
choose Birdsong over much larger, more established
companies... it only all the more makes us pour love,
soul, and good ol' mojo into every one we build!
In the CD player -
Eliza Gilkyson Paradise Hotel
Miles Davis Pangaea
Soundtrack to the movie Singles
Dave Brubeck Time Out
Peace,
~Scott
January 17,
2006
Greetings
to all checking in from the ripples of our
presence in Bass Player, Vintage Guitar, and The
Ultimate Guide to Guitar & Bass Gear. And to the
rest of you too!
Thom has left to go to art school in California. For
those who play Cortobasses from 2005, he probably
cut your body and shaped your nuts. Hey, that didn't
sound all that great. Anyhow, good luck Tommy!
Also, our friend is trying to lease his house for a year so
he can walk through Asia. Check out his incredible hand
made home here:
Our friend Frank's house for lease
Update: It's rented but you can still check
out the pictures!
He's not internet savvy, but if you want to come live in
the Hill Country on the river for a year, we'll hook you up!
Check out the solid Zebrawood Sadhana body in inventory.Sold
Did I glue this up for you?
Peace,
~Scott
Current listening:
George Harrison All Things Must Pass
The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood
Alice Coltrane A Monastic Trio (Did Impulse
release
any bad records at all during the '60s? I'm beginning
to think I should grab every one I find in the used bins!)
January 4,
2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!
There is
a specially optioned Alder CortoClassic in
inventory, looking for a home. It's a beauty!
Getting
their oil finishes are a Swamp Ash Cortobass Standard
and a wild looking Poplar CortoClassic. Check out our
ads in Bass Player & Vintage Guitar magazines!
Busier than a cat in a sandbox (did I say that out loud?),
~Scott
In the CD player:
Ornette Coleman The Shape Of Jazz To Come
Stephen Stills Manassas
Sufjan Stevens Greetings From Michigan
December 30,
2005
Sometimes
stuff just comes up despite one's best efforts...
so our new bass introduction for 2006, the Shanti, is now
renamed the Sadhana. We wanted a Sanskrit
name because it's
such a beautiful language and Indian philosophy resonates in many
ways with the inner peace we ourselves are on a lifetime mission to
cultivate. So since Shanti, meaning peace, can't be used... we
decided on Sadhana, which loosely translates to fulfillment of potential.
We feel like Birdsong Guitars is a big part of the fulfillment of
our purpose as human beings, which is to help facilitate others
down their musical paths by providing comfortable, well-built
instruments made with love. Sorry for any confusion!
~Jamie
December 22,
2005
I attempted
to organize our woodshop shelves today
and... good God! Check out all these bodies!! You'd think
this was a guitar "factory" or something.
See something you like? Give us a call. In these pics the woods
represented include Poplar, Mahogany, Purpleheart, Pecan,
Mesquite, Alder, Maple, Walnut, Swamp Ash, Red Cedar,
Cherry, Red Elm, Red Oak, Birch, Cypress, Ebony and
Rosewood. Some are orders, some aren't claimed yet...
Wait 'til you see what comes out of this shop next year!
On behalf of my
wife Jamie and our helpers
Thom and Wyatt, I extend to you and yours
the warmest wishes for your Holidays. :)
Please be safe, warm, happy and filled with love ~
and keep those who are not in your prayers.
In
the CD player:
The Very Best of David Wilcox
Miles Davis - In a
Silent Way
Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
and of course, the ever present, always here AND ubiquitous
Tim Mungenast -
The Un-Stable Boy
We'll be here
through the Holidays, so as always
if you have any questions or just want to talk guitars
and bass, give the workshop a call - 512.847.6014
Play nice and we'll talk soon!
Peace,
Scott
**
December 12,
2005
Welcome to
the improved Birdsong Guitars website!
We have finally joined the current decade and adjusted our screens to
1024x768.
For those of you still viewing at a lower setting, I know how that goes,
remember
I'm the luddite still using a spokeshave and driving a '74 Dodge. But our
tracking
info told us the vast majority of viewers is now on this higher
setting and, quite
frankly, the old site had some issues at this resolution. So we've updated
a bunch
of stuff on here too, check out all those pages you knew and see lots of
new
words and pictures. Even more exciting than this, though (and the fact
that my
computer doesn't know what the word luddite is ~ life's ironies
just slay me
at times) is the NEW BASS MODEL - The Sadhana. This bass means you
get our great
Cortobass
feel and punchy, resonant tone in a new bass with a
sculpted body so
gorgeous it makes otherwise sedate grown adults weak in
the knees.
Here is the new page for the Birdsong Sadhana bass.
AND, some great news: since May, a custom Birdsong guitar was
posted
on this site as missing. It was stolen from the owner's house in Austin,
TX.
Well thanks to Bobby in NYC and Tbaysix on Ebay for both being stand
up guys, this kid got his guitar back just in time for Christmas!
Also, our friend is trying to lease his house for a year so
he can walk through Asia. Check out his incredible hand
made home here:
Our friend Frank's house for lease
Update: Leased, but check it out anyway!
In the CD
player:
George Harrison All Things Must Pass
I'll be tweaking this site out for the next week or so, bear with me.
Peace, love & music
AND HAVE SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS
All of us here wish you all the best, whoever
and wherever you are. Namaste.
~Scott
*******************************
NEWS FROM
THE NEST
December 14, 2005
This page is now an archive. Our last news entry here will also be the
first on our NEW NEWS PAGE.
_______________________________________________
FOUND!
