Actor-turned-rockstar Keanu Reeves has taken his love for the low-end to a whole new level with his first Fender Custom Shop bass guitar.
The custom one-off Precision Bass was unveiled during the latest episode of Fender's Dream Factory video series. Built by expert luthier David Brown, the P Bass was put through its paces during a studio session with Reeves' band, Dogstar.
It's based on a P Bass Ultra and has a special body and neck joint incorporating a five-bolt design. A wide, 21-fret P Bass neck was an important feature, with Brown ultimately taking one of Reeves' own much-played instruments apart to make sure its shape was properly emulated.
“The intention was to do something modern with the Ultra body, and then something kinda classic with the neck,” Reeves details. “I have a '65 P Bass so I wanted to match that neck.”
When it came to the instrument’s circuitry, Reeves' request was a little more obscure – and it ended up inspiring an all-new wiring that had never been used in a Fender P Bass before.
“I was thinking about doing a split tone control,” Reeves explains. “So a PJ setup, but then I'd have a separate tone [control] for the single and then the split. I hear that hasn't been done before.”
It hasn’t, as Brown explains, and so it has been dubbed 'the Keanu wiring'. It has a Master Volume, a Blend for the neck and bridge pickups, and an individual tone control for each pickup, controlled via a single knob with a dual stack.
“It's very simple, it looks stock,” Brown says. “He’s the first person that thought of this electronic setup and I'm going to use it in the future.”
The final special request Reeves had concerns the instrument’s finish. While its Three-Tone Sunburst look is very traditional, it's also been given a Shell Pink coat underneath the black part of the ’burst. Those flashes of pink will therefore be revealed the more he plays and wears the finish away.
It’s an interesting idea that caps a bass full of detailed customization, and it will be interesting to see how the shell pink changes the vibe of the instrument over time.
The actor, whose credits include The Matrix and John Wick, released two albums with his alt-rock trio, Dogstar, in 1996 and 2000 but put the band to one side as his acting career took off.
He reformed Dogstar in 2022 and together they released Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees last year.
Reeves enjoyed “a musical conversation unlike any other” with Guitar World at the start of the year, discussing what kind of bass Neo would play, weed-fuelled Bill & Ted bass duels, and having a one-on-one lesson with certified bass legend, Flea.
