by Jonathan Herrera
Hotwire Double Bass
Scale length: 34"
Weight: 9 lbs, 5 oz
Body: Alder with spruce top
Neck: Maple with ebony fingerboard
Options: Brass bridge; Leo Quan BadAss bridge; Numerous exotic wood tops
Germany’s Hotwire, the brainchild of bass fanatic (and sometime record producer)
Bert Gerecht and luthier Magnus Krempel, is unabashed when it comes to
describing its mission. Hotwire aims to design the ultimate Fender-style Jazz
Bass. But rather than solely relying on the solidbody passive-pickup approach of
esteemed vintage Fenders, Hotwire uses the basic J-Bass mold as a launch-pad for
design improvisation. The Double Bass may look like a relatively ordinary Jazz
clone, but behind its conservative exterior lies a remarkable semi-hollow
chamber. To get quasi-upright tone from an electric bass, Hotwire devised a
system wherein a small spruce block rests in an interior hollow chamber. An
upright-style piezo tranducer is attached to the block to pick up its vibration
in the hollow space. Hotwire desired the Double Bass to sound like a convincing
Jazz-syle fretless as well as to be the most authentically upright-like bass
guitar to date.
The Hotwire’s subdued appearance was handsome. A gorgeously figured
birds-eye-maple neck stood in pleasing contrast to the body’s muted sunburst
finish and the richly hued ebony fingerboard. Ironically, the Double Bass exudes
a similar balance of function and style to that of a well crafted upright. The
Hotwire’s fit and finish was superb. I was particularly struck by the
fascinating trellis-like ebony bridge. Hotwire designed the wood bridge, with
its separate string-end reservoirs and unique saddle design, to preserve the
Double Bass’s natural, woody tone. The Double Bass is also available with a
brass-saddle-equipped bridge of similar design or a more traditional Leo Quan
BadAss II bridge. Perhaps the bridge contributed to the Double Bass’s
exceptional tone, but I had a difficult time installing strings, as several sets
were too wide at their ball end on the B string.
From a playability perspective, the Double Bass was hard to fault. It’s light
and well balanced, due in part to its semi-hollow body and low-profile C-shaped
neck reminded me of a mid-’60s Fender Jazz, only wider. Our tester came equipped
with nylon tapewound strings (Hotwire also sent a nickel-plated set). If you’ve
never played tapewounds, you’ll be shocked at their pliability and unique
texture, but once you’ve learned to exploit their unique sonic personality you
can produce astonishingly fat tone. Tapewounds seemed particularly well suited
to the Double Bass, so I favored them for most of my testing.
I played the Double Bass in our Soundroom, on numerous funk and jazz gigs,
as well as on a recording session with a singer-songwriter. The Double Bass
poured out definitive jazz-style fretless tone, with a twist. Without even
engaging its piezo pickup, the Double Bass’s dual-magnetic-pickup design and
simple tone control yielded a vast array of sweet sounds. The familiar
dual-volume arrangement worked great for dialing in neck-pickup hugeness,
back-pickup burp, and everything in between. Though lacking in treble response,
the tapewounds had a luscious, brooding quality, particularly with both pickups
full-up. Soloing the piezo was astonishing. With my eyes closed, it sounded
remarkably like an upright. Alright, it was no Claudot, but it was incredibly
convincing. To get even closer, I tweaked the tone control to add high-end bite
and rounded out the sound with a touch of magnetic pickup. My only complaint is
with the piezo’s tendency to feedback and pick up ambient room noise. On a
studio date I wanted to use the upright-like tone, but was unable to due to its
noisiness. On live gigs with an attentive sound engineer, however, you’d be hard
pressed to find a more convenient and realistic alternative to the doghouse.