A custom Birdsong guitar serial number B 006 was stolen from a
customer's home in Austin 5-26-05. It's Mahogany with a tortoise
pickguard and a purple pickup. Info? Contact us. Thanks!
Thanks to Bobby
in NYC and Ebayer tbaysix,
it looks
like Max will get his guitar back! Thanks to all who
stepped up and are doing the right thing. This message
will now disappear from the top of this page, and my
faith in humanity has a band-aid on it.
LOTS of new bodies in inventory, fretless is on the way
as an option for early '06, as well as more surprises!
In the CD player:
Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream
The Very Best of Cream
(and if I had anything
else that rhymed, I'd probably
be tempted to throw it in about now!)
Peace, incense & sawdust,
~S
**************************************
November 15, 2005
Busier than a cat in a sandbox! More details
coming, but here are some highlights:
1. FRETLESS Cortobasses in early 2006!
2. Look for our ads in Bass Player & Vintage Guitar!
3. Another great Harmony-Central review!
4. TWO mentions in the "Favorite Boutique Luthier"
thread at talkbass.com. I'm too humbled by being
included in such a list of greats I can't even think
of what to say but thank you and I'm just happy
to be of service to those of you that understand
what it is we're doing here at Birdsong. :).
5 BIG wood shopping day! Cool Cortobasses
continue coming...
6. Birdsong GUITARS - stay tuned!
ALSO - a good friend of ours who spent 13 years hand building
a house out in the woods is now looking to rent it for a year to
the right people so he can travel. Here's a page to look at whether
you want to live in the Texas Hill Country or just want to see what
the coolest house in the known universe looks like: Frank's
House.
In the CD player:
The Very Best of Canned Heat
Peace,
~S.
November 3, 2005
Back from the San Francisco trip ~ too much to tell for now.
Great concert (Chet Helms Tribal Stomp with all kinds of '60s
Psychedelic rock legends), great city. Look for pics soon.
For now, let the woodchips fly!!!
Peace,
~S
*
October 12, 2005
Namaste!
Well first off, look for our presence on p.61 of November's
Bass Player magazine!!!
Second, check out the cool basses in the assembly room. See yours?
Cortobi, left to right: Poplar headed to Alaska, chambered Spanish Cedar
with
a Sitka Spruce top going to Virginia, flamey Poplar soon to be hopping 'cross
the pond to the UK, and a 10-wood CortoSupremo that hasn't been claimed
out of inventory yet. Excitement abounds!! Gotta go bop some ferrules &
fit some bridges. Peace, ~Scott
In the CD player:
James McMurtry Where'd You Hide The Body
In the air:
HEM "Precious Fragrance" incense
*
October 3, 2005
After dodging the hurricane bullet, we pulled the tarps off the machinery,
put everything back on the floor, and got back to work. Much cool stuff
happening around here! Bass prodigy and young dude on the path to
enlightenment Wyatt has joined Birdsong, more on that later.
On the inventory page is a new section - the "Yard
sale" where we
attempt to ditch cool extra parts we have no use for whatsoever.
Check it out!
In process right now we have a Poplar Cortobass going to England,
another to Alaska, a cool semi-hollow Cortobass with a Spanish
Cedar back & Spruce top, a custom guitar, a CortoClassic in Alder,
and of course some prototypes I can't tell you about yet!
AND the rainbow bass, a Cortobass made of 13 pcs. of
different colored wood... check it out in inventory, too!
Man, it's late, there's oil finish crusting on my hands, there's
Rosewood chips in my beard (new jointer - yaaay!), my dashiki
is covered in sawdust, there are five hot bean tamales and one
cold Red Hook staring at me. Time to be done. It's "done-thirty."
Peace, love & music,
~Scott
*
September 12, 2005
I'll never forget where I was Sept. 11 2001. I was behind the counter of a
music store. A local and somewhat shaky 'Nam vet came in and told me
we were under attack. I thought he was crazy. I turned on the radio
and couldn't believe what was happening; I thought I was crazy.
Then nobody could figure out why it happened, and I knew it wasn't
me or the vet that was crazy. I wish we all on this planet could
behave ourselves so we wouldn't have to have results like 9/11.
My sincerest condolences go out to all affected by this tragedy;
the brave people in uniform, the civilians, the everyday folk caught
in the middle of man's insanity, everywhere.
I extend the same respects & wishes of peace and brighter days to
all who suffer due to the hurricane; all who are able please help these
folks. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all...
AND IF ANYONE HAS HEARD FROM DRUMMER ANDY
HARRIS
IN NEW ORLEANS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
What's new around birdsong? Too much to say, but check out
the INVENTORY and LATEST CREATIONS pages to get an idea.
Also, keep an eye out for ads in Bass Player, Vintage Guitar, and the
Ultimate Guide To Bass & Guitar Gear, all coming out in the next couple
of months...
Went & saw Victor Wooten in Austin, an absolutely killer show. A
big time funk / soul / jazz / fusion brouhaha. The scariest thing I have
ever seen was Vic's brother Regi on the guitar. I cannot express
what
I saw him do on the guitar, except to say it was the most insane display
of chops & torrent of sound I have EVER seen or heard, and I'm from the
'80s and saw Yngwie and Jake E. Lee and some serious blazers... and Regi
was just ridiculous, never seen anything like it in my life. I was stunned.
Here's a shot of Vic:
AND there's a FREE CONCERT in Golden Gate Park in SanFrancisco, CA
in honor of the recently departed Chet Helms ~ lots of cool band reunions
such as Blue Cheer, check it out at http://www.2b1records.com/chetmemorial/
We may head out there, this could be our Woodstock!
