Bass of the Week: AJR Guitarmods Psilos Bass

This week we’re taking a look at another piece by AJR Guitarmods called the Psilos bass. The sleek, modern bass was built by luthier Andy Rogers for a customer who was looking for a minimalist design.

“It has been built for one of my long standing customers, Mick T, and, although I’ve done a few small jobs for him, this my first full build for him,” Rogers writes.

“The overall concept and outline body shape is his – a modern and significantly offset single cut with a double curvature carve to the body cross section profile (he described the profile he was looking for as ‘a bit like a contact lens’) with a very clean front aspect, placing all the tuning and controls at the back. His other request was for me to then ‘add a bit of AJR magic’ in whatever way I wished. No pressure, then!”

Beyond a clean look, the Psilos has some pretty neat features. Its fretboard and body top are fully integral at a 20″ radius with a slight drop off after the 24th fret for resting your picking hand. The controls can be accessed from the back and are rolled to operate, while the pickups are inserted into chambers from the back and covered by a matching hatch. A piezo element also sits under the bridge.

Finally, the finish is done with Osmo Polyx 3044, which Rogers says is “tough, beautifully silky to the touch but is designed to keep the colour of the wood very close to that of freshly sanded timber and adds to the minimalist front aspect.”

AJR Guitarmods Psilos Bass Specs: