Eastwood to Bring Back the Rocket Bass
Eastwood Guitars is launching a new tribute bass to bring back a design from the ’60s. The Eko Rocket IV Tribute was first reintroduced by Eastwood in 2006 and will be coming back next year.
“The ultra-rare EKO Rocket IV, or Rok Bass, is one of our favorites to have come about in the ’60s. Those of you who remember The Rokes are bound to recognize this iconic shape,” the company writes. “It’s been over a decade since we last built these ones, so we figured it was high time to Bring it Back!”
The bass will be built with a chambered mahogany body, bolt-on maple neck, and a maple fingerboard. Eastwood says they’re keeping things simple with a single humbucking pickup and volume and tone controls. Other features include a Tunematic bridge, Gotoh style tuners, and a short 30.5-inch scale length. It will come in black or gold finishes.
The Eastwood Rocket Bass is being launched in their crowdfunding platform with a $150 deposit for pre-order and a final price of $799. It is expected to ship in April 2021.
Eastwood Rocket Bass Specs:
| Body: | Tone Chambered Mahogany |
| Neck: | Bolt-on Maple |
| Fingerboard: | Maple |
| Scale Length: | 30 1/2″ |
| Width at Nut: | 1 5/8″ |
| Pickups: | 1x EW RTG HB |
| Switching: | N/A |
| Controls: | 1 Volume 1 Tone |
| Bridge: | Tunematic, Stop Tail |
| Hardware: | Gotoh Style Nickel/Chrome |
I wonder how bad these neck dive? That’s always a dealbreaker for me.
However, I do really LOVE the style and always kicked myself for not buying one when they first came out!!!
I have one the early issue in red. No way this thing is worth that money. I gave a couple hundo new in 07. Rough. It’s a short scale thats larger than a P bass. Strings need to be at least medium scale and light. The neck is more of a noodle to get straight enough for low action. The tuna bridge is only able to get the G accurately intoned. Not enough for-aft range. Looks great, otherwise, meh. Tone is thin but benefits from the stop-tail for some jangle. SD soapbar to the rescue. It helped but nothing spectacular.