Bass of the Week: Brutal Guitars Egregore 5
Vitaly Ganya sent us a note suggesting we check out the Brutal Guitars Egregore 5, and I’m glad he did. The instrument is the first bass by Latvian luthier Andrew Schultz and was made in collaboration with Ganya for his band avant-garde band Theatrum. Ganya gave us the whole scoop:
“The body of this five string instrument is made from two piece swamp ash with quilted maple top colored in purple transparent paint. [The] neck features bolt-on construction with four independently recessed screws and is made from a single piece of wenge. The flamed maple fingerboard has 24 extra jumbo frets and makes a perfect contrast with top and the neck. Its two-color headstock matches both the neck and top and looks like a devil’s horn.”
“This bass is equipped with Gotoh GB707 tuners and J510SJ-5 bridge colored in black for perfect tuning and intonation. A Graphtech TUSQ nut also contributes to the tuning performance, boosts the instrument’s tone and couples the string vibration to the neck to bring out the hidden harmonics and richness in every note. Truss rod adjustment is placed after 24th fret with no covers, so it requires no special tools to get to truss rod and helps tune it quickly.”
“It’s equipped with all-Delano electronics. Pickups are J+MM configuration with additional three-way switch for bridge pickup that allows you to switch between serial, single coil or parallel modes. It has 4 controls for the active/passive 2-band preamp Delano Sonor 2: a push-pull volume that switches between active or passive modes, a balance between pickups, and bass and treble pots. In passive mode the treble pot serves as passive tone control. Electronics run from a 9V battery that can be changed in few seconds because of the easy access Gotoh BB-04 battery box. All of this can provide a rich sound that’s full of harmonics. It also makes this instrument very versatile with a huge amount of tone possibilities starting from vintage type of jazz or Motown sounds till modern rock and metal tones.”
Brutal Guitars Egregore 5 Bass Audio Demo:
Brutal Guitars Egregore 5 Bass Photos:
Brutal Guitars Egregore 5 Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 34″ |
| Strings: | 5 |
| Construction: | Bolt-on |
| Body: | Swamp Ash |
| Top: | Quilted Maple |
| Neck: | Wenge |
| Fingerboard: | Flamed Maple |
| Frets: | 24 jumbo frets |
| Nut: | Graphtech TUSQ |
| Hardware: | Gotoh, black color |
| Tuners: | Gotoh GB707 |
| Bridge: | Gotoh J510SJ-5 |
| Pickups: | Delano MC 5 FE, JMVC 5 FE |
| Electronics: | Delano Sonar 2 |
For more information, check out the Brutal Guitars Facebook page.
Very cool huge bass tone. Serious. Should fit perfectly in heavy mix.
Nice bass, is the body huge or is it just me, the purple is okay but would like it a little lighter purple if not natural like the back of the bass. I prefer maple type neck rather than rosewood, I don’t know why but just like the matching headstock to the neck of the bass, not that anything is wrong with rosewood but it has to be treated now and then.
Okay I got to stop looking.
Sweet.
The electronics make this bass. I’d lose the fingerboard inlay, or least do something a little more classy than a pentagram.
Ruben, actually it’s not a pentagram, but player’s signature, letters V.G.
B.R. The V.G. looks like V.V. I they would have made them legible and smaller on normal places of the neck I think it would look better, it seems out of place unless you know what it is.
The headstock is nice the way its curved , what is the difference between maple and flamed maple, is this the striations I see on the neck. Other than that the side of the guitar would look good if they rounded it off instead of flat . Then again if I just stop looking it would not matter , but I sure like these special basses.
Guitar Center sent me a sales book and the new Ibanez SR650BBF 5 string sure is nice for $700.
I have the one of the very first Ibanez basses of the line of basses made in Korea EX404 and it sounds nice but needs rewiring and new jack , I paid $300 for it back in 1988.
It made of basswood and its very light , I opened the cavity and this wood is almost white , its so strange , but sounds good with that deep bass boom sound for the wood being this light. Compared to this Fender which is pretty heavy, it feels like picking up a hollow bass.
Oh. So to ask then, is the inlay fully customizable? If wanted my initials, or a sun, or the bass clef, or a cross, or nothing, is that doable?
Hi Ruben,
Yes, inlay and specs overall are customizable of your choice.