Tony Revell Custom Acoustic Bass

Tony Revell (independent builder based in Newport, Wales, UK)Custom 4-string Acoustic Bass Neck type: Long scale, set, three-piece laminate of flamed maple with a thin rosewood centre strip (modelled on the neck of my thru-neck Aria SB700). Exclusive heeless construction. Rosewood headstock facing with custom Celtic-Cross inlay. Fingerboard: Rosewood, 19 frets, pearl dots Body: Solid flamed maple back and sides, solid spruce top. Cutaway. Rosewood binding, bridge and thumb-rest. Finish: Natural wood, thin matt finish varnish Pickups: N/A. Controls: N/A Hardware: Chrome Schaller machineheads and brass nut.

The sound of the bass is very deep as it has a large body (like an expanded "Santa-Fe" shape) based on an acoustic model which Tony had already been making for some time. The tone is very deep and clear, with a good sustain and a degree of "bloom" to the notes (quite unlike the indistinct dull thud which so many acoustic basses produce ? certainly at the time!). A real player's bass. Of course, one of the first questions Tony asked was, "how do you want it to sound?"
The bass is a true acoustic with no pickup fitted and is used mostly at home for practice and for very special sounds on recordings. I have used it live miked with an SM57 or SM58 and it works well in this situation too (although I'd probably leave it at home on a "metal" gig!!). Frankly, though, I've been unconvinced by most electro-acoustic bass sounds I've heard live or on record ? they just don't sound like "acoustic" basses. If I want to go plugged-in on a stage I'd rather just use the Wal or the Aria. However as an acoustic bass I have never heard or played better than my (not so) little beauty.

I bought this acoustic bass in 1992 from Tony Revell who is an independent builder based in Wales and is best known for his mandolins and blues, parlour and rag-time guitars. The finish is natural wood with a thin matt varnish. The icing on the cake however is the ingenious cutaway and heel design where the neck seems to simply merge into the body with no separate heel. This gives excellent access to all the frets. I simply haven't seen it bettered on another acoustic bass. The intonation is excellent right up to the top fret. A number of the bass's features are custom options which I specified. The neck and string-spacing is modelled on my old thru-neck Aria bass (my main bass up to that time). Because of that the bass felt familiar and easy to play from day one. The thumb-rest was specially designed to avoid dampening the sound-board while providing a good anchor point for the right hand (a necessary evil and something I specified, it is probably the only cosmetic flaw on the bass). Finally, the head-stock inlay was done to link in with the folk-rock band I played in at the time. When I bought it the only production models available in the UK were Guilds and Washburns (at a much higher price) and in my opinion the Revell just blows them away. Even today I haven't played an acoustic bass which, for me, compares (the Otter by Brook and the Fylde long-scale acoustic basses do come quite close, though).

It is, of course, more fragile than a Precision but with the appropriate level of care has given me 8 years of service so far without a single complaint!

Like most independent and small makers the degree of customer service offered was excellent. Tony brought some sample guitars, woods etc when he came up to visit a relative who lives near me so that we could have an in-depth chat about the design and he could take measurements from my bass. There has never been any problem with the bass so after-sales service is hard to judge. However, if the care and service offered during the making was anything to go by, it wouldn't be a problem to get it fixed if the unthinkable happened.
My wife asked Tony to make me a custom stand for it for my birthday the next year. He took the trouble to make it to suit the size of the bass and used the same woods as he had used for the bass so it would match. That's customer service.

The bass has the most lovely, deep resonant sound. Plays like a dream and felt like an old friend from the very first day because of the custom-spec neck.
When I bought it the only production models available in the UK were Guilds and Washburns (at a much higher price) and in my opinion the Revell just blows them away. Even today I haven't played an acoustic bass which, for me, compares (the Otter by Brook and the Fylde long-scale acoustic basses do come quite close, though).
Simply the best acoustic bass I have ever played! Bar none!