Wood...

I use many kinds of wood for my instruments. They are chosen for their characteristic sound color and look.

Typical woods used on AV-basses are: maple, ash, alder, poplar, walnut, bubinga, ovangkol, padauk, mahogany, wenge, ebony and rosewood. Depending on their availability, other types of wood can also be used. By combining woods with different types of resonance it is possible to get a wide range of tonal variations. Therefore it is possible to achieve entirely different features and look of the instrument by carefully selecting suitable wood types. For bolt-on necks I mostly use maple. On bass guitars with neck-through body construction I use combinations of woods for multiple and stable lamination. Such combinations can be maple/walnut, mahogany/bubinga/wenge/ovangkol. These combinations give charasteristic sound to my bass guitars. The body of the instrument consists of at least two pieces. It is also possible to make the body using only one piece of wood, but this depends entirely on the availability of a suitable wood. For both neck-through and bolt-on models, resonant top and back woods can be added to achieve a different look/colour and sound. For neck-through models this means adding wood either on top of the wings or on the whole surface of the body.

In general, lighter weight woods can be more easily lacquered and dyed. I mostly use either local wood from the Czech Republic or other European woods. Depending on their availability, I use exotic woods as well. Modern trends favour wide range of untraditional looking woods such as flamed, spalted or cracked woods. Apart from their looks, they are identical to the normal woods used on instruments. Each piece of wood gives its specific character to the overall tone, so every instrument has its own unique sound.

Construction of AV Guitars instruments