Luna approached the artist back in 2006 with the suggestion of a signature instrument, after learning that she was already a fan of the guitars—and in fact owned one of Luna's Henna Oasis Cedar guitars designed by renowned UK henna artist Alex Morgan. A year later, Paz flew to Luna headquarters in Tampa last year, along with Luna's artist liaison Carla DeSantis, to begin making her dream a reality, and to sketch out the initial designs with Luna principals: founder and creative director, Yvonne de Villiers, Division Manager, Derek Badala, and CEO Elliott Rubinson. Following that initial meeting, miscellaneous mockups were shuttled back and forth via email with Luna designers, and Paz made suggestions merging a hands-on, ‘in the trenches’ knowledge of the instrument with her natural sense of scale and beauty. Alex Morgan worked her "henna magic" once again on the paisley inspired pick guard. Paz was presented with the prototype at the 2008 NAMM show in Anaheim, CA and has been playing it with her band Entrance.
Comprised of a 34”-scale Eastern Mahogany body, the bass features a maple headstock and neck (satin finished), rosewood fingerboard, with chrome appointments, Vintage P Bass-style tuners and pickups and Luna’s signature mother-of-pearl moon phase fret markers. The Henna pick guard is cedar with a gloss finish.
“The 'Paz Bass' is based on a combination of basses to fit the exact needs for my style and performance,” explains Lenchantin. “When Luna approached me to take a look at their collection in 2006, I immediately fell in love with their 'Henna Acoustic' Guitars, which is currently in my recording studio. When they approached me again to make a signature bass I thought, “Why don't we combine the style of the Henna acoustic and make a beautiful pick guard. The engineering of the bass is based on my 1969 Fender P Bass, with a bit of a jazz neck feel and a hint of a classic Gibson bass. The Paz Luna Bass is a Passive Bass. The body was design to give it a more feminine curve line: it's a total beauty to say the least.”
Those choices were critical and well thought out by Paz. “The neck is a very important factor to my playing... The sound of the bass should be just as important as the feel of the neck. The bass is customized to fit the shape of my own hand and hand positioning. Luna Guitars has made this function come to life and it has made my playing more dynamic and fluid. I truly love my Luna Bass.”
“Paz is beautiful and highly talented yet totally down to earth and accessible,” says de Villiers. “She has been a delight to work with. And how can you beat her name for a signature? Paz (which means ‘Peace’) will be in mother-of-pearl on the bottom fret... a perfect fit with Luna's vision!”
Luna Guitars’ Paz Lenchantin Signature Bass will be ready for shipping mid August. Future offerings will be in Black Gloss with Henna pick guard and Mahogany with Henna pick guard.
Read more about Paz at www.pazweb.net , www.myspace.com/pazweb or on the Luna Guitars website at www.lunaguitars.com
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