AZOLA BASSES Handcrafted in California, USA: HOME PAGE
** December 2009 ** New Latin Bambino - 34" scale length comfort for bass guitar players - authentic Ampeg Baby Bass style percussive pickup system - fits in electric bass guitar size gig bag *without* disassembly!
Azola's NEW Latin Bambino!
IMPORTANT NEWS!!
January 2010 -
We've moved just a few miles down the road to a more efficient shop space. We're trying to use the holiday time to get ourselves operational as quickly as possible in our new workshop. Thanks for your patience if we are a bit hard to reach for a few more days. Please note our new telephone # 760.505.4094
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Azola's new Latin Bambino is ideal for the electric bass guitarist who has always lusted after a true Ampeg Baby Bass sound, but was intimidated by the upright scale length and size. Finally that percussive punch is available in a comfortable to play, convenient to transport, attractive, petite, high quality electric upright bass.
* Comfortable and familiar 34" scale length
* Authentic Azola "Latin" pickup - magnetic diaphragm system like a 1960s Ampeg Baby Bass ... all the punch and percussiveness, but with more power and better balance.
* Attractive violin shape
* Practical size
* Fits in a bass guitar-size gig bag WITHOUT any disassembly!
* Personalize your new bass with optional upgrades ... scroll headstock, exotic wood choices, etc ... we're happy to help you create a totally unique instrument - your own "signature model".
* Priced from $2500 - Please remember that this is a true hollow-body instrument requiring all of the same skill, attention to detail, labor, and parts as the rest of our top quality uprights.
* Designed and hand crafted by Steve Azola himself in California,USA The only person officially authorized by Ampeg to bring the Baby Bass back to life properly in the 1990s.
* NOT made in a Chinese or Eastern European factory. Not a South American Ampeg knock-off.
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Please be sure to visit the "Friends and Family" galleries. We're in the process of re-formatting the photos to include customer comments and performance links (youtube, myspace, etc).
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Thanks to all of you who are sending us MySpace and YouTube links showcasing Azolas in action. We are adding them to our "Links" page as they become available ... and will be incorporating them into the Gallery pages as well.
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If you plan to be in southern California, please consider making the trek up into the hills near San Diego to visit with us, if you have the time and inclination. Just let us know when you might like to come, so we can set aside some time to spend with you.
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You will see a lot more changes to the website in 2010. There are some new and exciting developments in the works. We've been updating pricing, adjusting specifications, adding more information about new models, and retiring some models, options and accessories. There are also new photos in the "Basses" gallery and the "Friends and Family" gallery. Try to read through the customer comments, which might contain useful information for those of you debating between different models.
Rising material costs, transportation costs, and overhead have once again forced us to make some price changes. Many of our suppliers have increased our costs by double digit percentages in recent years.
Before you succumb to any temptation to consider the purchase of a lower priced instrument mass-produced in an anonymous overseas factory, please give us the opportunity to help you find the right Azola bass to meet all your needs. If a new custom instrument is not within your immediate budget, perhaps we can help connect you with the right standard bass stocked by one of our select dealers ... or maybe there's an Azola brother or sister who is ready to part with their "seasoned" Azola bass and we can play matchmaker that way?
There are so many factors to consider when making such an important choice - not just your own needs as a bassist ... but think about the world economy, the environment, human rights, survival of the art of luthiery and real craftsmanship, the value of true quality. How will you feel each time you use this tool of expression in the creation of your own art? You put your heart and soul into your music, we put our heart and soul into our basses so that they can help to inspire you and encourage you to play and to stretch.
*************************************** News Archives - *************************************** January 2009:
The Azola AMBASSADOR made its debut during the 2009 NAMM show in mid-January. If you attended the show, we hope you found our prototype being used as the demo instrument for Euphonic Audio's new upright-oriented "Micro Amp Doubler".
We're excited to be ushering in the new year, and a new era in America's relationship with the world, by introducing this new Azola travel solution - The AMBASSADOR is engineered for touring, with NO disassembly required. Tuck it into its convenient padded gig bag, then into its sturdy, lightweight golf club-size travel case, and hit the road with ease and confidence.
