Steve Swallow with his signature AE5

A significant jazz composer and a distinctively lyrical bassist, Steve Swallow has had a notably wide–ranging career, from early work on acoustic bass to his innovative use of the electric bass. His compelling compositions bridge the genres of jazz and rock. Steve Swallow has placed first in the Downbeat ,International Critics Poll since 1983 (electric bass), in the Downbeat Readers Poll since 1985, and has won the Jazz Times poll (electric bass) several times recently. He lives in upstate New York.

Harvey Citron speaks about Steve Swallow: Working with Steve has been a real pleasure. I had given up on my wish to create an intonation adjustable wooden bridge with piezo, because it seemed impossible to achieve. Steve loved the tone of the AE5 and would have settled for the custom intonated wide saddle wooden bridge I was making, but really needed an adjustable bridge, because accurate intonation is so critical to him. Suddenly, in Steve's presence, and out of his need, the solution came to me- the first wooden piezo bridge adjustable for intonation was born. Even though the string response on the new bridge was even across all five strings (Steve plays E-C) , Steve still wanted more "E" string. We ended up with two piezos for the low "E" string, and two for the "A-C", with two adjustable for volume buffer circuits. Steve is a perfectionist- I love it. I just redid his piezo setup, and now there are six piezos and three buffer circuits. Two piezos for the low "E", two for "A-G", and two for the high"C" string. He has total control .

Steve Swallow's Biography

 

 

Doug Wimbish with his AE5

Bass player Doug Wimbish, noted recording artist and clinician, is now playing and promoting the new Citron Acoustic/Electric Bass, handcrafted by renowned builder Harvey Citron. Wimbish, is known especially for his work with Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Living Colour, and Ron Wood, among many others.

Doug Wimbish's Website

 

 

John Sebastian with his Baritone

John Sebastian, of “Lovin’ Spoonful”, Welcome Back Cotter” fame is a good friend and neighbor of mine. Our kids hung out together. John has always been a lover of guitars, and of being around shops that produce them. He worked in Tom Vinci’s shop when Tom built guitars. When Veillette-Citron moved to Kingston, NY which is very close to Woodstock, John started to come around. He asked us to build him a Baritone. He had been playing Fender 6-string basses tuned down a fifth, and strung with strings gauged from .016 to .080. The sound was amazing, and enchanting. He used to capo at the second fret or so to make the reach a little bit more manageable. We built him a 28 3/4” scale Baritone that worked very well for him. Ever since I started building again, I hoped that John would ask me to build him a Baritone. I had a strong feeling that the Baritone would be amazing built the way I build my 2 1/2” thick mostly hollow instruments. I let him play a variety of my guitars with different degrees of hollowness, and he agreed with me. When I finished his Baritone he said it was the best sounding Baritone ever. The body is Mahogany, the top Spruce, neck Mahogany, fingerboard Rosewood, bridge Rosewood with a custom compensated thick bone saddle. John doesn’t use piezo, so his Baritone is totally passive with two humbuckers, a three-position pickup selector, master volume and master tone. My Baritone model features the same electronics as the CG2.

John Sebastian's Website

 

 

Mark Goldenberg with his Baritone

Mark Goldenberg is a guitarist who has played on records for a myriad of artists including Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Eels, Natalie Imbruglia,Chris Isaak, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Peter Frampton and yes, William Shatner.

He has been lead guitarist for Jackson Browne since 1994.

He is also a songwriter whose works have been recorded by Linda Rondstat, Chicago, Pointer Sisters, Natalie Imbruglia, Eels, Chris Botti, and yes, Olivia Newton John, among others.

Mark Goldenberg's Website