Bass of the Week: Lassila Guitars “Golden Gorgeous”

Bassist Etienne Reynaud wrote in to share his newest bass with us, and it’s a beauty. Nicknamed the Golden Gorgeous, the bass was built by Hayden Lassila of Lassila Guitars.

Etienne gave us the full scoop, so we’ll let him do the explaining:

“I wanted something that looked like a J bass and sounded like a P bass. Lindy Fralin 5% overwound split jazz pickups make a bigger magnetic aperture and a darker sound than the classically bright traditional j pickups.

“I love the roadworn look but can’t quite stomach the idea of deliberately harming a new instrument. Hayden at Lassila Guitars had the incredible idea of just doing thinner coats of my white transparent with a white burst (to edge) so that it could age quicker. Underneath is a spalted maple with some amazing spalting that I’m really excited to reveal as this bass ages with me.

“The inlays came from luthiersupplies.com and show gold, pink, teal, and blue when seen from different angles. Visually, they absolutely spring out of the waxed and oiled rosewood neck with its gold frets and white binding.

“A surprise to me, Hayden at Lassila Guitars also made a version of his logo to play in the space where I was pulling my inspiration from. We briefly riffed on having it say ‘Jizz Bass,’ but I couldn’t commit.

“It is voiced with a matched set of 5% overwound Lindy Fralin Split Jazz pickups (in white). The vol/vol/tone also allows one of the Volume knobs to be pulled to enable Series mode. Pickups are covered with gold covers, which will be removed after the paint ages a bit.

“A few months after I put the order in, Squier released their gold/white product offering, and I spent the remaining months hoping that this would blow them out of the water. It does.

“Oh, and it sounds enormous. The neck pickup soloed is huge and hollow and gives off P bass energy. The bridge pickup soloed has more presence than any J bridge pickup I’ve ever heard and more than some MM pickups. The neck is fast and feels like a baseball bat (I love round fingerboards and round necks). The 21st fret gives me that fourth octave E, as well as access to a Cma7 up the top.”

Lassila Guitars “Golden Gorgeous” Bass Specs: