Bass of the Week: Stellart Guitars Athena
This week we’re checking out the Stellart Guitars Athena, which is a five-string bass featuring a chambered body and neck-through construction. The gorgeous instrument is centered around a nine-piece neck made from purpleheart, maple, Black Gabon ebony, and padauk. It’s topped with a Ziricote fingerboard inlaid with a mother of pearl fleur de lis at the 12th fret.
The bass’s body is also a laminate of maple, padauk, and purpleheart, while the back is bookmatched Ziricote. On top is bookmatched Cocobolo that looks like you could take a bite out of it. Finally, the headstock veneer continues the exotic wood themes with cocobolo, maple, and padauk. A mother of pearl unicorn is inlaid there, as well.
Other features on the bass include EMG pickups, an EMG BQS preamp, a Babicz bridge, and Sperzel tuners.
Stellart Guitars Athena Bass Specs:
| Scale length: | 34″ |
| Body wood: | Laminated Maple/Padaouk/Maple/Purple heart/Maple and book matched Ziricote back |
| Top Wood: | Book matched Cocobolo |
| Neck through wood: | 9 piece laminate, Purple Heart/Maple/Black Gabon Ebony/Maple/Padaouk |
| Fretboard Wood: | Highly figured Ziricote with a white mother of pearl 12th fret fleur de lys and side dots inlays |
| Frets: | 24 |
| Headstock veneer: | Cocobolo with Maple/Padaouk/Maple pinstripes and white mother of pearl unicorn inlay |
| Truss rod cover: | inlaid continuous Cocobolo |
| Neck reinforcement: | Low profile dual action truss rod with 2 carbon fibre rods |
| Fretboard radius: | 14″ |
| Neck to body break angle: | 0º |
| Headstock break angle: | 12º |
| Nut: | Scalloped brass |
| Bridge: | Babicz (full contact hardware) 5-string bass black finish |
| Machine heads: | Sperzel bass locking black finish |
| Neck pickup: | EMG P5 |
| Bridge pickup: | EMG J5 |
| Electronics: | EMG BQS active EQ system 5 knob system features a balance control (blend) and master volume with separate bass and treble pots along with the concentric mid-control (stacked) and 18 V power supply for extra headroom |
| Control knobs: | Ebony with white mother of pearl dots |
| Finish: | Eco-friendly oil |
| String gauge: | 0.045″ - 0.130″ |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
