Hiro Miura Interview (3/3)

"Story of my bass"

PCI: Please tell us about the characteristic of Xotic bass.
Hiro: Right now, I build about 50 bass and guitars a year by myself. I think that would be the biggest characteristic, but in order to build more products, I have decided to ask my long time friend and respected guitar builder Michael Tuttle to take over part of the guitar building this year. He is a wonderful guitar builder who has worked with Don Grosh for a very long time, and with his help, I believe I can continue to deliver the products with same quality. Second characteristic would be the use of Kent Armstrong pickup. When I started Xotic, everyone else was using Bartolini or EMG. They are both great pickups, but if I used these pickups, my bass would become just another same sounding bass, only in different shape. To avoid this problem, I searched wide, and found Kent Armstrong. They are always very helpful to meet with my specific orders, and with this pickup, I was able to achieve the bottom end that Bartolini or EMG could not achieve. A also use my original preamp. Although it is common to use 3-band preamp, 2-band was more common when I started. I used 3-band with independent mid-control with 4 frequency ranges to choose from. I also put output gain control. Even after 12 years, I use the same basic structure.

PCI: How about electric circuits?
Hiro: We are trying different tone capacities. Personally, I am currently into a capacitor called Hovland. It can bring down the tone without muffling the sound. It is most effective when performing with a band because the sound cuts through.

PCI: How are you accepting orders?
Hiro: In the US, I mostly receive orders directly from the customer. I get a lot of inquiries from the internet as well. The rest is by referral from musicians. In Japan, you can put in the order at the retail store or you can contact the distributor, PCI.

PCI: How long is the delivery time?
Hiro: It's approximately 4~5 months.

PCI: Many famous bass players use Xotic bass. What type of request do you receive from these players?
Hiro: John Penna, who recently stared using XJ just requested us to look into the hum noise that is specific to JB, when synch for 2 volumes are not lined up. I am hoping John Sur to make the Silent Plate for JB... Many musicians that use XB are used to the precision bass and they would request for string spacing to be 20mm no the bridge. I also get many requests to make extra room between the 1st string and the fingerboard since 1st string is used the most. I took this into consideration and try to leave as much room as I can on the 1st string side. Also, there are surprising numbers of left hand bass players. Many of them learn to play the right handed bass reversed, so many of them order left handed bass with the thinnest string on the top. Katsuji Morioka, who uses 6 strings XB, requested a pick guard for the strap and finger lamp. We also repositioned the strap button for him. Kiichiro Komobuchi also uses the XB and he requested for a smaller body with the exact same sound.

PCI: What is the goal for Xotic bass?
Hiro: I would like to provide a versatile bass like Fender jazz bass, an instrument that is not bound by any genre and are flexible to deal with any music, and I would also like to be able to provide them at a reasonable price. I don't need to become a bigger shop. I just want to build audacious bass with original pickup and bridge designs.