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Luthier Spotlight: Frank Scheucher, Zerberus-Guitars
How did you get your start in music?
I come from a very musical family. My father is a full-time guitar player and singer who worked in several bands; he is still active at age 76.
I got my first acoustic guitar when I was 7. When I got older, I was an active guitar player and singer in several projects.
Are you still an active player?
When I launched Zerberus-Guitars in 2002, I did not find the time to play in bands anymore. It was always great to play live on stage but now it is also great to build guitars and basses and see my customers happy.
How did you get started as a Luthier? When did you build your first bass?
When I was 13, I started building my first guitar with the help of an old joiner who lived in my little hometown. Being a guitar player I mostly focused on building guitars. I built my first bass in 2010. That bass, called “Hades,” was sold to a customer in the USA.
How did you learn the art of woodworking/Luthier? Who would you consider a Mentor?
I learned a lot about woodworking from the old joiner with whom I built my first guitar. That man taught me a lot of old techniques and tricks that were (and are) helpful in woodworking.
Earlier my grandfather also took me to his wood workshop when I was a kid. So this is when the seed and love for woodworking was sown. I will never forget the smell of sawdust and wood-oil in his workshop and even now when I am 51 Years old, I love the smell of wood.
How do you select the woods you choose to build with?
I often try to find very long seasoned and old wood from private wood stocks. Sometimes I can grab some really excellent lumber that was stored for decades in the attic of an old barn. Some of my Mahogany has been steps of a circular staircase. I love to recycle that Mahogany because you hardly will find better lumber that is seasoned so well in a shop.
If I decide to use quilted, figured or flamed Maple I buy that lumber directly from suppliers in the USA, mostly from the hills of Washington. But I also love to use native lumber from my region in Germany.
How about pickups? What pickups did you use in the past? What electronics do you use right now?
I am not bound to any brand and so I have used pickups from various companies. But I have had very good experience with Bass-Lines Humbuckers made by Seymour Duncan and MM boutique Humbuckers by Harry Haeussel, who builds amazing pickups here in Germany. In general I prefer to use humbuckers.
All my basses usually have electronics by the German company named “Glockenklang”. I think it is my roots as a guitar player that wants me to have the electronics effective but simple.
A two-band control with active/passive by push-pull-potentiometer for me is perfect. I am not into having 10 knobs on my instruments when a two-band Glockenklang control does the job. On my guitars, only passive controls and passive pickups.
Who were some of the first well-known musicians who started playing your basses?
Since Zerberus-Guitars is a very small company with only one person in the workshop (Me), I only build very small quantities of guitars and even smaller quantities of basses. So actually there are no well-known or famous bass players who own one of my basses.
Lenny Castellanos, who played with Rick Vito, tried my Hades Bass a few Years ago. He really liked it but it already was sold to another customer.
How do you develop a signature or custom bass for an artist?
This is one of the most exciting things to do. I love the interaction with customers. To define a wish and substantiate what starts as a customer´s dream is what makes this job so amazing. That starts by discussing the needs, dreams and wishes of the customer.
- What kind of music do you play?
- What kind of sound do you like?
- What kind of design are you dreaming of?
There is so much to ask and talk about.
Later I make a sketch on paper and again discuss with the customer. Then we talk about the lumber… about the top (quilted, flamed or any exotic lumber). If we are satisfied with the parameters, I start picking out the best lumber in my workshop. I take pictures and make some photo-realistic drawings with various colors and lumber. Once we are both happy about the results I start building the bass. Of course I take pictures of every step and mail them to the customer so he always can see how his dream comes real.
What are a few things that you are proud about your instruments and that you would consider unique in your instruments?
I am very proud about my instruments because they are all my babies, until I give them into the hands of a happy customer.
On my unique, custom shop projects I do all the work by hand and I don´t employ CNC machines that churn out bodies or necks every hour. That makes every guitar and bass an absolutely unique specimen and second to none. Even if I build the same bass or guitar one more time, it never will be the same.
Being a one-man-workshop, every step is done by me, from buying the wood to polishing the finished instrument; they are all mu babies. And then the smile on the customer’s face when he holds and plays his new instrument for the first time – invaluable. I don´t want to make copies of already existing instruments and I want all my guitars and basses to have my very individual note.
Which one of the basses that you build is your favorite one?
I like the Crow bass most of all because it has a two-piece Padouk Coral Lumber body and I applied some really extreme shapings on that bass.
Can you give us a word of advice to young Luthiers who are just starting out?
Often young people ask me about how to start as a guitar or bass builder. I know they might hate to hear this answer, but I always recommend they they have a good education and to find a decent job first. I think it is better to start building guitars and basses as a side-line first so you can count on your job to pay your living if the Luthier business does not work out as you expected. Being a Luthier can be a very exciting and satisfying way of life, but it also can be very frustrating and uncertain some times; it is always good to have a solid basis to rely on when times get rough.
Don´t get me wrong, being a Luthier is exciting. But if you talk with other Luthiers you will find out that many of them also work in guitar stores or wood workshops to make their living. Others build guitars and basses full-time, but most of them have learned a job. (I did and I started building guitars and basses as a side-line.)
What advice would you give a young musician trying to find his perfect bass?
Go to a music shop and give them all a try, don´t rely only on big names. There are many basses out there beside the standards and as an individual you don´t have to play what everybody plays.
What is biggest success for you and for your company?
We have exhibited at the NAMM show a few times and we will continue to exhibit at that amazing show. But the biggest success is when I see that a customer loves his new instrument. This is what makes this job so awesome and that is what makes a project a success.
Are you preparing something new, some new model or new design?
Actually I am very much focusing in building my new “gorgonized” guitars with tops made of real stone and gemstone. I launched my new models at the NAMM show in Anaheim last year and I introduced my new Chronos model with real gemstone tops (Amethyst, Tiger´s Eye and so on) at the 2017 NAMM show in Anaheim. Those guitars have real 0.2” thick gemstone tops laid into a chambered Mahogany body, and the weight is only around 8 lb.
For the time being I need to focus on the guitars, but I will build “gorgonized” basses with gemstone top as soon as I find the time.
Visit online:
- Website: zerberus-guitars.de
- Facebook: facebook.com/Zerberusguitars/
- Instagram: instagram.com/zerberusguitars/?hl=de
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