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Interview with Luthier Davide Cardone of Meridian Guitars by Alberto Rigoni
Interview with Luthier Davide Cardone of Meridian Guitars by Alberto Rigoni…
I recently discovered some incredible basses by Italian Luthier Davide Cardone of Meridian Guitars. I was interested to learn more about his instruments so I asked him for an interview, which he accepted right away.
(AB) Ciao Davide, first of all thank you very much for this interview! Could you tell us when and how you started your style in bass making?
(DC) Hello Alberto, thank you and a greeting to your readers. My very first experience as a Luthier goes back to about 10 years ago, when I decided it was time to try and build a bass that would enclose all the features that I appreciated in high-end musical instruments that I had played until then. The experiment didn’t turn out so well; when I first tried to string the bass, the neck cracked and headstock fell off! But all good things need several failures before they become good things, don’t they? So, since that day I decided that, if I had to build my own instrument, I’d had to do it the way it should be done. That’s when I began studying anything that would come into my sight: manuals, articles, videos, forums, as well as instruments from other manufacturers. We have come a long way since then and I am proud to say that our instruments are having a great success and that we are constantly receiving orders from all around the world.
(AB) Could you explain your approach to the design of the instruments?
(DC) Designing an instrument is not an easy task at all. You have to combine many different aspects, which are all equally important, like ergonomics, aesthetics, sound and balance. So, you see, it’s really a puzzle. The designing of our Aural II required 14 months of headaches and nights on the computer to harmoniously blend the characteristics I have mentioned above. But in the end our customers always appreciate the care we take in each step of our work, and that’s what makes us happy.
(AB) Where do you get all of your design ideas from?
(DC) We currently have three lines in production, in addition to a concept bass with a 22.5 inch scale. Each one of them has very different characteristics, in order to satisfy the needs of a vast number of musicians. Yet, all our basses share the same starting module, an essential geometric shape from which we develop the instrument in its complexity: the ellipse. Starting off from a module, an archetypical form, was taught to me during my art studies. Painting, sculpture and architecture make use of such method in exactly the same way.
(AB) What could you tell us about the tone of your instruments? What about woods and electronics?
(DC) The sound is clearly one of the elements on which we work in an extremely detailed and, most of all, customized way. When a musician comes to us with his sound in mind, we spend hours talking about the details that will make a standard instrument his very own instrument. This is achieved by having the chance to choose from a wide choice of woods and pickups, as well as by installing customized electronics that will match the pickups we select. Preamps are made by my collaborator Franco Torti, who deals with all aspects of electronics. As for the wood, we always use stocks with 25, 30 or even 35 years of seasoning, and this – I guarantee – really makes a difference. What’s more, we generally use unconventional woods, which contribute to add unique sound subtleties to every instrument.
(AB) What’s your opinion about the finishes used on the basses? Do they affect the sound?
(DC) Finishes are one of the most important things on an instrument because they have a double impact on the final product, both aesthetic and functional. A finish must be light so that it lets the wood vibrate, as well as resistant and elastic enough to go along with the wood’s movements. It wasn’t easy to find a finish that would enclose these characteristics. Many use nitrocellulose because it allows the wood to vibrate, but then they apply 25 hands on the body to get a nice glossy look… and that literally suffocates the wood and its vibrations! I think it’s about time to get away from the sixties and from the way instruments were built back then. There are new materials now, and technologies, that are far more efficient and valid.
(AB) Is there something you would like to tell to our readers?
(DC) Well, first of all I’d like to thank everyone who has read this interview up to here! If you find our story interesting I’d like to encourage you to try something different from the usual three or four brands everybody knows. The world is full of talented Luthiers with brilliant ideas that build fine instruments, and I sincerely hope that, among these, you’ll come and try out one of our basses someday… because I’m pretty sure you only need to try them once to fall in love with Meridian. See you!
Visit online at meridianguitars.com
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
Featured Videos
Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
