Bass of the Week: Dunable Guitars Joe Lester’s Cyclops 6-String Bass

Intronaut bassist Joe Lester recently shared a post about his newest instrument with the simple caption “Holy smokes!” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

The axe was built by his bandmate Sacha Dunable of Dunable Guitars. This Cyclops bass is built with a Khaya mahogany body and a quilt maple top that’s finished in a smoky charcoal burst stain and matte polyurethane topcoat. Dunable also utilized flame maple for the fingerboard, head cap, and pickguard.

While he usually plays lefty, the new bass is different for Lester as it is a six-string and it has frets. He typically plays a fretless Zon in Intronaut and wrote on Facebook to explain the new instrument.

“I still proudly play and endorse Zon Guitars, and Intronaut has always been and will always be a fretless-only band; it’s an integral part of our sound,” Lester wrote. “However, a while back Sacha coyly asked me if I could get a new instrument, something wild and different and not necessarily for Intronaut, what would I get? And I answered a fretted six-string, as it’s been ages since I got a fretted bass and in fact, I’ve never had a six in my life; I’ve never even encountered a lefty six to try out. So Sacha surprised me with this exquisite build, and I am super excited to get my hands on it! I don’t know if I’ll end up using it in another project or just use it at home for recording and writing, but I’m absolutely floored by how beautiful it is, and I think it’s going to be super musically inspiring to have such a new and different type of instrument to explore.”

Electronics include a pair of Aguilar Super Double humbuckers matched to an Aguilar OBP-1 preamp. Its controls are master volume, blend, bass, middle, and treble with an active/passive switch. Finally, the hardware includes Hipshot Ultralite Tuners, a Hipshot A Style bridge, and Schaller strap locks.

Dunable Guitars Joe Lester’s Cyclops 6-String Bass Specs: