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A lot can change over the years with regards to what you want from your instrument. I started out with a Fender Jazz bass, which was followed by a fretted bass guitar by Rikkers. I was (and am still, of course) incredibly pleased with this latest bass guitar, but there were times that I would have liked some adjustments. This led to the addition of a MIDI element (MIDI is the means to communicate with synthesizers), but I still wasn’t totally happy. Something was missing; I really wanted to play fretless. I knew for sure that I wanted a fretless bass guitar, with exactly the same measurements as my current bass guitar and a MIDI element totally integrated
in the body. But that led to the next problem, a bass guitar like that is so specific you can’t just buy it over
the counter. A lot of craft and knowledge is needed to make such a guitar, which doesn’t come cheap. I was fortunate in that the people of the “Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds” understood my “problem” and were able to help me financially. And the result is amazing!

The gentlemen from Rikkers Gitaarbouw (Rikkers Guitars & Double Basses) documented the whole process; building a guitar is an old-time craft and so beautiful to watch! See below for a few photos of the process. You can find the other photos on my Flickr page.

I regularly receive questions or emails about my bass guitar and my ‘sound’. See below for a few of the standard answers I give. Can’t find your answer? Get in touch via one of the usual ways.

-Bass guitar is a Rikkers Powerline, tuned E-A-D-G-C

-The MIDI element runs via a Roland RC-20 to my Macbook, this enables me to make all those ‘weird’ sounds

- I play very softly and my amplifier is set relatively high, which allows me to play with three or
four fingers.