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Every New York Bass Works instrument is the result of deliberate authorship.

Not assembly. Not configuration. Authorship.

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While the materials we use are widely understood - ash, alder, maple, carefully developed electronics-the outcome is not defined by ingredients alone. It is defined by the decisions governing how those ingredients are balanced, refined, and brought into focus.

Those decisions come from a lifetime of playing, listening, building, and refining.

They cannot be automated. They cannot be outsourced. And they cannot be replicated by specification alone.

The Palette Behind the Work

Both David Segal and David Beasley are lifelong musicians, builders, and devoted students of tone.

Outside the workshop, both are avid home cooks - a pursuit that mirrors instrument making in profound ways.

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A recipe provides structure. But it is the palate - the sensory understanding developed over decades - that determines the outcome.

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Two people may use identical ingredients and arrive at entirely different results.

The difference lies in judgment.

Knowing when something is correct.
Knowing when something can be improved.
Knowing when to leave something alone.

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Our instruments reflect the convergence of two fully developed palettes, continuously refined through incremental improvement. The recipe evolves, but its authorship remains constant.

This is where the voice of a New York Bass Works instrument is formed.