Bass of the Week: Tom Clement Basses Angel Bass
This week we’re checking out the Tom Clement Basses Angel bass, an instrument that the luthier describes as borrowing ideas from the Gibson Thunderbird to combine retro vibe with custom features. The bass was designed alongside long-time customer Jon-Inge Paulsen.
“The name Angel reflects on the people we love, the people who mean the world to us, the people we rely on to feel safe and to lift us through bad times,” Paulsen states on the website.
Though each bass is made custom to order, the first Angel bass is a 6-string built with a one-piece swamp ash body and one-piece birdseye maple neck topped with an ebony fretboard. Its tortoise pickguard follows the body’s distinct body shape and, combined with its lollipop tuners, adds to the old school aesthetic. Paulsen’s own bass features a skull and crossbones emblem as a tribute to late bassist Chuck Jones.
“The bass features Nordstrand FatStack pickups and an Audere Pro-Z preamp,” Clement explains. “The electronics offer a variety of useful voices, given the preamps 4-band equalizer (Bass/treble and Mid high/Mid low boost/cut controls) and a master volume and blend knob. For passive installations, chrome Alumitone Bassbars from Lace Sensors will compliment the rest of the hardware of this bass.”
Here’s a clip of Paulsen walking through the bass and explaining the process of making it:
Tom Clement Basses Angel Bass Details:
Strings: | 4, 5, or 6 |
Body: | One-piece Swamp Ash |
Neck: | One-piece Birdseye Maple |
Fingerboard: | Ebony |
Pickups: | Nordstrand FatStacks |
Electronics: | Audere Pro-Z |
Hardware: | Hipshot |