Oh yeah! Our new bandsaw!
Stay tuned, it's gonna be a wild ride. To quote Jerry Reed in Smokey &
the
Bandit to his basset hound, "Hold on to yer ass, Fred."
In the CD player:
Richard X. Heyman "Hey Man!"
The Mountain Goats "All Hail West Texas"
Noam Chomsky "Free Market Fantasies"
Peace,
~S
*
August 9, 2005
In the CD player:
Rage Against The Machine Renegades
John Coltrane Newport '63
Sufjan Stevens Greetings From Michigan
Greetings! So much going on, just a brief update:
Check inventory for the 1st Anniversary Cortobass, 1
of 1, available now.
Also there is a Cortobass of Walnut & Purpleheart that's munchable.
And I do believe I've found the "upper line" partner to my favorite
EMG
Select passive bass humbucker ~ it's a special Lace-AGI from California,
and it has the same great punch. So CortoSupremos will have all Lace
pickups and we may work them into some standard Cortobasses too...
A great Mesquite "Southwestern special" CortoGT is in finishing
along with a Cortobass destined for Scotland, and in the shop the
rainbow bass is (finally) getting routed and a VERY special guitar
is beginning its journey from tree slab to tool of creation...
Exciting things happening here at Birdsong... but it's time to
go take off this CD. Live extra cuts are cool, but these "special
guest" goobers guesting on this live track weren't fit to grace
the stage of Rage... and though one of my favorite bands ever,
it's late and I'm tired of being screamed at by Zach deLaRocha.
Time for some bhajans, or maybe some Dave Brubeck.
Peace, love & music to all!
~Scott
*
July 1, 2005
Well, where to begin... been gluing up some really nice
multi-wood Corto bodies in the shop, you can check out
the results on the INVENTORY page. I post bodies in
progress there so if you see something you like, you
can get first dibs on it.
Christian in France got his blackwash & gold Cortobass and is
thrilled. You can read his review and others at Harmony-Central.
AND you can see him in action on our front page!
Jamie & I have a friend nearby with a huge organic garden
and once a week or so we go grab a bag full o'goodness.
Vegetables being our primary food, you can understand
how great a blessing this is to us! Needless to say,
between Jonesy's veggies and Jamie's culinary expertise,
lunchtime here at the Birdsong nest can be quite a treat!
Amazing how you can plant a seed and nurture it, and
it will feed you. Speaking of which...
This weekend marks Birdsong Guitars' 1st anniversary! It is
not only a time of national independence for us, but a time to
take a moment and reflect on this past year of our personal
independence. It's amazing to think that here in 2005 where
it seems like the big guys (who never seem to have enough)
just get bigger & swallow up everything in their path & their
wake, a tiny little company started by a couple in small town
Texas saw a need and filled it to the best of our abilities...
And the lights are still on, the rent is paid, and there's plenty
of wood in the shop. We're fed. There's gas in the tank. I mean,
we started this with almost nothing and now there's this shop
with orders from both coasts, places in-between, and even
France and Scotland! We are so blessed. How happy we have
made folks with our instruments & service pales only in
comparison to how fulfilled you all have made US feel.
To know we have been of service to you is why we do
what we do. Believe me ~ if it was all about the money, there's
a ton more of it in selling Chinese P-bass copies. Being independent
craftsperson / artist and doing something different for the right
reasons is NOT the easy way, and it's not the popular way, and
it's certainly not the path of least resistance. But for some,
it is the ONLY way we're willing to go...
So onward we walk into year number
2!
In the CD player:
Santana Live at the Fillmore '68
The Grateful Dead "Grayfolded" CD
Andean music
Well cool... back to the benches! There's a really nice custom
blackwash & gold guitar coming together, along with the 1st
anniversary Cortobass in Mesquite. Thank you for your
time & interest, and all the support & opportunities!
Peace, love & music,
~Scott
*
June 19, 2005
Wow - busier than a cat in a sandbox!
~ CortoClassic prototype is done & available in inventory
More news to come!
In the CD player:
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Streetcore
Jaco Pastorius: Jaco Pastorius
Sonic Light (my freakout psych-jazz; you'll be
hearing more about this later in the year...)
Peace,
~Scott
Your servant in sawdust.
***
June 1, 2005
So much exciting going on here at the nest! First off, I want to put
some minds at ease. Many folks have never ordered a custom guitar
or bass... or even a custom anything before, so I want to explain the
process of how things work in a small shop like ours.
First off, if 60 days has gone by and your instrument isn't done, don't
worry... we quote 90 days because it gives us plenty of time to
build
your Birdsong without rushing. All rushing is is trading quality for
quickness, and we don't work that way. Most times, it takes us around
30 days to clear the benches off & ship out orders that are before
your instrument.
Then, one neck may be held back (or sped up) so I can woodburn a couple
or a few at the same time. Or NO necks may get woodburned while I do
a (for example) '65 Dart on the back of a custom guitar. Or we may be in a
finishing mood and rub oil for a week on three bodies. Or I may feel
like dancing with the soldering iron or working on a prototype...
It really changes by the day; the moment gives us options, and
we do what we feel we can do best at that time.
But one by one they all end up on the assembly bench (it only holds
one) and the parts & pieces are fit together, strung & tuned, and we
like to have the instrument hang out for a while to make sure it sets
in right, that all the parts get used to being a guitar instead of a tree
or lumber. Believe me, you get a much happier instrument this way.
