The company BassLab produces stringed instruments, mainly basses and guitars, and also some versions of the

Chapman Stick The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines, ...

and a viola model for

Ned Steinberger Ned Steinberger (b. Princeton, New Jersey, 1948) is an American creator of innovative musical instruments. He is most notable for his design of guitars and basses without a traditional headstock, which are called Steinberger instruments. He also ...

. Each instrument is crafted of a mixed material, "Tunable Mixed Composite". The company was founded by the physicist Heiko Hoepfinger in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Every instrument is still hand-crafted in Germany. The products are distributed in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

History

In 1992, Heiko Hoepfinger started his first experiments to build a bass of a special mixed synthetic resin which he called "Tunable Mixed Composite". In late 1993 the first well-functioning instrument had been built, and the first public appearance of BassLab was at the Frankfurt Musikmesse (

) in 2001. Since then, BassLab has been represented at several trade shows and has been introduced in different international magazines. Although BassLab sells instruments all over the world, the instrument are hand-crafted in the point of origin. Today there are four basic bass models and three guitar models. BassLab also builds sticks for

Emmett Chapman Emmett Chapman (September 28, 1936 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz musician best known as the inventor of the Chapman Stick and maker of the Chapman Stick family of instruments. Career Chapman started his career as a guitarist, recor ...

, violas for

, and electronics in cooperation with Richter Electronics.

Instruments

The composite used produces instruments with high stability, very low weight, and impassiveness to humidity and temperature changes. The instruments are made in a single piece and are hollow throughout, with no internal bracing. The composite is not poured into a mold and not forced out. Therefore, the manufacturing process allows high ergonomic flexibility. BassLab instruments can be built almost any design asked. In contrast to traditional carbon/graphite composites, "Tunable Mixed Composite" does not have the reputation of sounding sterile. The composite can be adjusted to the wishes of the clients. Long

sustain In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. It may relate to elements such as amplitude (volume), frequencies (with the use of filters) or pitch. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immedi ...

, fast sound production, and the typical sound of hollowed instruments are just a few of the several specifications offered by BassLab.Beecham, W. ''Australian Guitar'' (vol. 65/2008) - L-bow review, Australia, p. 82

Notes

References

*Leigh, B. ''Bass Player Magazine'' (03/2003) - BassLab STD Review, USA, p. 62 *Beecham, W. ''Australian Guitar'' (vol. 65/2008) - L-bow review, Australia, p. 82
''Bass Inside Magazine'' (08/2002)- Review BassLab STD-V, CanadaWalte, C. ''Bass Musician Magazine'' (8/01/2007) - Basslab Soul IV and Hevos 800D Bass Head, Canada
*''Gitarre & Bass – Das Musiker-Fachmagazin'', issue 08/2007 (p. 94, p. 144), 05/2008 (p. 178), 03/2007 (p. 160), 02/2004 (p. 104), 07/2004 (p. 114), 03/2003 (p. 138), MM-Musik-Media-Verlag, Ulm, Germany

External links

Official siteOfficial USA site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basslab Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Germany Guitar manufacturing companies Electric bass guitars by manufacturer Bass guitar manufacturing companies Privately held companies of Germany Companies based in Kassel