JP Ferreira of JP Basses Returns with New Brand, KISSBASS

In 2006, luthier Jean-Philippe Ferreira retired from building basses. The JPBasses brand would be licensed to Pete Skjold in 2011, but Ferreira has laid low since, until now. He’s just announced a new brand called KISSBASS, which he says has a different approach to bass building.

“KISS stands for Keep It Stupid Simple. My goal is to produce an affordable professional instrument where you get only what is really needed,” he shared. “Plug and play, literally. The design process was to achieve a ‘there’s nothing left to remove’ situation.”

He shared one picture of the KISSBASS, although it was not completely finished. The bass will only come in four-string versions with a shortened 31.18-inch scale. Its body will be made from black limba, while the neck will be either padauk or wenge. Ferreira will give the option of a wenge board for fretted models and ebony for an unlined fretless model.

Other features include a single Armstrong/KISSBASS Sidewinder dual coil pickup with a single volume pot. Another option would be to have a push/pull pot with a tone roll-off when pushed. For hardware, the KISSBASS will have Hipshot Ultralite tuners with an X-Tender on the E string and a Hipshot KickAss bridge.

Ferreira has yet to launch all his socials for the brand, but you can subscribe to @kissbass.rocks. He says the KISSBASS will have a direct price of €1890 ($1,821).

KISSBASS Specs: