Visit Our New Sales
and Repair Facility!
I've expanded my services into a full repair facility! And we now do full service repair for electric and acoustic guitars and basses at my new location:
Groat Instruments
3222 Airway Drive, #4
Santa Rosa, CA 95403-2001
Click here for Goggle Map
(707) 575-0654
10:00 am-5:30 pm M-F
This is the former location of Michael Dolan Custom Guitars. It's a larger, more commercial situation for me, and is a one-of-a-kind shop for all of Northern California.
Call me or just stop in!
And please visit my
Facebook Page
(you may have to log into your own Facebook page first)
to get a look at some of the work that goes
on daily at the Groat Instruments guitar repair shop.
The Groat Instruments
Acoustic Bass
Electric bass: thunderous lows, biting highs, chest pounding and powerful. Perfect for slap technique, right at home in loud clubs or stadiums. Magnetic pickups, single coil, double coil, active. Active circuitry allowing for shaping tonality to your liking. Fretted for punchy, fretless for singing or growling tones. A versatile instrument that has been explored in endless variation.
Yet, with all that in mind, what if, as a bassist, you found yourself longing for something more, something else? What if you were looking for the intimacy and expression that only an instrument that translates physical vibration directly into acoustic sound through the movement of wood?
If this describes you, then you should know that this is what the Groat Instrument acoustic bass is all about.
Whereas the bulk of "acoustic" bass guitars are useless without electronic amplification, the Groat Instruments acoustic bass is uncompromisingly acoustic in design. The carbon fiber body, cedar top, and carefully designed bracing, deliver the highest possible acoustic experience from an acoustic bass guitar.
The player will show in this paragraph
From a luthier with an extensive background in composite materials, the Groat Instruments acoustic bass uniquely utilizes materials that produce the best and fullest possible sound. Strike the first note on this bass, and the word likely to come of your mouth is the one that almost always voiced: "Wow". In one word the instrument's quality is validated.
No, they're not for everyone. No, they're not cheap either. Yet playing one of these basses can open a whole new universe of expression for the bass guitarist. The Groat Instrument's acoustic output is a sensuous acoustic experience, sufficient enough to play unamplified with acoustic guitar and vocals.
When playing in less intimate settings that requires amplification, the Groat Instruments acoustic bass is ready with the L R Baggs Anthem pickup system, its soul mate. This system uniquely provides the faithful reproduction of the bass's voice, while keeping feedback to a minimum. At a small additional cost, the bass can also be fitted with the Schatten Dualie, a pickup that is unequaled in recording situations for this instrument.
Each bass is built by hand by Bob Groat here in California. Only a few of these instruments are produced each year. Each bass body is individually molded, each piece of binding has been been hand laminated from selected woods. The process of created the wood grain effect on the body is an artistic endeavor, a process refined specifically for this instrument. The case for it is built by hand as well, a labour of love, from the the hand cut and individually threaded handle pins to the plush interior lining, taking 40 hours to complete, a true work of art, trimmed throughout with black walnut structural components.
The one question that remains: Are you ready to commitment yourself to an unparalleled experience in bass playing?
— Bob Groat