Best of 2023: Top 10 Reader Favorite Bass of the Week Features
Our “Bass of the Week” series debuted in 2011 and has always been a popular one. Kevin’s goal since the beginning was to feature “low-end instruments ranging from beautiful to bizarre.”
Here are the top 10 reader-favorite BoTW’s for 2023.
1. Bass of the Week: Lignum Sub Octave Bass
Nate Navarro may be the new champion of every bassist’s favorite game of “How Low Can You Go?” The bassist, who has been on the road with Porcupine Tree, collaborated with Lignum to create a sub octave bass.
2. Bass of the Week: Island Instruments Thunderstang
There’s always something exciting about seeing elements from different bass styles coming together. This week we’re checking out a bit of a Frankenstein with the Thunderstang by Island Instruments.
3. Bass of the Week: Brooks QB
This week we’re checking out another jaw-dropping instrument built by Rob van den Broek of Brooks. The Brooks QB is a twelve-string bass built as a tribute to the Quad Bass built by Jol Dantzig of Hamer for Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson.
4. Bass of the Week: Ray Brown’s 7/8 Size Double Bass
The Smithsonian is home to many priceless pieces of history. Its vast collection includes numerous musical instruments and this week, we’re featuring a bass I was lucky enough to visit recently: Ray Brown’s 7/8 Size Double Bass.
5. Bass of the Week: Seldon Guitars Scout 434
Chris Seldon’s bass designs are always so striking. This week we’re checking out his Scout 434 model, which he says was designed to be a “straightforward yet well-appointed workhorse.”
6. Bass of the Week: MG Bass Guitar Duo Oasis Double Neck
This double neck by MG Bass Guitars sports both a fretted fingerboard and a fretless fingerboard to offer the best of both worlds. We reached out to luthier Mauricio Costa for the scoop.
7. Bass of the Week: Lawalin Guitars Guit-Fiddle Bass
Lawalin Guitars’s latest build takes his Guit-Fiddle body shape and applies it to a super short scale four-string. The violin-styled, single cut body and its fretboard are composite with a Southwest swirl design.
8. Bass of the Week: Torillo & Fendt “The Element Bass”
Today we’re checking out the Element Bass, a new concept designed by Tom Germann of Torillo Basses and Steffen Fendt of Fendt’s Finest. Available in four and five-string versions, the bass was created using their collective experiences in bass playing.
9. Bass of the Week: Beardly Customs “Piccolo Bass”
Rick Link of Beardly Customs shared one of their latest builds, and even he’s not sure what to call it. The four-string bass was ordered to mimic the unusual instrument used by a famous bassist.
10. Bass of the Week: Mister MikeV “Fish On” Bass
Today, we’re sharing a tribute instrument built by Mister MikeV. His fretless “Fish On” bass takes some pretty obvious cues from legendary luthier Carl Thompson to celebrate one of his favorite players.
Is the Hamer 12 string bass available for sale ?