KYDD Basses

History
Artists' Comments
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Artists' Comments

Here's just a few words that bass players around the world have had to say about their KYDD basses...

Bruce Kaminsky is simply a genius.
-Oteil Burbridge

Just a quick note to let you know that I gigged out with my KYDD. The bass was awesome and boy, did it turn some heads! It did an amazing job with the bluegrass and older country stuff , and held it's own quite well with the contemporary country as well. It was a hoot to play Rockabilly with it, even getting some of the slap sound. All in all, a great instrument.
- Brad Cooper

The Kydd bass plays even better than I thought it would and the sound is fantastic. Good Job!
- Colin Toline

I use it at the show. I love it.
- Steve Wallis (Branson, MO)

I got THE bass yesterday afternoon and as luck would have it, used it hours later on an Air Force Trio gig! MAN I LOVE THE BASS!
-Vincent Marshall (US Air Force)

I Just Purchased a 5 string Kydd Carry-On upright. I think it's great.
- Jay Molina

I am extremely impressed with both the sound and the feel.
- David Mills (Yale University)

I played the bass live for the first time in front of an audience. It was great!
- Erwin Loh (Australia)

I really enjoy playing and performing with the Kydd Bass. It's easy to play, sounds great, has that upright vib, gets great audience response, and there is no problem with transporting it!
- Ron Weiler

I just wanted to write and tell you what a great bass this is. I absolutely love the bass! Thanks for such a great product.
- Preston Eldridge (Sons of the Pioneers: Branson, MO)

I've had my Kydd 6 string for almost a year now and I love it more and more every day. I use it at every show we play. It sounds and plays great.
- Chris Kalata

I'm very happy with my bass!
- Alice Pantaleoni

I love my Kydd upright.
- Mitch Brown

The Kydd is really great for the total sound of our band.
- Paul Klaessen (The Netherlands)

People have been calling me for recording dates wanting the sound of [the Kydd] bass with the fantastic sound. My friend borrowed it for the Singapore Jazz festival and boy did it get rave reviews. Ernie Watts' bassist shouted, "That's some huge tones you're getting from that baby'. I also get all the Afro-Cuban-Latin jazz gigs here because of the KYDD. One growl from it is enough to send the bassists in the audience rushing the stage.
- Sonny Azurin (Popular bassist, Philippines)

History

Other than my family, my two great passions are basses and motorcycles. I wanted to be able to combine the two by creating an upright electric bass that I could take to gigs on a bike, and get off the bandstand before the horn players. The bass would have to be compact, sound good and be completely functional.

The original 30" scale Kydd Carry-On electric upright bass was conceived in the early 80's after experimenting with a short scale Guild "Starfire" electric bass with transducer pickups. It sounded great...very acoustic-like! The short scale and transducer idea was transferred onto a Steinberger-like, no-head stock neck/body. After prodding by my former band member and guitar industry legend, Rich Lasner, Kydd Basses went into production in 1994. The seemingly counter-intuitive move of trying to get a more acoustic bass sound from a shorter scale helped set Kydd apart from other manufacturers. In early public demonstrations of the Carry-On, it was often assumed that the bass was a MIDI controller that ran a computer bank. The most commonly asked question was about what was used as a sample?

In 2000, by popular demand, Kydd introduced a 34" scale bass called the Big Kydd, and in 2005 introduced the Kydd 42 Long. 2005 also saw the introduction of the Kydd BassLab, a new system for structuring bass classes.

By the way, KYDD stands for Kaminsky's Yukon Deli & Drygoods. But that's another story...