And there's always the "waiting for the bridges" or a pickup didn't
get shipped, etc. I mean if you're PRS or Gibson, you pull one out
of a huge bin. We don't have the luxury of a huge parts backstock
yet, so that all factors in, too. But come 90 days (and sometimes
even a little before), they go on their way.
Even shipping - we may hold back a few days so we can ship
on a day that won't mean your bass sits in a warehouse or on a
hot truck over a weekend. Everything we do is for the sake of
the instrument. If we decide rather than ship two weeks early
to let it hang for a week and a half and give it a second setup,
you ultimately get a better bass, right?
So no worries, you know where to find me, and you are NEVER a
bother to call for any reason. I love talking with you all, whether
you have an order around that 60 day mark and you're getting a little
antsy or you just have a question about us and our basses, whatever.
Call. I'm available to you. I work for you. And being of service to you
is my Higher Calling... it's an honor and if you think I'm laying it on
with a trowel when I say that, try me sometime. My whole philosophy
on all of this is an open book - I am grateful for the chance to build
you an instrument. It means something, as it should!
Coming out of finishing right now is the 1st Anniversary bass, and
a gorgeous Mahogany Cortobass destined for black hardware and
a home in the Northwest... and also going to the Northwest is the
first CortoCustom! They'll take their turns on the bench and begin
their journeys.
Peace to you on yours,
~Scott
IN THE CD PLAYER:
The Clash, Sandanista
Dasi, Escape
From Draconia
Lou Reed, Metal Machine
Music
*
May 10, 2005
Here are a few pics of our "1st Anniversary" bass, a Cortobass
out of local Texas Mesquite with plenty of natural "character",
dressed out in Rosewood & chrome. More pics will be posted
on the INVENTORY page as it works its way through the rooms
of our little workshop towards completion. It'll have Anniversary
markings including a special plaque noting it's "1 of 1"...
Back to cuttin' & shapin'!
Peace,
~Scott
*
May 9, 2005
You know you're a small company when a $1.25 switch on the router
goes kaput and all progress grinds to a halt while the part comes in!
Cortobass #12 - soon headed for France!
Cortobass #8 (The CortoClassic prototype) - almost out of finishing!
Cortobass #13 - a special order custom body (CortoCustom)!
Cortobass #14 - Mahogany & black hardware - SOLD!
Cortobass #15 - a psychedelic painted 22-fret lefty?! Stay tuned, it'll be up
for grabs!
Cortobass #16 - a Poplar CortoClassic
AND (drum roll please)...
Cortobass #17 - Walnut & Purpleheart with black hardware...
It's officially up for grabs: Want it?
Off to the woodshop!
Peace,
~Scott
*
April 26, 2005
What did we do to deserve all of this? Our client and now dear
friend Andy Wasserman flew in from NJ to claim his Cortobass.
Our universe has been Andying and he is beside himself.
Actually he's beside us, here's proof!
More pictures to come on the latest creations page - to say this is
as much art as instrument, well, I'll leave that for YOU to say after
you see the woodburning & inlays. All I can say is it's been months
of details leading up to these three days with this cool soul.
We also spent some time with Billy at Masterpiece Mastering and
Legendary Audio, who has just put into limited production an unreal
piece of outboard studio gear co-designed by Rupert Neve (you studio
guys should be perking up about now) that will revolutionize the way
studios and mastering houses handle recording & mixing music.
Check it out here: www.legendaryaudio.com
Hope all is well in your worlds and you are feeling
inspired and full of music!
Peace,
~Scott
*
April 22, 2005
Tommy gives the face of exuberance after an afternoon of cutting
and shaping Cortobass bodies. Yes, we're a bit odd... but that's
why you love us!
We've got a fresh handful of Honduran Mahogany, so we're ok
(given our extremely limited production) for now... but the wood
supplier says it's getting very hard to find it in the widths we use
to build our one piece bodies. I just love this wood for its tonal
properties, the fact that it glows under oil and cuts like butter...
bonuses. I even like how it smells when it's being worked.
Speaking of which, I got some Spanish Cedar to experiment with,
and THAT smells wonderful. The joys of working with natural
materials... I don't think I could get all psyched up to work with
plastic or something. To work with wood is to touch the natural
world at its most pure and basic level, as a guest.
Peace,
~Scott
*
April 12, 2005
Boy have we been busy! I feel like I slipped on a banana peel in February
and landed on my kiester just this week. What's new? Well it's SPRING
for one thing, which means lots of seeds now blossoming...
We have a few new additions to the Cortobass family! In addition to the
standard two-pickup model, we now have the simple, vintage-looking,
single-pickup CortoClassic; the classy, jazzy,
single neck pickup and
flatwound equipped CortoFusion; the CortoSupremo,
our "upscale
short-scale"; the CortoCustom, where the
basic Cortobass design
and features are wrapped in a custom body style; and the hot
rodded CortoGT.
We decided to show you how they're all coming together, so the pics
will be updated regularly. They really are on their way, sooner than
later, and some are even ready to be reserved or ordered.
(Contact us for details.)
As if that weren't enough, we built a standard two-pickup Cortobass as
a lightweight experiment from Poplar with an aluminum bridge from
Hipshot and extra-deep routs. It weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces COMPLETE.
And it still balanced, and sounded punchy as all get-out. How cool!
Here's the finished bass, which went to live in PA.
I still have some more of this flamed
Poplar, so let us know if you want one...
Check out more on the Latest Creations page.
On the bench right now are a handful of great projects, including a wild custom
guitar with a '65 Dart woodburned on the back... a CortoCustom... a few
Cortobi...
and some other stuff!
