Bass of the Week: Barton Basses 11-String Fretless Harpbass
Barton Applewhite of Barton Basses sent this in for us to check out and it stopped me in my tracks. This monstrous 11-string fretless Harpbass includes a four regular bass strings plus seven standalone harp strings.
“[The bass is] constructed of swamp ash [and] a flame maple neck through with a cocobolo top,” the luthier shares. “It has Bartolini pickups and a b-band pickup for the ‘harp’ strings. Harp can be adjusted to different open tunings. I usually tune to some sort of open E minor tuning.”
Now that’s a harp I’d like to hear!
Barton Basses 11-String Fretless Harpbass Specs:
| Scale: | 35″ for Bass Side |
| Construction: | Neck-Through |
| Body: | Swamp Ash |
| Top: | Cocobolo |
| Neck: | Flame Maple |
| Fingerboard: | Ebony |
| Pickups: | Bartolini, B-Band for Harp Strings |
| Tuners: | Hipshot |
| Bridge: | ABM Single Bridges |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
