With the Archtop Acoustic Bass The Duke, Christian Stoll reinvented the wheel bass. While The Legendary Acoustic Bass from 1986 was a sensational development, The Duke seems to outwit the laws of acoustics and nonchalantly disproves the statement "the larger the body volume, the deeper the bass sound". Despite the smaller body, The Duke Archtop Bass surprises with an assertive bass sound, impressive volume and brilliant highs.
The body is significantly smaller than the one of The Legendary Acoustic Bass (530mm / 143 mm) with a width of 430 mm and a depth of 120 mm. The scale length is 864 to 903 mm.
The Archtop Bass is equipped with a multiscale fingerboard that perfects intonation and playability. F-holes and a tailpiece with a double bass bridge complete the elegant appearance. The inner life of this beauty is responsible for the stunning sound.
Christian Stoll worked miracles and developed a completely new top bracing. The top arching is fundamentally different from other archtops. It is bended and can therefore be much thinner than conventional archtops and thus respond to the lightest vibrations.
The newly developed "Curved Double-A Bracing ©" is the source of the tremendous sound performance. This bracing allows for the entire top to be used for sound development, despite the classic positioning of the F-holes. The Duke has a remarkably quick response and sounds extremely crisp and present. Due to the high proportion of low mids, it is reminiscent of an electric bass. Its growling sound carries far and can exist alongside any acoustic guitar.
The bass sound is clean, clear and brilliant. The many overtones provide a transparency of tone that I have never heard before. It is loud, really loud! It's really surprising how much power it has without having to do a lot as a player. In the middle registers the timbre gets an austere note, not unlike that of a cello. The high registers, which are all perfectly accessible thanks to a wonderfully smooth transition from neck to body, radiate and invite you to play solos and chords.
Bass Quarterly
Like all our instruments, the Archtop Bass can be built of different woods, but we recommend the Maple/Spruce combination. We have chosen Black Locust for the fingerboard, Rosewood or Ebony are also possible.
| Type: | Acoustic Bass |
| Class: | State of the Art |
| Back/Sides: | Maple |
| Top: | Sitka Spruce |
| Neck: | Spanish Cedar (dove tail joint) |
| Scale Length: | 864 / 903 mm |
| Fingerboard: | Black Locust, multiscale fingerboard |
| Machine Heads: | Schaller nickel & security lock |
| Bridge/Nut: | Bone |
| Strings: | Elixir E-Bass Nanoweb |
| Finish: | Nitrocellulose, satin gloss |
| Weight: | 2,100 g |
| Case: | Luxury Gigbag |
| Options: | 4-string, 5-string, 6-string lefthanded model, pickup at choice |
| More: | Review by Bass Quarterly Expert talk on acoustic basses Our Concept How to order a STOLL Custom Shop |
| RRP: | 4-String: € 7,000.- 5-String: € 7,900.- 6-String: € 8,900.- prices without pickup |
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