AND we just got back from picking out more wood for the next round of
instruments.
~ Mahogany (The good stuff )
~ Poplar (CortoClassics to be!)
~ Spanish Cedar (Gorgeous, 1 piece)
and, to be sandwiched together for some truly special basses...
Purpleheart
African Mahogany
Thin Poplar
So we'll be busy, but we'll be smiling! Call us anytime, 512.847.6014.
Happy Spring and lots of music to you!
In the CD player:
Pink Floyd, Obscured By Clouds
How Ironic, How Ironic
John Coltrane, The Heavyweight Champion box set, disc 1
Peace,
~Scott
*
February 4, 2005
Greetings to all from the Birdsong nest. We have our first review on
Harmony Central by the proud player of Cortobass #3... you can read
it by clicking HERE.
Thank you, Kevin! May the tone you rave about
inspire you and your music for years to come.
Kevin's was an early one, the jack has been moved downward slightly
but it does fit everybody differently. I love it, that's why it's there - but
I know it won't work for everyone, so a standard side jack is optional.
Such cool instruments taking shape - a custom Mahogany guitar, an
Alder rear-routed Cortobass, a woodburned Cherry Cortobass that has
been an ongoing project... what an honor to be involved with this whole
process with players who get what it means to be "outside the box."
We are grateful to be of service to you.
Also for sometime before Summer, the single pickup version... more
of a hot rod, with a vintage flavor and the great Cortobass playability!
And some other stuff too... perhaps a guitar model? Who knows. It's
all in the plans, but we still follow the river.
In the CD player:
John Coltrane, A Love Supreme
Greg Whitfield, GW
Tony Senatore, Holy Land
Peace,
~Scott
*
January 21, 2005
Wow! A client from Port Arthur, TX drove out and picked up his
new "Gold-on-blackwash" Cortobass! Check it out on the
Latest Creation page here.
The great reviews are starting to come in from the first handful of
Cortobi on their journeys. They're on the Feedback
page...
In the CD player:
Semisonic Feeling Strangely Fine
Leigh Stephens Red
Weather
some Jack Johnson
and
The Quintet Jazz at Massey Hall May 15, 1953
Peace,
~Scott
*
January 14, 2005
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!
Wow, where to start! First off, our
friend Tony Senatore sent us his
new CD "Holyland" and it rocks. He is a great bass player with amazing
chops and has instead of creating a "showoff" project, created an
absolute
masterpiece of MUSIC centered around the amazingly varied tones
and
textures of his bass playing. It funks, it grooves, and it ROCKS. His site
is on the links page, tell him we sent you over. His heart is only outshined
by his musical abilities, and his website is pretty cool, too. One of these
days we're going to get a Cortobass into his hands, and watch out!
We jammed in the new year with a couple of former students of mine
and their band, and their parents, in a living room in Florida. Road trip
Winter '04 found us fed mind, body and soul by the road and our gracious
hosts... we are so blessed to have such great souls in our lives.
Mich in Indiana & Kevin in Virginia got their Cortobasses (Cortobi?)
for Christmas, and their comments can be found on the Feedback
page.
A very happy young lady in central Texas got a gift, too - check it out
on the Latest Creations page. I also updated the Gallery.
The knotty Alder Cortobass is coming along, should be ready this
month, and next week a gentleman from East Texas who saw us at
the Beaumont Blues Fest in October is driving in to pick up his very
own, in blackwashed Mahogany with gold hardware! Andy from NJ
says he'd like to come here in person to pick his up too, and we'll see
what happens when this woodburned masterpiece is ready. Pics of
ALL of these will be posted as they happen. This site is a work in
progress, as are we all.
Hope your year is off to a great start, and if you have any questions
or comments feel free to call - we can always find time to chat about
basses, guitars, wood, and the psychospiritual metaphysical aspects
of sound vibration as devotional expression. Laters!
(FYI) In the CD player: Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain
Peace,
~Scott
*
November 28, 2004
THIS is what's up - what a COOL piece of wood! First coat of oil went on
today... Cortobass 009 could be yours, last of the single digit serial numbers
and this great Alder body! I think BLACK hardware will look great on this
one. What do you think?
Some hairy, feathered guy with Cortobass #009-to-be! This is only the 1st
coat
of oil - many more to follow. More pics on the inventory
page...
Also, note that we moved the bridge back slightly... along with it (to
preserve
the measurements which needed to be kept) came the pickups, and the neck
into the body... subtle alterations (a nip here, a tuck there) were made to the
curves, and we worked 2" of overall length, 3/8" in thickness and at
least
another pound off the Cortobass design! We've updated the specs on
the Corto page and it really doesn't look that different... we took
great pains to keep our curves! By the way, this is how we dress
in November in central Texas. Notice a lot of stuff is still green?
This is our return on two scorching months in the Summer!
Peace,
Scott
*
November 24, 2004
We want to thank all of you from the heart for your interest in Birdsong
Guitars.
Every day is a day of thanks as far as we're concerned... know we are grateful
for you as friends and clients, and more importantly as brothers and sisters
of a really big family. Let us all bow our heads in thanks for our blessings
and give our respects to those who have sacrificed in whatever way so
that we may be here, free, well-fed and roofed... with good work to do
and good people to do it for. Jamie and I pray for peace and good
health at your tables, in your circles, and within each of you.
Peace,
Scott
*
November 15, 2004
Direct from the Beaumont Blues Fest folks...
