Letts Basses (and Guitars) – handcrafted instruments

You all know by now that I am always on the look out for the best of the best that is being produced in Leicester. Well, I’m pretty proud of discovering this small business – a small enterprise with what is already a very big reputation. I think some people would be surprised to hear that some of the most beautiful guitars and basses around are being handcrafted using traditional methods here in our fair city. But it must certainly is going on at Letts Basses.

@LettsBasses1 today I bought a lettsbasses fretless singlecut olive ……. Wow pic.twitter.com/tTyNv5Fn40
— ton (@Toni52744690) December 31, 2014

Already Letts have created a small army of satisfied customers across the globe who have paid a surprisingly reasonable price for a gorgeous instrument. And trust me, The Boy and I have tested them out and they sound as good as they look. These guitars are made from the finest quality materials, including wood being handpicked for each guitar (you can see all of their suppliers on the website.) The pick-ups on each guitar are also handmade, scatter wound affairs, which I know will get a lot of people out there quite excited in itself.

Happily you can also now buy their scatter wound pickups separately. They come in a range of specialist hard woods and bright acrylic finishes which bring a true uniqueness to your axe as well as preserving the high end and generally better dynamic range. Does anyone actually still refer to their guitar as an axe any more? I hope not.

They will take out your old pickups and rewind them while you wait, if you want your tone and dynamics improved without replacing parts on your existing instrument. They have also been working on a unique range of FX units, so there’s plenty of bespoke, unusual items for you to ogle on their website.

Happily they have both and UK and a US shop so hopefully you’ll all be able to find something lovely. It is a very small business, so you’ll have to keep your eye out for what is available, but at the moment in the UK the gorgeous Dielectric is only £450. I don’t know how long that price will be available so snap it up if you want it. The Dielectric has its own webpage too at the moment.