Bass of the Week: Atlansia Solitaire

There’s been an on-going discussion about what constitutes a bass, and specifically how more than four strings is “breaking the rules.”

Well, what if there’s only one string? Enter the Atlansia Solitaire.

Atlansia Solitaire Bass - Front

Based in Nagano, Atlansia is known for outlandish designs – so much so that their website has to specify that the instruments are “Made in Japan on Planet Earth,” just to reassure everyone that they don’t come from outer space.

With its scaled-back and avant-garde design, the Solitaire is no exception.

Available as fretted or fretless, the single-stringed bass is made entirely of Canadian Hard Rock Maple and has a swing-out arm for balance while using a strap. It has a monorail bridge with an Atlansia original bottom tuner.

The bass’s pickup is an Atlansia ARSX4, controlled by a dome-shaped, gold volume knob. The black dome at the top is a string retainer.

The Atlansia Solitaire is available from the company’s website for ¥88,000 (approx. $1,064 USD).

Atlansia Solitaire Bass Specs:

Atlansia Solitaire Bass Photo Gallery:

Photo credits: BigRedX – Band website

Atlansia Solitaire Bass Specs:

  • Body: Canadian Hard Rock Maple
  • Neck: Canadian Hard Rock Maple
  • Fingerboard: Canadian Hard Rock Maple
  • Scale: 34”
  • Tuner: Atlansia Original, Bottom Tuner
  • Nut: Adjustable Screw Nut
  • Frets: Jumbo
  • Position Markers: Side-dot
  • Pickups: Atlansia ARSX4

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Share your thoughts

  1. lame and gay and you’re out of your fucking mind @ $1000 for this.

  2. 1,000+ for that? I can turn over a wash tub, grab some string, and a cudgel/walking stick/tree branch for almost nothing and have the same thing….

  3. I won’t bash as crassly, but still….. + $1000? LOL! (OK, I’m just pointing and laughing……) I think I’ll build my own….. uh, what PU makers have as stock a 1-string PU? Anybody?

  4. Can anyone say… Whamola?

  5. Lol, if I was going to get a bass with one string it would definately be a Whamola. This thing is a waste of good wood, I would rather just have the E string on my Fender P Bass then waste a grand on that. Go check out Whamola’s site http://www.whamolalab.com and tell me you wouldn’t prefer that instead. Still not sure check out Les playing it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWRn80UOsqw&feature=related.

  6. Sound good, but 1k$? loled so hard.

  7. That’s a cool groove man keep it up. I think its a good purchase. Forget ole burd.

  8. It’s kind of like what That 1 Guy has 2 of…if it was made out of plumbing supplies.

  9. It’s playing upside down by mistake!

  10. I give you 10 dollar maximum….
    Ok, 15!

  11. what a joke. Should never have been in the Bass of the Week article. that’s just embarassing.

  12. 10+ years ago, buddy of mine made one of these out of a piece of rock maple stair banister… played great, he wound the pickup, had it dialed in for some basement jamming when I forgot my bass…

  13. Wow, such anger in these comments. It is a little ridiculously priced for sure, but I got a kick out of it.

  14. HAHAHA! That thing is just ridiculous!

  15. yea screw this…get a fucking stingray or something for 1 grand…

  16. The maker of this bass, Nobuaki Hayashi, is the same who created the legendary Aria Pro II SB (“Super Bass”) in the 80s (now reissued). So the Solitaire is most likely not a joke.

  17. A thousand bucks? So the enevitable 2 string version is going to be two thousand? then a 3 will be $3000 and so on? So when they come out with the 7 lane highway it will be 7 grand, what’s wrong with this? It should be around $200 at the most. And why frets?

  18. For the same price you could buy an American Standard P, or Jazz bass.

  19. People stupid enough to want this are stupid enough to pay a grand for it.

  20. Cool idea, but for $1000, you gotta be kidding me. Wow…

  21. looks like broken chair :DDDDDDD lol.

  22. What a dunce-cap design…you have to be kidding me! 1K? SOooo many other basses come to mind for 1K and this one sure doesn’t. That’s a minute of my life I’ll never get back watching some dude who obviously has more money than time and didn’t have the ability to rig a cue stick and piano wire.

  23. kinda reminds me of the bass on the Animusic stuff. Pretty cool.

  24. no one seems to get it. it’s like a Brancusi ( no one says ” what 10,000 for that, it doesn’t even have a head”.