BOOTLEG
DAWG BASS 4
BY DAVID ABDO Hipshot B Style bridge Bartolini BC4C hum- cancelling pickupsBlend control for pickup balance
If you follow the NFL, you’ve likely seen highlights of the Cleveland Browns
at some point. Inevitably, Browns footage
is accompanied by scenes of the notorious
Dawg Pound, a group of passionate fans
with no-nonsense attitudes and an unwavering commitment to their team.
This mentality can also be found in
fellow Clevelander Jon Hill, whose dedication and love of guitar building has contributed professional-grade instruments
since 1989. This year, Hill introduced
Bootleg Guitars and Basses, a new line
of instruments and culmination of his
experiences as a custom luthier. One of his
models is appropriately named the Dawg,
a bass with solid tone and no frills.
installed and cleanly dressed. A closer
look at the headstock reveals a quite different, but functional, device to hold
down the strings—a dollar coin held in
place by two screws. Hill found this to be
a more cost-effective approach than purchasing imported string trees. And with
approximately 1. 2 billion of these coins
piling up in federal vaults, he though
they may as well be put to good use.
By combining these features with
Hipshot hardware and a big brass nut, Hill
has produced a Dawg that can tackle any
playing situation.
Scouting Report
Jon Hill took a less-is-more approach
when designing the Dawg bass. There
is no over-the-top flashiness on the
instrument—just a smooth, satin finish
that invites the player to get down and
dirty. The two-piece, Northern ash body
has an attractive grain pattern and a body
shape that combines both style and com-
fort. Following the contours of the body is
a very cool pickguard that has a cutaway
near the neck to make popping the strings
more accessible.
Playing The Rookie
Strapped in or sitting down, the Dawg felt
very balanced and maintained its position
against the body, whether in an angled play-ing-style or in a horizontal orientation. The
neck was smooth and had a comfortable
radius that should suit a player with big or
