# Knuckle guitar works Quake Bass close up.



## thedarkoceans (Sep 16, 2011)

No Treble.com has made a close up of this great (enormous) bass guitar. 










Bigger is better. At least thats the concept behind Knuckle Guitar Works Quake, a massive 39.5&#8243; scale built-to-order bass. 
With the growing popularity of drop-tuning, bassists have to tune their strings down, which Knuckle explains harms tone by losing the upper transients. Seeing the need for better string response and tension, luthier Skip Fantry set out to create a bass to support a specific note on a specific occasion, ultimately creating his companys flagship instrument. Its designed to play a natural whole step beneath a 35&#8243; scale instrument, but in standard tuning the Quake can use lighter string guages, thereby adding more harmonic content. 
As each Quake is custom made, many options are available  bolt on or neck through construction, fretted or fretless and number of strings. Though wood choice is up to the customer, Fantry encourages the use of domestic species for environmental reasons. 
The primary wood in my necks is maple, he says, but with the carbon that the necks contain it provides the option for the addition of other species  softer species that might not otherwise be up to the task.
Fantry typically uses Hipshot Ultralight tuners, but has his own bridges. 
I am now using my own bridge hardware, but have always relied on individual string bridge assemblies on Quakes to allow custom string spreads, he says. On basses with extreme gauges particularly I use a hybrid string spacing that straddles center-to-center and equal spacing  it feels more comfortable, more natural. 
Electronics vary for each bass, depending on what the buyer wants.
The Knuckle Guitar Works Quake Bass begins at $2,750 for bolt-on construction and $3,750 for neck through. For more info, visit the companys website.
*Knuckle Guitar Works Quake Bass Gallery:*

_Click a photo for a larger view_












*Knuckle Guitar Works Quake Bass Specs:*



Scale: 39.55&#8243;
Body: Choice of Woods
Neck: Choice of Woods
Fretboard: Choice of Woods
Frets: 24
Pickups: Choice
Electronics: Passive or Active Available
Other Details: Hipshot Tuners, Individual String Bridge Assemblies, Water-Based or Shellac/Alcohol Based Finishes
Base Price: $2,750 for Bolt-on Construction; $3,750 for Neck-through Construction


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## signalgrey (Sep 16, 2011)

i still want to hear hows these sound. Whenever people on here talk about tuning basses down down to Z# I just roll my eyes because of how shitty and retarded it ends up sounding.

BUT this is the only bass company I feel that has properly addressed the physics involved in tuning that low and getting the notes to even sound good let alone be audible and not a series of "clack clack clack" noises like most retards end up getting.

color me interested


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## thedarkoceans (Sep 16, 2011)

hella yeah.


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## ZEBOV (Sep 16, 2011)

I will someday own one of these. Give me about 5 years.


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## XEN (Sep 16, 2011)

I have to commend them on the design. With the upper horn going all the way to the 12th fret it doesn't seem like it would suffer too much neck dive.
I just don't have the hands for a beast like this.


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## ShadowFactoryX (Sep 16, 2011)

that headstock might be the worst ive ever seen
aside from the wangcaster
plus i'd have no use for that scale, im no amazonian

and is there really a craze of "drop tuning" going on?


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## ixlramp (Sep 16, 2011)

Huh? ... you haven't noticed the trend for lower tunings?  

I have always found the body shape a beautiful sleek elongated design. Ergonomically the extra 4.5" is acheived by shifting the bridge to the right and shifting the nut to the left (relative to the player) by equal amounts so for your fretting hand it only feels like an extra 2.25" or so. Those who have played one say it is easy to acclimatise to. I found the headstock design grows on you with time, at least it has character ... and at least it isn't a phallic Fender clone!

A gallery of Quakes i put together: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/2341368-post22.html


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## Dayn (Sep 16, 2011)

Ugh, this isn't helping... Damn I need money for this.


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## Hollowway (Sep 17, 2011)

ixlramp said:


> A gallery of Quakes i put together: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/2341368-post22.html


Thanks for that link! That black one with the red Q Tuners totally wins!


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