Sometimes a bass player has an idea for an instrument that’s entirely new — something that’s never been done before. The supreme example is the contrabass guitar envisioned by Anthony Jackson more than 50 years ago (see my Partners column in Issue 3). At other times, a standard design is almost right, but a few modifications can make it the ideal instrument for a player’s preferences and style. Consider, for example, the MTD 535-24 that belongs to Seattle bassist Sean Fairchild. At first glance, it looks much like many of the other 5-strings built in Michael Tobias Design’s New York State shop. But there are some tweaks that make it just right for Fairchild, and his collaboration with MTD is an excellent example of the kind of player–builder teamwork that’s the focus of this column. Fairchild was introduced to Michael Tobias, indirectly, when he was in high school. “I got a Tobias bass, a Basic 5, when I was a senior,” he says. (It should be noted that this instrumen