Welcome to New York Bass Works.

David Segal builds premium, hand crafted, high performance bass guitars.

After starting to play bass in 1973 Fort Lauderdale, David embarked on a quest for the ultimate in tone and playability. By 1976 he was performing Jazz, R&B, and Top 40 seven nights a week. The majority of his time was spent in wood-shedding, learning tunes, recording sessions, and tweaking his Fender Jazz basses. They were great instruments but he felt that he could improve on them. Having developed fine woodworking skills long before his bass playing adventure, it was inevitable that he would build his own basses. By 1978 he had built several excellent basses. In 1980 the bar was raised when David purchased a 1964 Jazz Bass that surpassed his previous efforts. He stopped building and started collecting and restoring old Fender basses - an important experience for his future of building fine, toneful instruments. All in all, he had about fifty of these vintage instruments over the years.

In David's own words: "By 1983, I was playing bass and keyboard synth bass in top 40, and funk/dance bands. It seemed that I was playing more keyboard synth bass than bass guitar because it was so widely used in popular music. Don't get me wrong, I do like a lot of the classic "Moog" bass lines pioneered by Stevie Wonder, Gary Wright, George Duke, Joe Vanelli and others, But keyboard bass was not my instrument and I did not enjoy playing it nearly as much as bass guitar. However, I loved and needed the LOW NOTES. There were already a few brave and talented bass builders out there crafting some really fine extended range instruments, but I needed to do my thing, my way."

Enter the low B string. There was nothing available with a low B string that sounded and played like David's basses or the vintage Jazz Basses. No longer having access to a good woodworking shop, in 1985 he took his first 5-string design to a local builder/repairman. Unfortunately, the bass did not meet the criteria. For the next few years it was trial, error, and the obsession of building the ultimate bass. By 1989 David found a great shop to work in and it was there he built his first successful 5-string bass with a graphite reinforced 34.75" scale neck. This was the true beginning of New York Bass Works. Then in 1996, David built his own shop where many refinements and additional designs continue to evolve.

Please take a look at the basses on this site (and watch for updates). They represent a portion of David's superior craftsmanship. Overall, NYBW basses possess incredible tone, unsurpassed playability, surprising comfort, and lasting reliability. Use your own imagination and then take advantage of David's experience to create your ultimate bass.