4-string Bass Archives - Page 48

Beardly Customs luthier Rick Link sent us this example of his take on a rainbow style bass, and it looks like he knocked it out of the park. The bass is centered around its body, which has thirty separate pieces of wood to give a rainbow-like effect. Link used rosewood, purpleheart, wenge, flamed maple, redwood burl, blood wood, walnut, cocobolo,...

Here’s something different: Ibanez has teamed up with Korg to introduce the SRKP4 Bass. The 4-string model takes the company’s flagship SR model and equips it with a Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2S, which has 100 effect programs that can be controlled real time with a touchpad interface.

Okay, bass lovin’ people, how about a bass that strives to be… plain? Well not completely plain, but just a basic, good bass. Kind of refreshing since most new basses to hit the market usually make strides to separate themselves from the herd, and then ask us to believe it, then buy it at a premium. Not saying that Cort...

French luthier Paul Lairat has unveiled his latest creation called the Travel Bass. The bass features a headless design with a trimmed back body shape. Combined with its reduced 32-inch scale, the bass is ideal for taking on the road. Lairat handcrafts the model in 4-, 5-, or 6-string builds with two versions: a mahogany body with a maple top...

Back in 2013, Fender Master Builder Jason Smith created the retro styled Rascal Bass to display at the NAMM Show. “I wanted to build a short-scale bass that was reminiscent of some of the Kay and Danelectro basses,” Smith stated. This week Fender announced that the Rascal Bass would be put into full production as part of their Classic Player...

This week we check out the SB-2 by Scott Guitar Works of Louisville, Kentucky. The bass is built to order and has a plethora of options, but its central point is its unique body shape. Scott shaves down to a minimalist design with a short lower horn and thinner, longer upper horn while keeping it curvy in the lower half...

Tanglewood Guitars has revamped their Premier series of acoustic instruments including the TW155-A bass. The lineup’s third generation is defined by solid AA Sitka spruce tops, mahogany back and sides, and a natural satin finish. The TW155-A acoustic bass guitar has a rosewood fingerboard and matching bridge. Its body is also bound in rosewood and maple. Tanglewood fits the bass...

Ibanez stepped up its SR series in 2011 with the SR Premium, which took the company’s flagship model and gave it upgraded features. The series has traditionally kept in the vein of boutique basses with only natural finishes, but Ibanez has announced that the SR Premium 1400E and 1405E will be getting new color options of Deep Ocean Flat and...

M-Tone Guitars made their first bass earlier this year, and by the looks of it, they got it right the first time. The M-Tone Boki is a custom bass that was hand-built in Portland, Oregon with a “super light” one-piece swamp ash body finished in a gorgeous floral paint job. Its motif is carried over to its steel pickguard, too....

Gerald Marleaux is a world-class bass luthier based in Clauthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. His designs bring together the highest degrees of form and function into 4-, 5-, and 6-string basses. Today we check out Marleaux’s Consat Signature, the luxury version of his flagship Consat model. Standard features include a 3- or 5-piece birdseye maple neck with wenge strips, an ebony fretboard with...

Sterling by Music Man introduced a new natural finish to the left-handed version of the Ray34 bass at this year’s Summer NAMM show. The natural finish allows for the bass’s lightweight ash body to be show through. The bass retains the features of the Ray34 series including maple neck, a single alnico humbucker pickup, and an active 3-band pickup. It...

Sometimes you see photos of a bass posted on Facebook, and you just have to stop to check it out. This gorgeous Soame Custom Guitars PJ435 bass was one of those for me. Handmade in Argentina, the bass features a Northern ash body and a bookmatched flamed maple top that really pops thanks to a stunning Bahama Blue satin finish....