The Prima Artist is designed without compromise, fueled by our desire to present the best bass guitar to the world. It takes bass-building art and engineering to a whole new level.
The traditional way of combining body woods to control tone has been to laminate horizontally. For example, laminate a thick maple top on a mahogany core to increase the brightness of the mahogany. This system works well to alter the tonal response of all the strings as a group. However, our experience with the Novax Fanned-Fret ® system has opened up a whole new way of thinking about an instrument. What if we could take this concept one step further by focusing on the needs of the bass and treble strings separately? At the time, this had never been done before.
To achieve this naturally equalizing body, we turned traditional thinking on its side by laminating across the body’s width. This allows us to use a higher density wood such as Walnut for the bass side to accentuate the highs and give power to the lows without affecting the treble strings. We then use a lower-density wood such as Soft Maple for the treble side to bring out the resonance and warm up the highs without affecting the bass strings. The results are dramatic for such a simple idea – warm, punchy treble strings with solid snappy bass strings. without affecting the treble strings.
We then use a lower-density wood (Alder) for the treble side to bring out the resonance and warm up the treble strings without making the bass strings sound muddy. The results are pretty dramatic for such a simple idea – warm, punchy treble strings with solid snappy bass strings.
Headstock design – Angled (compound).
If you build a fanned-fret neck with a traditional headstock angle, there will be an odd-looking triangle between the nut and the end of the fingerboard. It will also be difficult to position the treble tuners close to the nut for a compact headstock and best balance. We figured out a better way.
If you look closely at the angle of our headstock, you will notice that it’s actually a combination of two angles. This adds considerable complication to the construction process but enables a perfectly linear string path to the tuners, compact design and no telltale triangle behind the nut.
All Z-series headstocks feature a matching face veneer cut from the same veneer as the top for a perfect match.
Prima Artist necks are laminated from 5-7 pieces of exotic wood. We choose the woods for strength and tone first, then try to come up with a combination that either blends or contrasts nicely with the top and back woods.
The Prima Artist pickups feature an FD-3 treble coil with a custom-wound bass coil. The coils are noise-symmetric/tone-asymmetric, which means they maintain near-perfect noise rejection with increased low-end clarity.
They feature 4-lead wiring, which enables the internal coils to be wired in either series for strong mids and high output or parallel for scooped mids and normal output. The Prima Artist bass also features individual series/parallel switches so that the player can access these tones at the flick of a switch. The pickups are installed into wooden shells cut from the actual top and contrast layer of the body in which they will be installed.
Their tone can be best described as a convergence of the warmth and familiarity of vintage tones and the clarity and breadth of low-end not heard in a single pickup. They are genuinely one-of-a-kind pickups made in our shop in Canada.
Dingwall strings have been meticulously tested to maximize performance and deliver a tone that blends effortlessly with any style of music. We were the first company to design strings specifically for multi-scale instruments. Available in both nickel and stainless steel, our strings provide an even tension for optimal balance, letting you experience the warmest highs and the tightest lows possible.
Note: basses are shipped with Dingwall Nickel Strings