Best of 2020: Top 10 Reader Favorite Bass of the Week Features
Kevin Johnson kicked off the Bass of the Week series in August 2011 with the goal of “featuring low-end instruments ranging from beautiful to bizarre.”
To date, he’s featured 487 basses.
Here are the top 10 No Treble Reader favorite BoTW’s for 2020.
1. Bass of the Week: Rybski Empathy Bass
Jordan Rannells sent us some details on his amazing new bass by Rybski Custom Bass Guitars. Dubbed “The Empathy Bass,” the instrument features the empathy symbol, which represents two sides reaching out to each other.
2. Bass of the Week: Alembic Signature Deluxe “Balance B”
Alembic recently shared some photos of this bass on their Facebook page and it stopped me in my tracks. I reached out to Mica at Alembic, who filled us in on the details.
3. Bass of the Week: Wintergatan’s Cyber Bass
Wintergatan is a Swedish band that focuses on engineering and innovation to create their music. One of their main creations is the Marble Machine X. The machine previously had a violin-style bass guitar, but they’ve just upgraded it to what they call the “Cyber Bass.”
4. Bass of the Week: 5th Day Products Mallory Bass
This week we’re checking out a bass by 5th Day Products called Mallory, which takes its name from Juliette Lewis’ character in “Natural Born Killers“. Luthier Jeremy McDiarmid explains that everything about the bass is oversized.
5. Bass of the Week: Brooks Grabbird
Last year, bass builder and Gibson enthusiast Rob van den Broek built a bass that combined elements of a Thunderbird and a Telecaster. Now, he’s revealed his latest creation called the Brooks Grabbird.
6. Bass of the Week: Harley Benton HB-60 WB
This week we’re checking out the Harley Benton HB-60 WB, a semi-hollow body bass with a super affordable price tag. Inspired by basses of the ’60s, the bass features a short 30.5-inch scale and walnut brown finish for a vintage vibe.
7. Bass of the Week: Blast Cult Gateway
Jason Burns of Blast Cult has been building upright basses for years, but lately, he’s been getting more into the electric side of things. His latest creation is the Gateway Bass, a bass guitar that carries many of the aspects of a double bass.
8. Bass of the Week: Nico Dayet Quintessence
Yves Carbonne has a unique playing style that warrants some unique instruments. This week, we’re taking a look at his new Quintessence, which is a six-string fretless acoustic built by luthier Nico Dayet.
9. Bass of the Week: Fleishman Guitars “Big Bass” Multi-Scale Acoustic Fretless Bass
Harry Fleishman has been building instruments for over fifty years. Although he spent time working for large companies like Fender, he’s always kept designing on his own. This week we’re taking a look at an amazing acoustic fretless bass he built.
10. Bass of the Week: Rinaldis Custom Basses EVO-FX4
Alberto Rinaldis shared his recently finished EVO-FX4 bass with us, which seems like part sports car with its sleek lines and attractive yellow finish. The Luxembourg-based luthier made sure it plays as well as it looks.
