Christian Noguera interview english

Bassistes, musiciens, luthiers ......découvrez les interviews
Avatar de l’utilisateur
Bruno Chaza
Maestro
Maestro
Messages : 2513
Inscription : 07 sept. 2004, 21:51
Localisation : France

Christian Noguera interview english

Message : # 25082Message Bruno Chaza »

Interview with Christian Noguera by Thomas Giverne
Translation : Nadine Deichtmann

--------------------------------------------

Website Christian Noguera : https://www.noguera-basses.com/atelier.php

--------------------------------------------

Bass Bruno Chaza Signature fret : https://www.brunochaza.com/basse-signature-fret.htm
Bass Bruno Chaza Signature fretless : https://www.brunochaza.com/basse-signature-fretless.htm
Bass Bruno Chaza Signature piccolo : https://www.brunochaza.com/basse-signature-piccolo.htm

Videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCyKEwqW3qI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRM_ojd3hLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu4DD8zhqq4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nFoJQ1hfjc

--------------------------------------------

How the woods, you use, help you in your quest of sound ?
The choice of the woods is important because they are the ones that spread and sustain the chord’s sound. Each one has its own fundamental vibration. The fretboard’s wood widens or reduces the sound spectrum, The wood of the body and the top strengthens or fades some medium and low medium frequency. For example a maple fretboard has a wider spectrum than an ebony one. A body in a low density wood as the alder, The basswood or the swamp ash will favor deeper low-medium frequency while the woods of high density such as maple, bubinga or french ash benefit medium frequency. But we have to thinkfurther because the sound of an instrument is based on multiple parameters that provide an alchemy.

What do you think about the neck-through, the bolt-on neck and the glued one ? Why those three choices exist?
They react differently. The neck-through has a slower response time than the bolt-on one, as a result the sound has less attack but more envelope, that is to say an harmonic richness.
For the moment, I manufacture bolt-on neck, they are a little more suitable for the modern techniques but the two concept are interesting.

How the pickups’ position influences the sound of the bass guitar? What’s the difference between a simple coil and a dual coil?
The closer to the bridge the pickup is, the higher the sound is. When the pickup is close to the neck the sound is deep. A simple coil pickup has a crystal clear sound and a wide (treble) audio spectrum. A dual coil pickup has a thick sound with more bass presence and less treble due to the phase shift of the two coils. The wiring of the dual coils can be in series connection: strong output level with attack, or in parallel: a warm round sound with less output level.

bruno-chaza-fret-bass-08.jpg
bruno-chaza-fret-bass-08.jpg (91.77 Kio) Consulté 14344 fois

You build your bass guitar with a zero fret, what for?
A zero fret has the same utility as a nut, it has the advantage of tuning the fretted or open-string chords the same. It also gives the perfect height to the strings because it is on the same level as the other frets which is not always the case with the instruments equipped with a nut. Nevertheless it doesn’t maintain the strings laterally so it’s essential for the string guide to be close to the
zero fret and that the strings lean correctly on the zero fret ( use a flap-strings). In my opinion each type of tuning fork’s stop [(zero fret + string guide, nut in the fingerboard (Jazz bass) or at the end of the fingerboard)] has its pros and cons and has to fit the conception and style of the instrument ( vintage, modern, regular headstock or reversed one).

Why would you put two tension bars in a neck?
As I see it to put one or two bars in the neck is not the point, you have to be able to provide a stable ergonomic and adjustable neck. You have to fit the instrument structure and the number of strings. Personally, most of the time I only insert one (home made) bar on the 4, 5 or even 6 strings bass; two for more strings with a neck in a unique maple piece. Sometimes I insert some carbon as additional help to stabilize the neck in delicate combination of woods but the most important stays in the wood choice (the quality of the drying and the choice of the fiber direction for the mechanic robustness) I realize on my last visits that you were constantly searching to push further the limits of traditional bass guitar

According to this would you tell us about the innovation you made in few words?
I don’t claim any innovation. I only try to find some homemade solution to the different problems I encounter building an instrument. To be able to change the instruments I believe that you have to be in constant questioning. Lately I worked a lot on the electronic aspect to fight the ever-present electromagnetic pollution. It made me develop a “hum cancelling” system for the single coils and conceive a new pre-amp.


Traduction de cette interview du luthier Christian Noguera faite par Thomas Giverne : Nadine Deichtmann


bruno-chaza-fretless-bass-07.jpg
bruno-chaza-fretless-bass-07.jpg (93.55 Kio) Consulté 14340 fois
bruno-chaza-piccolo-bass-15.jpg
bruno-chaza-piccolo-bass-15.jpg (142.08 Kio) Consulté 14340 fois
Avatar de l’utilisateur
Bruno Chaza
Maestro
Maestro
Messages : 2513
Inscription : 07 sept. 2004, 21:51
Localisation : France

Re: Christian Noguera interview english

Message : # 25668Message Bruno Chaza »

Merci à Nadine Deichtmann pour cette traduction de l'interview de Christian Noguera.
Répondre