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SYLPHID 

Sylphid - a supernatural spirit believed to inhabit the air. A suitable name for a bass which is so light weight it almost  feels like it floats. We have thrown traditionalism out of the window with this bass.

SYLPHID 

a modern neck through, 5 string, medium scale (32”) headless design with a hi-fi voice. Weighing in at under 3KG it defies expectations, especially considering the bass pictured here is made from solid Oak, a wood which is often (wrongly) dismissed as too heavy, when in fact it’s no heavier than a number of other woods commonly used in luthiery.

Features Overview

Headless 5 String

32” scale

Neck through

24 Stainless steel frets

Bog Oak fingerboard

3pc Oak Neck

Burr Oak wings

SIMS Superquad pickup

Glockenklang 2 band EQ

Custom Burr Oak pickup cover

Custom Burr Oak mute

Nova bridges

Oil finish

Schaller Straplocks

The bass only features one species of wood - English Oak, but we have showcased it here in three very different types. The neck is a 3 piece construction of  ¼ sawn Oak featuring some beautiful medullary rays - a home grown alternative to Flamed Maple. The wings are highly figured Burr oak sourced locally and the fretboard Bog Oak which is the same species of Oak except it has been submerged in a bog for hundreds (if not thousands) of years and over time it turns black and very hard - a home grown alternative to Ebony.

Tuning takes place at the bridge thanks to the Nova bridges which are handmade in Brazil.

 Instead of the usual stumpy headless look at the end of the neck  we have a smaller headstock which echoes the body shape, on top of this sits a custom mute covering the Nova headpiece. This mute features foam on the back to stop any sympathetic vibrations and magnets at the top to keep it firmly in place. This mute has also had the Manton logo burnt into it by a local Pyrography artist.

Manton Customs Sylphid Oak Headless 5 string bass

The bass features the SIMS Superquad pickup, which has 3 different voices (MM, Jazz and Precision) accessible by a toggle switch and indicated by the LED on the pickup. The pickup itself is housed in a custom cover made of the same Burr Oak as the wings. The SIMS pickup is paired with a Glockenklang 2 band preamp to ensure the bass can cover an even wider range of sounds.

SYLPHID 

 Short Scale Headless 5 String

Features Overview

30” scale

24 fret

5 piece Walnut neck (carbon fibre reinforced)

Ebony fretboard

Claro Walnut burr top and tone block

English Walnut wings

Sims Super Quad pickup

Claro Walnut burr pickup cover

Claro Walnut burr headpiece mute

Glockenklang 2 band preamp

Nova bridge

Bone nut

Weight 7lbs

Sylphid short scale 5 string headless bass (16).jpeg

This time we decided on Walnut in different varieties. A beautiful Claro Walnut burr top on the wings and tone block on the back, English Walnut for the wings themselves and a 5 piece American black Walnut neck.

 

We bent the one wood rule a little and introduced a second wood (Ebony) for the fretboard, as it’s a bit more hard wearing than Walnut and adds some nice contrast visually and ties in with the black accents throughout.

The pickup is the Sims Super Quad and is housed in a custom pickup cover made from the top wood. The main feature of these Super Quad pickups is that they have a switch to go between Jazz, Precision and Musicman modes, so it’s like 3 pickups/basses in one! We also have a Glockenklang 2 band preamp with active/passive push/pull, so there are plenty of different tones available.

Sylphid short scale 5 string headless bass (5).jpeg
Sylphid short scale 5 string headless bass (17).jpeg

The bass is technically headless and all tuning takes place via the excellent Nova bridge, but there is also a small headstock where the headpiece sits. On top of this we have another off-cut from the top wood with a foam backing to sit over the strings. This acts as a mute to eliminate any potential unwanted sympathetic vibrations (in the same way a fret wrap does).

The end result was a super comfortable, perfectly balancing short scale 5 string headless bass, weighing just 7lbs.

Please remember, any of our models can be specified with a different number of strings, scale length, frets, pickups or anything else for that matter! Also we offer the option for you to design your very own unique guitar or bass with your own body shape and specifications.

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