His signature Marleo, deep, punchy and alive. Chosen by the bassist on David Bowie's masterpiece Blackstar and the Tedeschi Trucks Band, handbuilt one at a time in Tuscany by Bruno Bacci.
Tim Lefebvre is one of the most recorded bass players of his generation. Born in Foxboro, Massachusetts, he came up on the New York scene alongside guitarist Wayne Krantz, then settled in Los Angeles, where he is a first call in the studio and on stage.
He played bass on David Bowie's Blackstar, the Grammy-winning final album, spent years anchoring the Tedeschi Trucks Band, drives the Donny McCaslin group, and held the bass chair in the Saturday Night Live band through the 2000s. Hundreds of records, across rock, jazz, fusion and electronic music.
Ask him what he does and he will tell you he serves the music. Tim is a pocket player who locks to the kick and makes the low end feel inevitable, and a sound designer who bends the bass into electronic and ambient territory, from a round Precision thump to glitchy, filtered synth bass.
What he looks for in an instrument is character, something vintage leaning and unmistakably its own. That is exactly what pulled him toward Bruno's Marleo.
I'm always trying to serve instead of dictate.
Tim LefebvreEven if it's obtuse harmonically, if it's funky, people will respond to it.
Tim LefebvreI just try to love whatever music is in front of me. That way, you can be authentic in it.
Tim LefebvreA handful of the hundreds. From art rock to jazz, fusion to electronic, Tim Lefebvre has been the low end on some of the most talked-about records of the last decade.
And hundreds more, plus current work with the Michael Wollny Trio, Knower and Cryptic Cadet.
Bruno builds the Marleo around one idea: only what is necessary, and nothing that makes the bass harder to play. A passive circuit keeps the tone natural, dynamic and punchy, no batteries, no signal loss, the amplifier's full response in your hands, the way a vintage Precision or Jazz always answered to the right hand.
You choose the voice, Jazz, Precision or their blends, on a 4 or 5-string, in a 32″ or 34″ scale, strung with Dogal Vintage Nickel. Handbuilt one at a time in Tuscany, in the garage-born finishes of the Officina line, and in the hands of players like Tim Lefebvre.
Nothing to fight. Everything to play.
Meet Bruno Bacci, a Tuscan luthier who came to the craft the long way, through metallurgy, woodworking and design, and picked up the tools for good only after a hand injury ended his life as a player. He doesn't draw a shape and fill it with sound. He starts from the sound he can already hear, then builds the instrument around it.
When Tim Lefebvre went looking for a bass with real character, Bruno answered with the signature Marleo: a passive voice that stays natural, dynamic and alive, a single Kloppmann–Bacci humbucker, a figured maple neck hand-matched to its own body, matte Velvet Nero on gold. Every part designed, developed and built by his hands alone, in Tuscany, and backed for life by a lifetime warranty from Bruno himself.
“For me, a well-fitting instrument is one that lets you think only about the music.”
It started years ago, when Bruno reached out to Tim about building a bass together. The first one carried a 1970s-style Starfire pickup, retro, dark and unmistakably its own. Tim fell for it and began recording with it constantly, and Bruno kept refining, even bringing a newer version to Los Angeles while Tim was on a session with Michael Landau.
From there they made it official. The Tim Lefebvre Signature is a slightly altered take on that original: a 32″ medium-scale bass with a unique-sounding pickup, three pulse switches, a tone and a volume, finished in black with gold. Bruno chose the aesthetic and hand-builds every part from scratch in Tuscany.
“He’s hand-making everything from scratch. It’s pretty amazing to see.” Tim Lefebvre
Tim Lefebvre has recorded on hundreds of albums with the finest boutique basses on earth. For his own signature he did not chase a bigger brand, he chose a single luthier in Tuscany and a bass built from scratch, one at a time. The collaboration started years ago, long before the world saw it.
“I'm always searching for something interesting and cool. I like unique-sounding instruments, especially leaning to the vintage side, and Bruno's very good at that.” Tim Lefebvre
The Tim Lefebvre Signature, spec for spec. Exactly how Tim's Marleo leaves the Tuscan workshop, made to order and handbuilt in Tuscany.
One Kloppmann–Bacci humbucker, a passive tone circuit with a three-way capacitor switch, and a 32″ scale that keeps the low end tight. From a round, vintage Precision thump to a punchy, focused growl, the Marleo answers to the right hand. No batteries, no compression, nothing between you and the amp.
