UB Willow Special Deluxe - by Eric Rene Roy

Entirely handmade by our award wining luthier Eric Rene Roy

"This instrument was a lot of fun...and a challenge! The owner commissioned this instrument and was very patient as we worked together to build a unique bass to suit his playing needs. I built in qualities and features that were important to him, and in return he was receptive to design elements that happened "on the fly". Most notably was the purfling and recurve of the arch following a "guitar" shape. Willow is a softer wood than maple, and I went a bit thicker with it than I could ever do with maple. I got concerned at one point that the violin corners would be weakened by carrying the recurve/arching to the ends and they might be more prone to breaking off than a maple bass...so I wanted to keep the full thickness if the plate edge throughout the corners. I started sketching on the bass what I envisioned and sent some photo's to the owner, and he loved it! The result was visually stunning and although it was quite difficult to execute, it was a rewarding process that I would do again. Another design element was abandoning our Prescott "Lafaro" ff holes and finding something Italian. We settled on a nice Matteo Goffriller (1659–1742) ff hole from a fantastic double bass with a fully carved POPLAR back! I still have the template if anyone is interested in customizing their bass...(nudge, nudge, wink, wink)..."

"The color was a bit different too...he really wanted something RED...and polished to the point of looking WET. We haven't done one this red since...mainly because it took us over a year to actually list bass bass on our site! We do have a commission right now of a custom Hybrid that needs to be red...so I guess we will dust off this recipe and head back to the varnish room!"

" The tone was fantastic! In fact as the deadline for a bass being completed in time for the 2009 ISB Makers Competition approached and I was behind schedule on my bass (I did end up entering it and won a Silver Medal for Tone with no Conditions!) I was about to contact the owner of this willow concert to see if I could borrow it back for the competition!"

"I have enough willow from the tree left to make one more bass!  Please call to discuss commissioning this double bass!"