The Simonetti Basses story began in 1985 when I bought my first used bass in a pawn shop. It was an Arbor brand Star shaped short scale neck through. I had no idea what any of that meant but I would soon learn.
I've always been fascinated by how things are made so before I ever played it I took it completely apart. After putting it back together I realized I had a lot to learn about what makes a piece of wood and some strings become a musical instrument. I was hooked! I spent every second I could playing my bass and learning how to make adjustments to make it play better, though I soon learned that nothing improves the sound of an instrument like practice!
It wasn't long before friends started asking me to setup their instruments and make modifications to them and before I knew it I was a part-time repairman. I was replacing pickups, adding preamps, learning the subtleties of proper fret work, anything I could do to learn more about improving an instruments performance.
Fast forward a few years to the fall of 1993. I entered the workforce as an artist. Working in many industries as a sculptor, prop and set builder, woodworker and scale model maker. I was very fortunate to not only have some amazing jobs but to also work with some of the most talented people on the planet who passed on their skills to me. Throughout this time I never set aside my passion for the bass and continued my journey to improve my luthier skills.
By the summer of 1999 I was ready to strike out on my own and start my own company, thus Ray Simonetti Instruments was founded and launched in 2000. What a way to start the new millennium! I started with a design and made a few samples while also doing repair work. It soon became apparent that most customers who wanted a bass wanted a custom bass and there weren't a whole lot of options for this at the time so Custom Shop Basses was born. All instruments were tailor made to the customers design and specifications.
In 2004 I came into possession of and old pickup coil winding machine and figured it would be a good way to offer my clients an even more unique product by tailoring the pickups to their specs. After a couple of years R&D I finalized a design for my own style of pickups and they quickly became popular among my regular customers. Then people they knew started inquiring about my pickups so I new I was on to something.
At the same time I noticed a rise in fellow luthiers so I had to come up with something to set my basses aside from all the others besides proprietary pickups. I had been tinkering with a proprietary bridge design and figured that would be a good addition to further separate myself from the pack. Making my own components not only set me apart from my peers but also freed me a bit from the supply chain. I no longer had to depend on supplier stock and features and could customize more features for musicians. These proprietary components became very popular so I knew I had made the right move. I had a very unique product that could be modified to fit a players requirements in ways other builders could not.
By 2012 I had a lot of requests for a standard line of instruments from people who wanted my components but did not want to design their own bass so Custom Shop Basses became Simonetti Basses. There have been a few deisgns that have come and gone due to interest from both customers and my own tastes.
In 2019 I embarked on a new leg of my journey when I purchased a CNC machine. This technology not only broke the ceiling on what can be built but also prompted me to go back to the drawing board for my standard designs which will start coming down the pike soon.
Pages will be added to the site as they are completed and until the new standard designs are the custom shop is still in full swing so to inquire about a custom commission feel free to contact me.
