Welcome to hoytbasses.com
keep scrolling.........there's stuff at the bottom.
Greetings from scenic Cape Cod:
Well, it's been a relatively productive year, so far. Already I've had basses head out to Texas, Upstate New York, and Ohio. I've picked up a couple of commissions from old, dear friends and I have a PILE of basses that are in various stages of completion..........waiting in the wings for their prospective new owners to contact me:
"WHAT pile o basses ????!!!!" I hear you asking......(with much anticipation)...
A wenge on cuban mahogany 5 string with maple fingerboard, abalone position markers: black hipshot .750 spacing and Nordstrand 59J's wired passively.
A 4 string through neck: Nordy J pickups, black hipshot hardware: The laminates in the neck-through are wenge, maple, purpleheart, walnut. The wings are black walnut with a face of crotch cherry separated by purpleheart and maple laminations. Macassar ebony fingerboard and abalone position markers flesh out this bass.
A Lacewood on mahogany 5 string: (Australian lacewood, the cool 3d kind, not the snakeskin -looking brazilian stuff) 19mm string spacing, single Nordstrand Fatstack in the sweet spot. Macassar ebony fingerboard on a quarter-sawn maple /purpleheart 3 piece neck.
a solid honduras mahogany BOOKMATCHED bass body with cocobolo fingerboard on quarter-sawn neck. You pick the hardware, # of strings, pickup combination etc.......
THREE solid figured cherry solid bodies: same as the mahogany body: you pick all the details.......
A Koa on slightly figured soft maple bodied 4 string: quarter sawn maple neck with matching koa headstock: Nordy J's onboard with black hardware, macassar ebony fingerboard (16" radius) . The soft maple is not heavy wood: I may dye the whole enchilada a hot red color and clear coat it in automotive urethane!! so there!......
I also build acoustic bass guitars, regular acoustic guitars, electric uprights, and Jazz archtops:-)
One thing I DON'T do is make classy web pages. I'm too busy making sawdust and helping teens build their dream guitars.
All About me:
Chances are, if you are here reading this page, you already know who I am and what I'm all about. I teach woodworking and guitar building to high school kids on the cape. This is the thing I was called to do and the thing I just love. I've been building stringed instruments since 1978, been playing in bands since I was 14, and am a husband, father and grandfather. My family is the center of my existence. (I have to be nice to them so they'll feed me when I'm a codger.)
I build instruments as a weekend warrior, so I take on very few commissions. I prefer to build stuff up and then look for a good home. For some unknown reason, I'm suddenly in demand .... so if you'd like to commission an instrument, expect a 6 month waiting time (+/- ) but I'd love to talk with you about it. E-Mail me!
You can also ask around the net......... lots of people , especially in the better known bass player websites, know me and a couple of people actually like me (just don't ask Bob or Mark Gollihur... they'll throw you out on your ear!*******) . What I think you'll hear is that my prices are fair, I take the time to listen, and I'm easy to work with.
and if I can't help you, I know many builders who may be perfect for your dream bass.
thanks for stopping by and don't forget to turn the lights out when you leave!
kfh
****** actually they're dear friends who, between them, own something like 6 of my instruments, and as long as I pay them royalties for being nice to my prospective clients they'll say nice things about me :-)