Bass Gear - Page 131

Gerald Marleaux is hands down one of my favorite bass builders. His artistic touch and attention to detail make all of his instruments play and sound just as good as they look. This week we’re checking out his Contra model, which takes its semi-acoustic design in part from the violin family. “The Contra is made with the same materials as...

Höfner has reissued another part of their history with the H500/5 “Reeperbahn” bass. Based on the 500/5 that was produced between the ’50s and ’70s, the instrument features a large hollow body and short scale neck. It was famously used by a Beatle, though not the one you’re thinking of. “Although used by many players none is quite so famous...

Fodera has expanded their Standard Specials line of instruments with the Madrone Burl Monarch 5 Standard Special. Built around the Monarch model, the bass has a new combination of woods with a mahogany body, Madrone Burl top, a three-piece maple neck, and an ebony fingerboard. Fodera says the real difference is in the pickups as it is the first Standard...

IK Multimedia’s iRig lineup has gotten a little bigger with the iRig Stomp I/O. The USB pedalboard controller is designed for live and studio use with a built-in audio interface featuring 24-bit audio and up to 96kHz sampling rate. It also has a combo input jack for use with line, instrument, or mic input with phantom power. The controller connects...

Playing a lot of bass can lead to some serious issues with your hands and wrists. Ryan Sollee and Gabe Castro are combatting those issues with WristGrips, a one-size-fits-all compression wrap that aims at preventing health problems. “WristGrips help prevent and heal tendonitis, arthritis, and carpal tunnel issues, by compressing and supporting the wrist, increasing oxygen and blood flow to...

Vovox has announced the Sonorous XL series of cables, which they describe as a “top-of-the-line cable series is designed for both musicians and studios.” The Swiss cable company explains their new line is set apart from their Sonorous line by a crystalline structure of the large, solid-core copper conductors. “As a consequence of their exceptional construction, the ‘sonorus XL’ cables...

Walrus Audio has revamped their Luminary Quad Octave Generator for 2018. The pedal, which offers four blendable octaves with filters, has been tweaked while retaining the same platform. “With several tasteful updates, the brains of the Luminary V2 are still built on the Sharc DSP platform for crystal clear tracking and high-resolution A/D and D/A conversion,” Walrus writes. Those updates...

Darkglass Electronics is continuing their tradition of limited edition models with a decked out version of the Microtubes 900 bass amp. The amp has a new black chassis with artwork on its top. “We have collaborated with Christopher Lovell, a true social media sensation as of late with some of the most epic, dark artwork we have seen in the...

Novacorda’s Barbaros bass is a design that’s nearly five hundred years old. Well, at least that’s where the inspiration came from. “The bass guitar was named after Barbaros Hayreddin Pa?a who was an Ottoman admiral of Sultan Süleyman‘s fleet,” the Novacorda website explains. “The design of the bass is based on the cross-section of one of his 16th-century warships of...

Hiwatt was on hand at this year’s Musikmesse to unveil the DR401, which they declare as the “most powerful all-tube bass amp in the world.” The tube head features three ECC83’s and one ECC81 in the preamp with a whopping eight KT88’s in the power section to produce 580 watts RMS before clipping. Custom made in England, the amp has...

Darkglass Electronics has partnered with Neural DSP Technologies to create the Darkglass Ultra VST Plugin. “We have spent the past 6 months developing circuit modeling and digital signal processing techniques,” Darkglass’s Franco Azocar explains. “Partnering with Neural DSP, our first product is a plugin modeled on Darkglass’ Ultra pedal series.” The plugin models the Darkglass Microtubes Vintage and B7K Ultra...

Gruv Gear has announced a new model to their signature strap series by way of a collaboration with Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. The Recoil was designed and developed with the bassist and approved by bass health expert Dr. Randall Kertz. “Based on Gruv Gear’s popular SoloStrap Neo, this exclusive new design features unique front and back adjustments for optimal positioning,...