Inside Victor Wooten’s Reverb Shop: The Bass Nerds Play the Collection

I’m not sure how many times in life you get to say, “Today I played a bunch of Victor Wooten’s basses,” but I’m going to enjoy saying it while I can.

Marc Najjar from Bass Magazine and I teamed up for a special crossover episode of  with Reverb, Bass Magazine, and No Treble, and the reason was a big one. Victor Wooten is launching his official Reverb Shop, featuring a collection of basses, amps, pedals, and other gear from his personal stash.

Naturally, we had to investigate.

The collection includes some incredible instruments, including several Foderas that will instantly feel familiar to Wooten fans. We started with a Yin Yang Standard Special, the kind of bass most of us immediately associate with Victor. This one had the classic PJ setup, EMGs, a brass nut, and all the things you want to see when a Fodera like this shows up in the room.

There was also a heavily modified Fodera NYC Empire that may have been the most fascinating instrument of the day. This one had clearly lived a life. It had no controls, a cable mounted through the body and headstock, plenty of wear, and the kind of history you can’t fake. As we pointed out, before Joe Dart made the no knob thing famous, Victor had a bass with no controls on it.  That one felt less like a pristine collector’s piece and more like a working artifact. It had been played, modified, repaired, and loved. In other words, it was very Victor.

We also checked out a Fodera Monarch 4 with swapped electronics and a super articulate sound. The pickups had a ton of clarity, and the bass had a wide tonal range without losing that focused, punchy thing you expect from a great Fodera. It was one of those basses that makes you hear every note, which is inspiring and terrifying depending on what your hands are doing that day.

One of the standouts was a Nechville and Steinberger fretless banjo bass. It was unlined, had no side dots, and sounded surprisingly loud even before plugging it in. It is the kind of instrument that makes you question your life choices and your intonation at the same time. Victor would probably say there are no wrong answers.

We also played a Kubicki Factor Bass, which brought a completely different flavor to the session. Between the headless design, the clever drop tuning system, and the variety of tones on tap, it was a great reminder of how forward thinking those instruments are.

The whole day was part gear demo, part history lesson, and part “how jealous are you that we got to touch these?” moment. There are instruments, and then there are instruments that carry stories. This collection definitely falls into the second category.

Victor Wooten’s official Reverb Shop will include a range of basses, amps, pedals, and oddball instruments from one of the most influential bassists of all time. For someone out there, this is a chance to own a real piece of bass history. For us, it was a chance to play them poorly, respectfully, and with as much borrowed funk as possible.