Beaumont Man Wins Custom,
Autographed Blues Fest Guitar
BEAUMONT -- A financial planner from Beaumont is singin' the blues today but
not
because things are bad. Tom Lanza's name was drawn from about 200 who took a
chance
to win a custom-made six-string electric guitar signed by the stars of the 2004
Kinsel-Mazda
Blues Festival October 30-31. The guitar was hand-built by Birdsong Handbuilt
Guitars of
Wimberley, Texas. Woodburned with the officlal (sic) 2004 Blues Fest
logo, the guitar was
passed among the headliners for their autographs during the two-day
festival.
At the Birdsong booth and through the crowds, chances were sold to win the
one-of-a-kind
instrument. The guitar, a $750 value, appreciated greatly with the addition of
signatures from
blues greats Bo Diddley, Hamilton Loomis, Delbert McClinton, Barbara Lynn,
Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown, and others. The giveaway raised more than $900 for
the Southeast
Texas Arts Council, which presented the festival along with the City of
Beaumont
and Kinsel-Mazda. Lanza spent $10 to take part in the drawing.
For more information contact the Southeast Texas Arts Council, 409-835-2787
November 13, 2004
You don't see much "Flame Poplar" but there seems to be a bit
at the Birdsong shop... I'm going to do a run of Cortobasses
out of this. It's VERY lightweight, too; should sound great!
First one will be a prototype of the coming single pickup Corto
version we'll be bringing out for all you Mustang and Musicmaster
bass lovers looking for a pro instrument but who love a classic look
and simple single pickup utility. More info and pics coming...
We also got more Honduran Mahogany, some Alder, figured Cherry
and beautiful Walnut, too. Also wanted to give a plug to the little
amplifier we picked up to take to shows, a little tilt-back Hartke
with the aluminum cone speaker. It's a great little amp!
As for the Beaumont Blues Fest guitar giveaway,
for information on the winner, please call Regina at
Southeast Texas Arts Council at 1-866-585-ARTS (2787).
Fall has finally come here in central Texas and the cooler weather
makes for great days in the shop cutting, routing & shaping.
Hope all of you are finding ways to smile out there!
Peace,
Scott
November 2, 2004
Jamie with the autographed Beaumont Blues Fest raffle guitar... signed by
Delbert McClinton, Gatemouth Brown, Hamilton Loomis, Barbara Lynn,
L'amant, and Bo Diddley among others!
The Blues Fest in Beaumont was a great success... many cool people came
by our booth and were just amazed that there were still real people crafting
things by hand in small numbers, that it actually means something to us
other than "how many we can sell." We made some new friends, I got to
sit and chat with Mr. Diddley for a half hour, and heard some great music.
We donated a Beaumont Blues model prototype to the arts council that
put on the festival, and they raffled it off. I'll post details on who won as
soon as they get that info to me... check out their site at www.setxac.org
Bo may have just had a couple of toes amputated, but he's still got a leg
up on everyone else. "Just call me Eight Toe Diddley."
One artist whose work caught my eye was David Burns. He draws
musicians,
and you had to see the life in the musicians' eyes... I mean, this guy really
captures it. Very cool cat and a PHENOMENAL artist.
http://groups.msn.com/davidburnsart
Mike Zito gave us his latest
CD, check him out!
And Jamie had a great chat with Patrice from Blueswax.com.
And... today was WOOD SHOPPING DAY! Yaaaaay! I was like a kid in a candy
store with a pocket full of pennies. Got more Honduran Mahogany (of which I
hear the supply is drying up - I have enough for six or seven more bodies, but
no promises after that - we'll be using African Mahogany, very similar tonally),
some "prime" Alder, some gorgeous Poplar, and some figured Cherry
& Walnut
pieces we'll be playing with... and some nice black Ebony, Cocobolo, figured
Maple and others for nuts & small parts.
Going on the bench shortly will be the prototype of a single pickup variant of
the Cortobass coming out in January... more info on that as it happens!
I'll leave you with Bo's wisdom on young kids with baggy clothes:
"Yo grandma should be alive to see that... she'd hit you one
time,
make them pants JUMP up 'round
yo waist."
Peace,
Scott
*
October 22, 2004
Birdsong Guitars recently tweaked out the guitars of Dave Mitchell,
guitarist for the Houston psych/blues rock band Josefus, who are
playing a reunion show with Shiva's Headband and others at Dan
Electro's in Houston Oct. 31! Please call them for all the details.
BIRDSONG @ BLUESFEST: We'll have a booth at the 1st annual
Beaumont Blues Fest in Beaumont, Texas, Sat. Oct 30 & Sunday
Oct. 31st. Come by and say hi, play the Cortobass, and check
out the cool little Beaumont Blues guitar we built for the event.
There'll be tons of great music, too: go to www.setxac.org.
Among other projects, on the bench right now is a lefty
Mahogany Cortobass with a big humbucker by the neck
that will be undergoing an unusual finishing process as
soon as we're back from the Blues Fest... pics to follow!
By the way, that's how you know it's a good neck pocket.
You test fit it with no screws or support, go eat some chips
and salsa, have a beverage, grab the camera, take a picture,
put the camera back, wash your hands and come back...
if your Maple, 24-fret bass neck is still sticking out
straight, you've cut a good neck pocket, my friend!
Happy people are playing their Birdsi; quotes to follow!
Peace to all and to all a good night! It's 11:07PM.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done.
~Scott
*
October 17, 2004
WOW!!! In 1998 I gave a guitar to a big influence, Leigh Stephens. He
was the original guitarist in Blue Cheer and to say he left a high water
mark for brutal psychedelic guitar onslaught would be seriously
understating the fact! Well, he just released a NEW CD, the first
thing he's released under his own name in YEARS. And guess
which guitar is ALL OVER IT? The one I BUILT HIM.
Is that cool or what? I'm pretty excited, and it's a pretty
eclectic release with some killer guitar and a GREAT
psych/surf techno rock guitar-swirling-all-around
type thing called "You Can't Handle The Truth."
Ordering info is HERE.
Congrats, Leigh!
And I just can't get over how great our clients are. I want you all
to know I DO sweat the small stuff and the instruments are part of
a greater exchange we are sharing - I thank you all so much for
your interest, questions, and entrusting us to help build your
"voices"... and know that Jamie and I are available to you
before, during and after your decision to have a Birdsong
guitar or bass of your own. That won't change because
that's who we are and this is our ship! And we are sailing.
A tonal experiment - dropping a DiMarzio X2N pickup into
the bridge of the Cortobass - was successful! Remember when
they used to transplant V8s into Chevy Vegas? Think about
that but with strings. It's a VERY aggressive tone. If you need
power and do slapping or other heavy stuff, gimme a call and
we'll talk about it. Yeah, I know it's a "guitar pickup"... but
it
doesn't. A Fast Track sounds great in the neck position, too...
Could a DiMarzio option be around the corner? Hmmm...
Peace,
~Scott
*
September 28, 2004
Well, well! We really ARE in BassPlayer magazine! What a thrill to see
4C1-001 in print in such a great magazine. For those of you who don't
have it yet, it's the October 2004 issue with Brian Wilson on the cover.
We're in the New Gear section on page 32. You'll notice improvements
on our pics of the ones that followed (most pics of the prototype aren't
up here anymore)... a little curve here, a little tuck there, all Hipshot
hardware and a relocated upper strap button. Little things, but it's
those little things that add up exponentially as they all come together.
We will always sweat the small stuff!
Thank you to Greg Olwell and Joanne McGowan at BassPlayer!
Peace,
~Scott
*
September 24, 2004
Greetings! Took some group shots this morning; see them in the gallery.
But first, make sure your drool bib is cinched up nice and tight!
Peace,
~Scott
September 19, 2004
"Hello? Is this where I buy a bird song?"
We get the coolest visitors at Birdsong Guitars...
New website logo! New Gear section in Bass Player magazine! New friends! New
basses & guitars singing their first tunes! New York! New Jersey! New ideas!
Two tired gnomes! What a great week. Peace, love & music to all!
~Scott
September 12, 2004
How exciting! Just about every day brings calls and E-mails from folks
interested
in what we're doing. Cool folks with needs and wants we can help with, in search
of their voice or just a bass or guitar that fits.
It's been an adjustment for me, too, this whole ordering online thing. The
computer
age has brought with it the ability to reach all of you wherever you are from my
little shop in the Texas Hill Country woods. I'm still getting used to ordering
bits and sanding pads over the internet, let alone entire hand built basses and
guitars! Just know WE know how much trust is involved, and that we are real
people making real instruments, we give you seven days... if your order
doesn't light your fire, you have a money back guarantee. And we're
here for any questions or concerns you may have before, during and
after the ordering process. It's a new age out there and I guess I'd better
get used to E-ordering because that's the way a lot of business is
done in 2004. I'm just honored to have your attention, your interest,
and if it looks like we're on the same page... your order for something
I designed and we built to help you make your music.
And isn't music some form of prayer? So we're helping you pray, to
paint the air with sound. Some folks wonder why that guy behind the
wheel of that old Dodge truck is always smiling.
Here's a great sunset that was behind the shop tonight.
Peace,
~Scott
Oh, and Exhibit A of the Hideous
Shirt Museum
is now available for viewing.
September 5, 2004
Shop Tour
page has been updated with some new pics.
Here's something that'll be a while... a one-off for sure, the Rainbass will
have
a woodburned Hopi Rain Bird Spirit on the front. It will have some really
unusual hardware, be very expensive, and I will donate part of the selling
price to an as-yet-undetermined Hopi Nation cause...
Guitars and basses are coming together to go to California, Delaware and
Colorado. Exciting things are happening in our little shop!
There was a yard sale nearby and I bought some great clamps and old
hammers that used to be in an old man's workshop. They're well used
and well loved, and I give them to my shop with much respect. When
he wasn't fixing something, he built little scrapwood boxes for his tools...
I bought some of those as well. What am I going to do, go buy one at
Wal-Mart? Please. These are the fingerprints of a departed soul and
it's important to me that not just what I do, but that the tool has
meaning as well. Godspeed, tool man. Your treasures are safe.
~Scott
August 20, 2004
Incorporated the Corto Tech page into the Corto page... so now everything
you ever wanted to know about our Cortobass is on one page.
And new pics are up all over the site, including INVENTORY!
~Scott
August 19, 2004
It's official - Cortobasses (Cortobi?) come exclusively with Hipshot hardware!
This is American designed & built hardware fitted to some of the best basses
in the world. It is milled, not cast, by Hipshot in New York. I have specified
a Hipshot style "A" bridge with adjustable string spacing in heavy,
solid
brass and the Hipshot "Ultralight" tuning machines, which impressed me
right out of the box with their precision and feel. Read more about this
company and their products (I've been using their stuff for 15 years)
at www.hipshotproducts.com.
The pictures on this site will soon
reflect this hardware upgrade. All of you waiting for or
considering ordering a Cortobass, be very happy now!
