It takes a big bass player like Bill "Buddha" Dickens to handle an axe like the Conklin GTBD-7 Bass Guitar with its full seven strings to range over. Constructed with a maple and purpleheart thru-body neck and swamp ash wings topped with curly maple. Gold hardware tricks it out. The GTBD-7 electric bass has totally custom-made Bartolini Bill Dickens pickups and custom electronics, including a 3-position parametric preset rotary switch and mid-frequency selector.