Please visit the AMBASSADOR page for full details.
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Please be sure to visit the Limited Edition page in the Custom Shop section of our site, which features an emphasis on hollow-body basses, some with tops that match the chosen fingerboard wood ... they sound great and are extremely pleasing to the eye. This new page includes *lots* of photos.
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And although we have not officially exhibited at the winter NAMM shows in Anaheim for several years now, you probably already know just how busy we've been enhancing our line of instruments.
We remain completely buried in backlog and lots of specially commissioned projects.
The popular Gypsy Bass and new Bambino offer upright attributes in a travel-friendly 34" scale length EUB. Easiest transition for a bass guitarist moving into the upright realm. The Gypsy and several of our hollow-body bass guitars were included in the Azola display at the San Diego International Airport. The Museum of Making Music created an exhibit there entitled "Made in San Diego, Played Around the World". We were honored to be invited to participate along with the likes of Taylor Guitars. An example of our Deco Bass, Nouveau, and also the Gypsy (inspired by Tony Banda) were on display there from October 2005 through April 2006.
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** Please note that T shirts are presently out-of-stock, but we should have another run available shortly. **
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If you'd like a peek into Steve Azola's shop and a glimpse of the man at work, pick up a copy of the Jim Robert's book "American Basses" which is available through Back Beat Books.
We're also in the process of completing the "Shop Tour" section of our website Gallery.
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But if you're trying to find the right EUB *now* to suit your own particular preferences and priorities, we encourage you to investigate our most current models - the Gypsy, the Lightning Bug, the Limited Edition Hollow-body versions of all our models, the recently enhanced, fully carved Ultacoustic BugBass, the laminated Acoustic Mini and Ultracoustic Baby Basses, the industry standard BugBass II, and more! There is lots of information available here to help, and a large circle of your bass-playing siblings out there in cyber-space willing to contribute their opinions and experience to assist you. Of course, we're happy to offer advice, suggestions and more detailed information if you contact us directly by phone or email.
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All Azola basses (with the exception of the recently retired Vintage-Style Baby) have the same pickup/preamp configuration which makes them extremely versatile ... you can go from 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, the playing techniques you employ, and the amplification rig you use.
The Azola Tru-Acoustic piezo bridge pickup system has met with great response since its introduction in January 2002. Steve had a flash of inspiration which led to this great pickup epiphany. Like you, we're on a never-ending quest for ultimate tone and maximum stylistic versatility. The upright bass is an amazingly dynamic and expressive instrument. Our revised pickup system reproduces the full spectrum of our basses' natural acoustic upright character. The Azola Tru-Acoustic pickup system allows all the unique voices locked within one instrument to be released by the player.
We can offer a retrofit version of this piezo bridge system to most folks with older model Azola basses. Logistics and pricing are somewhat dependent on the model and age of your instrument, so we will need to address your needs individually.
And although we are *often* asked ... we will *not* sell this proprietary system for use on basses other than those made by Azola.
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Please contact us by email -
jill@azola.com
or by phone at 760.505.4094
If you roll to voicemail when you call, please do leave a message. We're a small operation, and do our best by devoting attention to you one at a time.
And remember, every single Azola bass is conceived and created by one man alone - Steve Azola - right here in California, USA.
AZOLA BASSES
PO Box 1519 Ramona, CA 92065-1020 USA Tel 760.789.8581
We offer a complete line of electric upright basses, acoustic electric uprights, and acoustic electric bass guitars.
All Azola basses are made by us, right here at "Rancho Bajo" (that's the "Bass Ranch") - Azola Bass Headquarters, near San Diego, in the USA.
We welcome shop visitors by appointment. Please call or email us to make arrangements, and to obtain driving directions if you plan to be in the San Diego area.
At your leisure, please click on the navigation categories(to the left or at the bottom of the page)to explore the history of our company, and to learn more about the entire family of Azola Basses.
