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LIMITED EDITION HOLLOW-BODY LIGHTNING BUG
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June 2010
Azola is not accepting any new orders.
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Please click the "Show All" button to view all photos.
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Here is a summary of how a Limited Edition hollow-body Lightning Bug is built -
Azola has found Ash and Mahogany to be favorites among wood choices for the solid-body basses through the years. They sound good, and hold up well through climate change and lots of road use. For the hollow-body basses, these will most often be the woods chosen for the back and sides, sometimes with more exotic woods chosen for tops. A slab for the back of the bass is chosen from our special stash of seasoned wood. The top wood is chosen from an array of wildly figured striped Ebony or other interesting and exotic billets. The back and top are carefully cut, bookmatched, shaped and sanded by Steve. The top is given a proprietary parallel bracing system which runs from the neck joint all the way down to the tailpiece. The distinctive f-holes add a nice visual touch, although they don't always show up clearly in a photo. The f-holes also facilitate the type of vibration characteristics one desires in this style of instrument - imparting as much authenticity to the sound and feel as possible. The sides of the bass are actually a cut "skeleton" from our same seasoned wood stash.
Once he has the back and top ready, Steve cuts, shapes and sands the sides, and glues on the back and then the top, to make the bass body a complete entity. He also also cuts, shapes and sands the two-piece Maple neck, giving it a dark line accent, and makes the fingerboard. Then he glues them together...for life. He gives the fingerboard its final planing, then bolts the neck to the body once he completes all the finish work.
Finally he assembles and sets-up the bass in a comfortable and player-friendly fashion. All Azola basses (with the exception of the dedicated "Latin" models) have the same pickup/preamp configuration which makes them extremely versatile ... you can go from sort of a percussive Latin-type feel, to a big wooly acoustic sound, to a more growly, slippery sound, depending on how you adjust your controls, how you have your action set, and the playing techniques you employ.
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Players who have chosen Limited Edition hollow-body versions of the Gypsy, Lightning Bug, and BugBass include:
* Tony Banda - Poncho Sanchez, Banda Bros.
* Attila Bene - Canada
* Chuck Bernklau - NY bassist
* Massimo Biolcati - NY bassist
* Jaime Covarubias - So Cal bassist with Orq Tabaco Y Ron
* Harry Doshay - San Diego area bassist
* Harley Geller - Charlotte, SC bassist
* Bruce Grafrath - San Diego bassist
* Wolfgang Groeschel - German bassist
* Ike Harris - Nashville bassist with Crystal Gayle
* Sid Heilbraun - Asheville, NC bassist with Plato de Mambo
* Rev Hillstrom - MN bassist with Blue Dog
* Devin Hoff - SF Bay Area bassist with The Nels Cline Singers, Devin Hoff Platform, and others
* Ben Isaacs - The Isaacs (Nashville)
* Alan Levenson - Northern CA bassist
* Johnny Marckx - San Diego, CA bassist
* Pavel Molina - Los Van Van (Cuba)
* Rebecca Murphy - WV bassist
* Nathan Peck - NY bassist with Alex Skolnick
* Clyde Reed - Vancouver bassist
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