THOR BASS WU-6

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Mike was the genius behind the styling and overall shape of this killer bass. Studio techs say it has an unbelievable fundamental tone. And why wouldn't it, with a Moses Graphite neck (MJ-156: a 35" scale!) Bartolini pickups, African wenge surrounded by black walnut and a Wilkinson bridge.

   I truly feel that the major instrument manufacturers do not make consistently good instruments anymore, in regards to bass guitars.  This is not a wild boast on my part, but an opinion that I have carefully formulated.  My very first bass was a Korean - made Gibson.  It is a copy of the venerable Fender Jazz Bass body.  It served the purpose, for the time being.  The next one was a beautiful '68 Fender Precision Bass.  This classic beast has been an incredible bass.  I have played it out from the Southern Tier of New York to Toronto, Canada.  What a phenomenal live sound.  I'll tell you, there is no need for a compressor / limiter  with that Ash body and maple neck / fret board.  The sustain is almost out of control.  I still own that bass, but, she's been retired to studio work only.

   As the years progressed, so did the style of music that I played.  I went from the classic sound of British heavy metal, to a more subtle in-your-face type progressive rock.  Influenced greatly by the emergence of Dream Theater, I was quickly (and easily) persuaded to look for a non-traditional 5 string bass.  I immediately went back to my old favorite, Fender.  Now, everybody knows that a few years after the infamous CBS buyout, Fender instruments were not being made to the high standards that Leo Fender held them too.  But, if you bought the American made basses, you were pretty safe.  In a local music shop, I found a USA Fender Jazz bass 5 string.  It had a great blue finish and Lace Sensor pickups.  I loved the way it played.  It was so smooth.  The body was almost perfectly balanced.  I bought it, brought it home, re-wrote the bass lines to our tunes to include the low "B" and found out to my dismay that this $1100 dollar bass sucked big time in the studio and wasn't much better on the stage.  It sounded almost as bad as the Ibanez SG I had owned for one year.  The electronics were horrible, even after several adjustments by HG Thor.  I was truly put out.  I was forced to finish the studio project we were on at the time with my venerable '68, without any of that low "B" power.  Fearless and undaunted, I went on looking for that perfect bass.

   I searched all over the place.  Rochester's House of Guitars, both of the local music establishments, and even several trips to my old stomping grounds in NYC.  I tried Alembic, Tobias, Ernie Ball, more Fenders, even G&L's, and there was nothing that I could stomach.  Each bass had it's great points, but none were complete, for my specs.  They may differ from yours.  Well, maybe just a little background on me before you think I'm whining.  I have very small hands.  I play all fingerstyle.  I love odd time signatures (progressive freak, go figure) and I love the feel of non - laminated necks.  The action must be tight, but no neck buzz.  Of course that comes with technique, but like with an Ibanez, sometimes you can't help it.  Needless to say, I was becoming very discouraged.

   One fine summer day at the Guitar Shop on Bunn Hill Road in Vestal, NY, I was conversing with friend, and the only man in this world I trust with the care of my instruments, HG Thor.  After complaining to him for a couple of hours, he asked, "Why don't I just make you one."

   The light bulb came on.  Hey, right here in little Vestal, NY, lives on outstanding luthier.  I had seen his guitars, of course.  Played them and jammed with HG on several occasions.  He had made basses before.  They were the standard body shapes, but well constructed all together.  We went to work on the design immediately.

   First was the wood.  After doing quite a bit of research, and relying on HG's knowledge of woods and their individual tones, I decided on Wenge, a very dense African wood, to set the pickups on.  Wenge is used by Tobias for their tone plates.  It favors very robust low end sound.  HG suggested that we finish the wings with black Walnut, just for the mids.  I threw in to half-inch strips of maple to offset the very dark Wenge and the medium colored black walnut.

   Next was the neck.  HG had been researching Moses graphite for some time.  He had called their owner and discussed being a dealer after the demo necks sent to him completely kicked ass.  HG promptly turned me on to these new necks.  The density was the same as maple wood, so the neck wound mimic that sound.  I wanted 24 frets, six strings with a 35 inch scale (by the way, this is just an opinion, but if you are going to buy a 5 or higher stringed bass, go 35 inches because in my experience, 34 inches does not cut it.  There is way to much neck buzz  as the low strings do not have enough tension).  They did not have this specific configuration, they had had 26 frets on the 35 inch scale.  Well, this was our first production delay.  HG, in his wisdom and incredible people - skills, convinced Moses to make a special neck to our specs.  That made all the difference in the world.  Moses sent the blueprints of the neck and said it would be ready in eight weeks.  So, I set to work on the body shape.

   The body is not exactly traditional, but not exotic.  I spent many hours designing, re-drawing, fussing and flapping (in priestly black like a murder of crows - Sting) and generally in a huff about the body shape.  When I finally got one, HG made a template for it.  We modified it to fix my body and playing position exactly.  Now, just think about it.  You normally say, hey I want a custom bass, use this hardware and they make it, you play it.  When have you heard of an amateur musician getting a custom instrument fitted to them?  Well, HG will do that for you.

   Pickups.  I hate active electronics for bass.  That's just personal preference.  I did, however want Bartolini pickups.  In my opinion, and many others, Bartolini's are the absolute best bass pickups money can buy.  HG called the factory direct after I had picked the frequency settings for the neck and bridge pickups.  As the pickups needed to be made, HG and I turned our attention to the other hardware.

   Sperzel locking tuners were picked as the machine heads.  They rule.  The only other tuners that I have seen that are as good are Paul Reed Smith tuners.  But, I don't believe that he makes them for bass.  The bridge is a Wilkinson.  It is a four-way adjustable bridge.  I highly recommend them for 5 and 6 string basses (I prefer Leo Quans for the fours).  I hate multiple knobs and pots.  Gadgets and buttons and switches are for guitarists.  I had HG put on a master volume and master tone.  The knobs are push / pull so that you can switch the pickups between single and dual coil.  There is also a toggle that selects pickup settings.  Three switched, no hassle for playing out.

  The bass was completed four months later.  HG did all the routing and electronic work.  I helped on some of the sanding.  HG finished the body with a polish, as I don't like the varnished feel.

  In summary, the neck is huge, but manageable.  It sustains forever.  I had to readjust my technique to handle it and keep it under control.  The action is so low and there is no buzz.  The Moses necks have two truss rods for precision positioning (HG also sprinkled some of his famous magic dust on it).  I have not played it's equal, I have not heard it's equal live.  It's looks are both traditional and unique.  The studio sound is probably the very best thing about it.  Get in touch with HG, he has recordings, you'll just have to hear it.  I have not bought another bass in years.  There is no reason to.  I will probably never need another bass again.  My only complaint is that it's very heavy, and that's what makes session recording the very best thing about it.  If you are having the same problems as I did, call HG, design a body, and have him make a bass for you.  I got exactly what I wanted.  Cheers.....

M. Wu

Nov. 19,1998