Bass of the Week: Marleaux Consat Signature

Marleaux Consat Signature Bass - Spalted

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 24 frets, and a 2-piece body of select burl wood. The bass is further adorned with mother of pearl inlays and a Marleaux logo in mother of pearl.

Each component is custom made for the model with gold ETS hardware and a pair of humbuckers by Delano and a 3-band EQ. Since each bass is handmade, an array of options are available ranging from wood combinations, pickup combinations, colors, fretless, left-handed, and more.

Marleaux describes the bass’s sound as “detailed, boutique, transparent, and multi-faceted.” Check out these demo videos:

For more info, check out Marleaux Bass Guitars’ website

Marleaux Consat Signature Bass Photos:

Marleaux Consat Signature Bass Specs:

Strings:4, 5, or 6
Construction:6 point bolt-on or neckthrough
Body:2-piece of Select Burl Wood
Neck:3 - 5 piece birds eye maple neck with strips of wenge
Fretboard:Ebony
Frets:24
Inlays:Mother of Pearl
Pickups:Delano Humbuckers
Electronics:Marleaux ‘ProgramAble’ 3-band EQ
Hardware:Gold – ETS/Schaller+ security locks
Finish:High Gloss
Accessories:Tools, Gigbag, Security Locks, Marleaux folder with certificate, information and electronic instructions

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Leave a Reply to Aaron Gibson Cancel reply

  1. Barry Irwin

    With that kind of pedigree i would imagine they must be pretty expensive.If they above 3K
    I haven’t heard a sound to justify the price.I have a Valery Richter bass that is German made certainly not that detailed in materials and upper echelon detail but this bass could not hold a candle to it when it comes to sound.

  2. GIGI

    Jay Tee!!

  3. My Marleaux Consat Custom is the finest bass I’ve ever played over 25 years. The youtube demos don’t do it justice (don’t actually do justice to anything at all). However, I have no idea who makes the Marleaux packaged strings that came with – I didn’t like them at all. They seemed to hide the tone of the bass.

  4. Going to Weds. updates, Kevin? Anyway. in response to Barry Irwin, perhaps you don’t hear the justification for the price, but as far as choosing an instrument, playability matters as much as sound. Perhaps the justification is in fit, finish, weight, of just the feel of the instrument. I’d love to try one out, and of course, there’s the rub. You can’t just swing by the neighborhood Guitar Center and try one out, can you?

    • Barry Irwin

      When i travel I use a 5 string Zon Mosaic BB5. The pickups are Read James jazz and the electronics are from Rothstein Guitars.It also has a Vcap Copper foil capacitor. I hate the head stock on the Mosaic but the neck and the body are amazing.With the other components I just mentioned its an unbelievable bass for shows which is what i do.When i come home for my own pleasure I play the Richter. Its a 6 string and if it were a 5 it would be on every gig.The Nordstrom pickups and Pre amp sound great.Sometimes you have to take a chance when you buy a bass. having played for 45+ years and knowing what you want its possible to buy a bass without playing it. Sometimes reputation can work.IE who made the pickups,who made the bass and off course the components,where it was assembled. Unfortunately Valery seems to make instruments for his own pleasure rather than as a full time business. Maybe that’s why they that good. The only reason to go to Guitar C
      enter is because its fun.Very seldom do they have outstanding instruments.