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Bass Player Magazine
Bass Player Magazine

Denver may be a mile high, but one bass builder there is burrowing towards sea level with his strong-voiced, beautifully handcrafted instruments. The instruments are designed by Scott Surine, built by Kenneth Scott Lofquist, and carry the Surine name. The one I looked at was a 5-string in the Affinity Series II line. (The Series I instruments are more expensive and feature exotic tops, five-piece necks, and other goodies.) At first glance, the Surine bass looks an awful lot like some other high-end basses, but the body shape is where the similarities end. This instrument definitely has a personality all its own.

Construction. The Surine's heart is a through-body neck made from a strip of purpleheart surrounded by two big pieces of maple. Honduras- mahogany body wings, set off by two thin strips of purpleheart, flank the neck; the headstock overlay matches the wings, unifying the instrument's look. The combination of the maple neck and rosewood fingerboard makes for a strong, woody tone.

Many 5- and 6-string basses are neck-heavy; Surine alleviates this problem with a small peghead. When you play the bass on your lap, the neck still searches for the floor, but on a strap the balance is pretty good. (I'm not sure a 5-string can be much less neck-heavy than this, short of using a headless design.)

The Affinity II has dual truss rods-a good idea for just about any extended-range bass, since they offer a lot more adjustment flexibility than a single truss rod. I didn't have to adjust the test instrument's neck or bridge; intonation was excellent, as was the neck relief, and there were no buzzes or rattles. The truss-rod adjusters are camouflaged under two recessed cover blocks that fit into cavities in the body; a tiny phillips-head screw holds each in place.

Electronics. I was initially unconvinced that a volume control for each pickup is a good approach (as opposed to master-volume and blend knobs); however, the more I played the Surine, the more I embraced this concept. By setting the bridge pickup wide open and backing off on the neck pickup's volume by about a quarter, I got a good biting sound. Then, when I wanted to drop to the basement, I just rolled the neck volume up. Bottom floor-everybody out!

Concentric tone controls are a great choice, since they eliminate one hole and one knob from cluttering the instrument's face. The Surine's knobs work intuitively: the outer one is for bass boost, and the inner one for treble. Another control, a midrange trim pot, is hidden inside the control cavity. Unfortunately, there's no way to adjust the trimpot without removing the cover plate; an access hole in the plate would be an improvement. The way this instrument's tone was set, though, the midrange sounded just fine-but your taste may require a tweak.

Although the control cavity isn't entirely shielded, I didn't encounter any problems with hum. A single metal plate sits in the cavity; the pots pass through it, creating a ground plane. The wiring is neat, and the parts are firmly attached to prevent rattling. The Bartolini preamp is activated when the neck-volume knob is pushed in, and it's switched off when the knob is pulled out. Why is this a good idea? If the battery goes dead, just pull on the knob and your in passive mode. Even better, the preamp's gain is about the same as when the preamp is bypassed, so there's no startling volume change when you switch in or out.

If you're a string popper, you'll like the placement of the pickups. They're located conveniently out of the way of your right hand, with about 2-1/2" between the end of the neck and the neck pickup.

Comments. The Surine Affinity II feels smooth all over; the body, the neck, the dressing of the frets, and even the corners of the nut are nicely rounded. The small fingerboard radius and fairly thin neck profile make it easy to get around, and the sound is punchy and flexible. Without a doubt, the Surine 5-string is one of the nicest ones I've played. It may be a bit hard to get a hold of one of these instruments, since they're handmade-but if you get a chance, be sure to check one out. You may find you have an affinity for the way it looks, sounds, and plays.