Given the above I have adjusted down the Gold hardware option
price, and in totally unrelated news am now offering tortoise as
a control plate option instead of the stock matte black. Wood
knobs are now a no-cost option if the "turquoise" inlay knobs
don't appeal to you. Rosewood (matches fretboard) or Maple
(matches headstock), or even Ebony (great w/black hardware).
And, for a totally vintage feel and a little more Mahogany left in
the body, a "Slab body" with no forearm or belly contours is also
a no-cost option for those who like that feel better.
~Scott
August 13, 2004
On the bench: a "Chopper" bass in 30" scale for Chris in CA.
Shown here
in rough cut / trial fit / routing / mockup phase. It'll have a tortoise
pickguard which will look great against the oiled Birch...
The angle-cut edge of this plank will work into the forearm contour.
Next we rout for the big, honkin' DiMarzio bass humbucker, heh heh...
then begins the edging, roundover, and sanding...
Also, this little beauty, a chambered Cherry guitar with Walnut top, 24"
scale,
will be a nice warm little jazzy jewel. Here it is with the first coat of oil,
last night. This morning I did a hand rubbed coat where the oil gets warm
and worked into the grain by my hands. It will get several more...
It was the great reward after all that work & all Jamie's finish sanding
to sit there and rub on that first coat. The figuring and depth just
exploded off the face of the wood. It's humbling to realize this
kind of beauty is everywhere within natural materials whether we
can see it or not. The Cherry has some figuring too.
UPDATE 8/18: Sorry, looks like this little jewel isn't going to make
it to the inventory page. Someone in MD is really happy, though!
More to come...
~Scott
August 9, 2004
Added a great Mahogany bodied guitar with an interesting history
to the INVENTORY
page, as it's about to come off the bench and
will be looking for a new home. Ser. # B 006. Check it out!
Also, the Cortobass demo CDs are ready to send and the first
batch goes out tomorrow morning. To request yours, read about
the Cortobass and
contact us - we'll get one out to you! Peace.
~Scott
August 7, 2004
Wow. Brady
Muckelroy just came by to record some
music on the Cortobass
for the website and CD sound clips. Wow. Did I say that already? He is an
amazing
display of the beauty that happens when one channels a Higher Power. He
treats
the instrument with reverence and has such a soft touch and gentle ease to
his
playing. You cannot believe what you’re hearing while trying to keep up with
his
fingers. It’s an entire symphony coming out of one instrument - Bach and
Mozart
would be beside themselves to hear him play. It was a real treat to have him
here
and using our humble tool of creation. We
hope you appreciate the message he
sends with his music while hearing just what the Cortobass can do!
~Jamie
August 5, 2004
More pictures on the Corto tech page & the
Shop
Tour page, a new gallery of old projects,
and a redesigned front page. Prototype pickup on its way
from California for testing in the
Cortobass... I am firm in my convictions concerning the EMG
Select so far... I will let you
know how this one stacks up to it. Remember, the Cortobass is its own
thing, so comparing
whose P-bass pickups sound "better" in a P-bass is irrelevant to
what's going to sound
like I think my short-scale Mahogany bodied bass should. I've played dozens of
gigs with
this setup and even used it direct in the studio, where it cut through drums and
guitars
like Ginsu through Land O'Lakes. I'll keep you posted...
~Scott
August 4, 2004
Look for us in the upcoming edition of the Guitar Player/Bass Player
Buyer's Guide due out
this fall. In other news, there are a few one-off guitars being prepared to
offer on the inventory
page, so keep an eye on that... and the Cortobass
is now fitted with through body stringing
and Hipshot bridges! The
Demo CD is just about done and I'll send them out pron-to.
See,
there's this bass player named Brady, and what he's going to do with the Cortobass,
you're not going to want to miss. I may even put it up with the sound samples.
On the bench: A Cortobass going to California, a Mahogany Rattlesnake
guitar (close
to a Tele shape), and a small semi-hollow short scale Cherry guitar with a
Walnut top.
~Scott
Press Release
Birdsong Guitars debuts the short scale Cortobass
“Finally, a
bass that fits!”
The Birdsong Hand Built Guitar Co. is
proud to introduce our professional quality short scale bass guitar, the Cortobass.
For the pro player or anyone else uncomfortable with the “standard” 34”
scale, there are few choices other than imported student models, custom made
one-offs, or “vintage” designs that didn’t balance or sound all that great
then and still don’t. Small-statured men and women or guitarists looking for
an easy-playing pro bass… here it is.
The Cortobass has been engineered specifically as a shorter scale
design, with features and tones you won’t find anywhere else. They’re built
with select woods, top-quality professional
components (even the ones you can’t see), and are available direct to
the player with 1 week approval and 5 year warranty by the very people who
designed it & build each one at our shop in Wimberley, Texas.
SPECIFICATIONS
|
COMPARISON
|
FOR
MORE INFORMATION:
Cortobass.com
*******
Birdsong Guitars Site Launches July 4, 2004
After 15 years of designing,
modifying & building electric guitars & basses,
thanks to renewed focus, replenished energies and the invaluable assistance
offered by my wife, my vision of offering unique instruments under the
Birdsong
name is now a reality. Feeling strong kinship to the winged
world, I have used
this brand name since 1998... never has it meant
so much to me as it does
now with the formation and first flight of
The Birdsong Hand Built Guitar Co.
Our first
offering is the Cortobass, a freshly designed professional
short-scale electric bass, for those of you who haven't felt comfortable with
the size and weight of the standard 34" scale basses or have been
looking for something a little different. More info
here.