Nikola Adamovic started playing bass in the early 1990s. After several years of playing heavy basses with poor ergonomics, he began to develop back complaints. This prompted Nikola to search for a more lightweight bass with better ergonomics. The problem was that there were none available!

Around 1997, the lack of ergonomic basses on the market led Nikola to start building his own basses. Using parts and necks taken from cheap instruments, he experimented with different body shapes and strap-mounting positions. It began as a hobby, but after a while Nikola began purchasing better-quality parts and, soon after, built his first neck. Nikola tested all of his designs on stage around the Netherlands, and the basses he played soon began to get noticed. Before he knew it, he was taking his first orders.

In 2001, Nikola decided to register the Adamovic name with the Chamber of Commerce and start a professional business. He initially worked from home, alone, on a part-time basis, primarily doing repairs, and building a handful instruments each year.

In 2002, Nikola travelled to Phoenix in the United States to attend the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. After graduating, he returned to the Netherlands and resumed work as a luthier. The business began consuming more and more of his time, and soon became a full-time occupation. By 2005, Nikola had moved to larger workshop premises in Haarlem.

Around this time, Nikola was asked to work for Amsterdamsche Fijnhouthandel, the Netherlands’ largest exotic wood merchant, as their “musical woods advisor”. He worked there one day a week for a period of five years, answering questions about all manner of musical instruments and selecting the right tonewoods for the company’s diverse clientele. Nikola’s knowledge of woods and their properties led to him writing the information on the properties of over 100 wood species for their website. During this period, Nikola researched and experimented with a wide variety of wood species. This led him to employ wood species not often used in luthiery, such as Solomon padouk, guariuba and zolernia.

In 2006, Nikola decided to start sharing his knowledge by giving his first guitar-building courses. By 2007, Adamovic basses were being sold through a number of dealers. Business continued to go very well until New Year’s Day 2009, when Nikola’s workshop burned down. Everything was destroyed, including all of his stock basses and most of his tools. Nikola decided to start again from scratch, despite there being an economic crisis at the time. With the support of his dealers and customers, Nikola rented new workshop premises, and was back in business within just five months.

By the end of 2010, the demand for Adamovic basses had grown considerably. However, so had the demand for repairs. At this point, Nikola made a conscious decision to focus on his passion of designing and building instruments. He stopped taking repair jobs and stopped giving guitar-building and maintenance courses.
Since 2010, the one-man business that built approximately fifteen basses a year has slowly but steadily grown into a three-man operation that now produces around 80 instruments a year and has worldwide distribution.