Ian Martin Allison

Ian Martin Allison is a bass player from Minnesota, USA, and one of those musicians whose groove just makes you smile. You might have seen him holding down the low end for Eric Hutchinson, Dessa, Gavin Degraw, Jeremy Messersmith or Cory Wong – or maybe you know him from his super popular YouTube and Instagram  channels and lessons with Scott’s Bass Lessons where he shares both tasty bass lines and solid advice with a friendly grin.

Ian and I first met through our shared love of gear, the sound of bass and good coffee few years ago. He’s the kind of guy who will happily spend hours talking about flatwound strings… and then switch seamlessly to deep life talks.

I wanted to offer him something he couldn’t find from the market. What he asked for was a short scale bass, in 30,2″ scale, and kind of “Odd-ball-mash up” of the few cooler designs in the history of electric bass. The first T.Family I.M.A. Signature was complete in July 2021.

In 2023 we met the first time in live at the Guitars Summit, Manheim. We had a good time and started dreaming about a another custom bass for him – something that could handle everything from tight, punchy funk to warm, vintage soul. The result? A Short scale 5 -string version with special tuning fro E to C to handle enough tonal flexibility to take on any gig he throws at it.

Check out what Ian does with it in the link – trust me, the man makes four or five strings sound like magic!