News

8-6-24: Josh Mendrala, the mind and talent behind the Colorado indie rock band Ragged Oak, recently came to the shop with a Fender Jazzmaster guitar that needed some repair work. After listening to some of his incredible songs, we decided to share a bit of his music at Xylem.

Check out the Ragged Oak single, Live Like You're Alive below!

You can hear a whole lot more from Josh and Ragged Oak at the platforms below. Be sure to check out his YouTube channel in particular where you'll not only find more great music, but also episodes of how to make an album for under $1000, and a funny segment reading bad reviews of his album:

Ragged Oak Official Website
YouTube
Instagram
Spotify
Apple Music

6-4-24: Listen to the new single What Would You Do For Love from Cathartika!

In their own words: "Our adventure at Cathartika began with a single dream: to introduce a new vibration to the music and art world. Our singles, paired with digital art, stir emotions and provide a unique listening experience."

Be sure to explore Cathartika's website, which is a work of art in and of itself, where you can hear more of their music, see more of their art and sign up for their newsletter! You can also follow Cathartika on Facebook and Instagram.

5-21-24: Check out Agave Studios, a recording studio in Bayfield, CO. They offer a variety of musical services near Xylem in the southwestern Colorado area, including: free form or structured studio recording sessions, music lessons and production/consulting services for the cultural arts.

You can hear some of Agave Studios' recording work below, here is Blacktop Musical's Mystery Of

…and here is an excellent EP from a band called Cheek's

5-7-24: Nathan Wickett, owner of the "Orianna" Xylem guitar, has released his second single! Check out One Day, featuring the Orianna guitar with its three Fishman Fluence pickups, GraphTech Ratio tuners and swamp ash/Brazilian cherry body!

Nathan will release a new single about every three months under his label Chubby Cat Records. Check back often at the following platforms where his music is available:

NathanWickett.com
YouTube
Spotify
Deezer
Instagram
Facebook

12-1-23: Nathan Wickett, owner of the "Orianna" Xylem guitar, has just released his debut single! Check out I Wait for You, featuring the Orianna guitar!

11-30-22: A fanned fret (multi-scale) 5-string bass is up on the site! The "Tiamat" custom bass includes an "earth and moon" inlay in its gorgeous ebony and swamp ash body, along with Aguilar pickups and an OBP-3 preamp.

Also be sure to listen to The Lowdown Show interview with Xylem from earlier this year.

11-25-22: Two new basses and a new guitar are here. Check out the eye-candy!

The fretless "Eljo" 5-string bass has a magnificent blue stabilized burl top and radius ramp.

Featuring a classy, traditional design, the "Ozymandias" 6-string bass includes a rosewood and swamp ash body.

…and the "Leviathan" custom guitar has an exotic shape (with Xylem scroll), colored burl top and Seymour Duncan pickups.

4-25-22: Check out Journey of Bass with some new recordings of the Aesura bass! Hear the songs Sunflowers and Spirit Dance with their melodic slap/lead bass sound and feel.

11-29-21: A new lefty custom bass has been posted! The bass has a 35" scale length, EMG PJAX pickups (P-Bass in neck position, J-Bass in bridge), an EMG BQC System preamp and Hipshot hardware. The body of the bass is made of bloodwood, wenge and walnut and includes a ball scroll. The neck is Peruvian walnut with an ebony fretboard and 24 frets.

Also be sure to check out one of the latest builds, a 5-string fretless with blue stabilized box elder topwood!

8-2-21: The new Orianna Custom Guitar is now on the site. This 25.5" (Stratocaster) scale guitar has three Fishman Fluence pickups. The neck pickup is approximately in Les Paul position, the middle pickup is in Strat position and the bridge pickup is in its own unique place (about 1/8" closer to the neck than the bass-side of a Strat bridge pickup). The Fluence pickups are custom-wired with tons of switching options: each knob has a push/pull function, all pickup combinations are possible, and there are three mini-toggles with independent voices for each pickup! Check out the guitar to learn more.

6-26-21: The new Gymir 5-string piccolo bass is here! It is a true piccolo bass, tuned one octave above a regular bass guitar. It includes a Kahler tremolo, Q-Tuner Q2.0 pickups, beautiful maple burl tops, dog paw inlays and a "fusion" fretboard made of bloodwood and purpleheart with a curved sine wave joint between them.

We also recommend listening to guitarist Raz Sisneros' YouTube channel Vanjula Studios. Raz has a Xylem guitar on order which will be built soon. In the mean time, check out Raz's tune "Vishoka - Let Them Come"

6-21-21: The new Aesura custom bass is on the site, along with sound samples of its Mike Pope preamp with Nordstrand Power Blade and Big J-Blade pickups. Check out its aquamarine block inlays and the abalone sea turtle inlay too!

8-5-19: A new five-string custom bass is available at Chicago Music Exchange!

7-24-19: See the new Thunderbird-inspired Xylem bass with its ACG preamp, Bartolini pickups and killswitch a la Tom Morello and Buckethead.

7-17-19: Check out the new Sinistra four-string short scale bass. The new bass has a Kahler tremolo, EMG 35-DC pickup and EMG BTS Control preamp (Primus anyone?).

Dina Simone also has a new video covering Nick Waterhouse's Money that features the "Shishido" Xylem bass!

Want a better slap bass tone? Check the Xylem article:

Slap Bass - Techniques, Adjustments and Tricks to Develop Your Tone