Bass Gear Roundup: The Top Gear Stories in February 2018
The amount of new bass gear news coming out of each year’s Winter NAMM show always means there’s a healthy dose of stories in February. This year was no exception.
Here are the top 10 No Treble reader favorite gear stories for the month.
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1. Fender Limited Edition Parallel Universe ’51 Telecaster PJ Bass
Fender presented a retrospective line of instruments this year with the American Original Series, but they also imagined some axes from another dimension that blurred timelines. The Parallel Universe lineup was revealed to include several guitars and one bass: the ’51 Telecaster PJ Bass. The limited edition blends aspects from several instruments across the years…
2. G&L Guitars CLF Research L-2000 Bass
G&L Guitars have introduced the CLF Research L-2000 Bass, an instrument that harkens back to the Leo Fender’s original innovations with his CLF Research company in the late 1970s. Fender’s creations with CLF went on to be the foundation of G&L’s instruments, including the Magnetic Field Design pickup and saddle lock bridge…
3. Rickenbacker 2018 4003S/5 5-String Bass
Rickenbacker announced the return of the 4003S/5 bass at the 2018 Winter NAMM Show. The five-string bass, which has not been offered for over a decade, has been updated with a slightly wider string spacing, a Schaller 3D-5 bridge, and a new single coil pickup design…
4. Ibanez SRMS800 Series Basses
Ibanez has expanded their multi-scale bass lineup by adding the SRMS800, SRMS805, and SRMS806 to their Bass Workshop series. Each bass is built with a five-piece jatoba and walnut neck that has fanned frets for consistent tone across open strings, improved intonation, and comfort…
5. Hartke TX300 Bass Amp and HyDrive 112b Bass Cabinet
Hartke launched a pair of new bass amplification products at NAMM this year: the TX300 bass amplifier and the HyDrive 112b cabinet. Both products are lightweight and a good match for each other, with the TX300 weighing in at just five pounds…
6. Ernie Ball Music Man Updated 2018 StingRay Bass
Ernie Ball Music Man’s StingRay has been a time-tested model for decades, but both the four and five-string versions will be getting an update for 2018. The company made the announcement at the Winter NAMM Show…
Warwick unveiled a bass counterpart to the Framus Idolmaker at the Winter NAMM Show. Produced in the custom shop or as part of their German Pro Series Teambuilt line, the Warwick Idolmaker Bass is built with a carved mahogany body and a bolt-on wenge neck…
8. Tensor Classic Series 2018 Bass Updates
Tensor Basses is updating their Classic series of basses for 2018. Described as a “complete ground up redesign,” the new basses offer a deeper cutaway for access to the top frets, Nordstrand J-series pickups, and a new finish…
9. Marco Bass Guitars N1 Bass Guitar
One of the booths at the NAMM Show that always has tons of buzz is the Marco Bass Guitars display. This year they introduced the N1 bass, which they describe as a game changer. Although the bass is their entry-level model, it’s still made in the USA in the Marco shop…
10. Ashdown Engineering CTM 30 “Little Stubby” Tube Bass Amp
Ashdown Engineering’s Classic Tube Magnifier (CTM) series got a little bigger this year – or a little smaller. The all-tube CTM 30 “Little Stubby” was debuted at the NAMM Show, where Dan Gooday described it as “a little bit more of everything in a smaller package”…
