The Lowdown

In this episode Frankie and Eric sit down with Ed Garnero. Bass player. Bass maker. Seismologist. Educator. Artist. Ed has been building basses from scratch since around 2015. Having gigged professionally for over 40 years, he was more recently driven to build his own out of curiosity as well as a dream of a specific feel and sound -- a rich and versatile sonic spectrum from an instrument in which the player feels the vibrations fully. During the day he is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, teaching and researching seismology, geophysics, and geological sciences. As a seismologist who studies seismic waves from earthquakes, Ed has been pursuing tuned resonance channels within the body and neck to "liven" as well as lighten instruments. That, combined with exploring local and sustainable woods, is at the core of his designs. Recently he has been moving towards an open source philosophy, and will be freely giving away his design plans.