Basskid®

1) What is the Basskid?

The Basskid is an acoustic bass with a very short scale; precisely the same of a baritone ukulele (about 53 cm)

2) Where does its name come from?

The name comes from the union of the word ‘bass’ and ‘kid’; in other words, the name itself means that it is a bass suitable for kids.

3) Why was the choice made to have it this size?

There is a very important reason: its size is perfect for the age group coinciding with music education; moreover, it is a perfectly portable instrument. The timbre produced imitates double bass in every way.

To tell the truth, bass instruments of this size already exist, but an amplification system is required, whereas here it is not; and this is thanks to a type of string that only Aquila in the world makes; in other words, an elastomer loaded with copper powder.

In an instrument of this size, even normal acoustic bass wound strings could have been designed, but it would have had a very poor acoustic result (and in fact basses of this size are very rare)

4) What manufacturing specifications does it have?

The Basskid is an instrument designed to be resistant to hits and falls (very common occurrences in a class of children): the ‘Ovation’ style shell -which we manufacture ourselves- is made of black goffered ABS (but in the near future we intend to use a bioplastic).

The shell was chosen not just for commercial reasons but because by doing so, we achieve less wood consumption, lower costs, greater sound volume and better resonance on the low frequencies, which is the real problem to be solved in such a miniaturised instrument.

5) Does an instrument of this type have to be amplified as is already the case with other similar instruments?

No: as mentioned before, this is the first instrument in the world that can play acoustically without necessarily having amplification: the type of strings, the constructive characteristics and the plastic material base make an instrument able to support up to fifteen ukuleles; a fact that makes it very valuable precisely in school education. If you really want to amplify it, various systems can be installed.

6) Aren’t there other plucked and stringed instruments that can be used in class?

And what would these other instruments be? Let’s make a list: the double bass; the normal acoustic bass; the ukulele bass: these are all instruments that are both expensive, difficult to handle if you are young, and mostly need amplification systems except for the double bass.

The Basskid is therefore the first concrete answer to the problem of music education in the classroom.

7) So such an instrument will cost a huge amount of money?

Absolutely not: our company is very clear about the fact that an instrument like this must be reasonably priced, and this in order to facilitate its introduction in music schools and private institutes. In fact, the final cost is expected to be around EUR 140.