“It's somewhere between a Fender and a hollow body, a hybrid. It doesn't quite sound like either one.”Tim Lefebvre
No marketing, just the engineering. Everything that makes the Marleo answer the way it does, for the players who want to know exactly why.
No preamp, no battery, no buffer. Volume, tone, and a three-way switch that swaps between capacitor values, each rolling the top off a little differently to move the resonant peak. The amp sees the instrument's real, reactive load, so you get the full dynamic swing a passive bass is loved for, and cleaner headroom into fuzz and overdrive.
A single humbucker wound by Kloppmann to a Bacci-custom spec, in the neck position for a full, round fundamental and thick low mids. The humbucking design cancels hum and thickens the core, so it stays dead quiet under high gain and studio lights. One pickup, one clear voice, nothing to blend against.
Between a 30-inch short and a 34-inch long. For the same tuning the strings run at slightly lower tension, so the fundamental is rounder and warmer and the neck plays fast, while staying tight enough to keep low notes defined. Authority without the fight, the balance Tim asked for.
A solid red alder body, balanced and even, warm with clarity. A figured maple neck for stiffness and snap, and a roasted (torrefied) maple fingerboard that is more stable and a touch drier and tighter on top. A thin nitrocellulose, aged-tone neck finish lets the wood breathe and resonate.
An original Bacci Marleo brass bridge adds mass, sustain and a warm, solid coupling to the body. Hipshot Ultralite tuners keep the headstock light, so the bass hangs level on the strap with no neck dive and sits perfectly seated. Handmade Dogal Custom strings finish the voice.
Bruno intonates the neck to its own body and sets them up together, tuning the two planes of wood until they resonate in the same key, what he calls a harmonic chorus. Every part is designed, developed and built by his hands alone, in Tuscany, made to order, one at a time.
One of the most in-demand bassists in modern music, at home in jazz, fusion, rock and electronic alike. He played on David Bowie's Blackstar, tours with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and anchors the Donny McCaslin group. For Bacci he chose the Marleo Officina Velvet Nero, a passive four-string in matte black with gold hardware, and made it his signature.
“You're going to love the tone of it. If a bass sounds good and plays good, I'll play it.”
The Spanish virtuoso built a huge online following with a fingerstyle voice that's melodic, percussive and unmistakably his own. Widely counted among the finest bassists in the world, he plays the Officina Velvet Ocra Matte Black, a passive five-string that stays natural and alive under his hands.
“The Bacci Marleo Bass, it’s a-ma-zing.”
Bassist of Dirty Honey, the Los Angeles rock trio that made history: their debut single When I'm Gone was the first song by an unsigned band to top Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. A southpaw, deep-grooving player, Justin had Bruno build him a one-off Officina Vynil Medici Gold, left-handed and five strings.
Grammy winners. Session legends. Festival headliners. Every one of them could reach for anything on earth, and they reach for an instrument made entirely by hand, start to finish, by a single luthier: Bruno Bacci, in Tuscany.
26M
19.3M
1.7M
1.8M
424K
42K
Demos, slap and the Marleo voice, in the hands of players around the world.
The Bacci Experience™ is offered to only 4 people a year. You join Bruno for the final stages of the build, in his Tuscan workshop, where the instrument is voiced, adjusted and finished by hand. No production line, no showroom, no scripted tour.
It reaches beyond the bench: a relaxed dinner under the pergola, and a local guide who opens up Florence, Lucca, Pisa and the villages around them. Then the reveal, in a darkened room your instrument waits under red velvet, your song begins, Bruno lifts the cloth, and you are the first person ever to play it.
“I’m so happy with the experience here with Bruno that I would have been happy even without the instrument.” David Ru · Bacci Experience guest
Where to catch these bass players live. Dates from their official calendars, they can change, so check before you go.
Live from @bacciguitars. Follow along and tag us to be featured.
The Tim Lefebvre Signature is one Marleo, in Velvet Nero. The Officina line runs across the full palette of garage-born finishes, deep Velvet, smooth Satin and iridescent Radiance. If you want a different one, explore the whole collection.
A short, hand picked network of shops keeps Bacci on the wall.
Go and play one in person, or start a custom build directly with Bruno in Tuscany.
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Nothing here is in stock, and nothing ever will be.
Every instrument is claimed by one player before the first cut.
A €1,000 deposit holds your place at the bench and sets the work in motion. It comes off the price in full.
Woods, pickups, finish, decided one by one, together. The instrument is drawn around you.
The balance falls due once the specification is closed. Eight months later, it is in your hands.
Not sure which instrument is yours?
Ask before you commit.
