4-string Bass Archives - Page 30

Wandering around the halls at the NAMM Show is great for finding unique instruments. While browsing Hall E this year I saw this killer four-string fretless built by Tim Seisser of LowDown Bass Guitars. With all the interesting body work and the stunning fingerboard, I had to find out more. “This bass started as an effort to use some really...

Schecter introduced the Stiletto Stage four- and five-string models at the Winter NAMM Show. The basses are designed to be a stripped-down, performance-ready bass at an affordable price point. Available in white and black gloss finishes, the neck-through basses are built with a mahogany body, a carbon-fiber reinforced maple neck, and ebony fretboard. The frets are marked with mother of...

Warwick unveiled their annual limited edition bass this year and this year is a landmark. The Thumb NT 2017, which comes in four and five-string versions, also marks the company’s 35th anniversary. The master-built instruments are built in Germany and limited to fifty units of each the four and five-string versions. Taking its cues from the standard Thumb NT model,...

This week we’re checking out the Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 4 HH, a bass they describe as “well balanced, comfortable, resonant and expressive with effortless playability.” The Bongo was introduced in 2003 with a modern double cutaway body design that complements the flagship StingRay model. It’s built with a basswood body in six color options: Black, Tangerine Pearl, Sky...

Three decades ago, Ibanez first introduced the SR bass. This year they’re celebrating their flagship bass model with four new instruments. “Throughout the past 30 years, Ibanez has been improving and developing the SR series by closely following market requirements and opinions from various artists and valued customers,” they write. “SR is now one of the most popular and distinctive...

The Kata 4 Headless from Blasius Guitars features a pretty unique body shape with the tone to match. A take on the company’s flagship Kata model, this headless bass is built with three-layer body wings consisting of a bubinga back, maple core, and flamed maple top. Its five-piece neck is a sandwich of maple, padouk, and walnut while the ebony...

Mike Lull introduced a new short-scale version of his P-style bass called the P430 at the Winter NAMM Show this year. The P430 will carry the same features of the full-size P4 – such as an alder, swamp ash, or mahogany body – but it will have a short 30-inch scale. That’s something Lull was not interested in doing until...

ESP Guitars added the AP-4 and AP-5 basses to their LTD Series at this year’s Winter NAMM Show. The four and five-string models are traditionally-based designs with ESP’s own twist. Both models are built with an alder body, bolt-on maple neck, and an ebony fretboard. They are fitted with a set of EMG pickups in a P/J configuration with volume,...

This week we’re checking out the Manne Guitars Moab, which they describe as their flagship luxury bass model. The bass comes in four, five, and six-string versions with a korina body topped by walnut, Italian Yew, or poplar. Its multi-laminated neck is fitted with a thin “F resin” fretboard, which Manne says allows for precise attack without dead notes. Its...

Spector is celebrating 40 years of bass building with the Euro4LE 1977 Limited Edition bass. Based on the company’s original bass from 1977, it’s built with neck-through construction with a fully carved body with solid American walnut body wings and a 3-piece maple neck. Spector went so far as to measure the dot inlays that adorn the 24-fret rosewood fingerboard...

This week we’re checking out a bass that went viral on Facebook. If you didn’t see this video of the Lawalin Chamele yet, watch it, and you’ll understand why it was so popular: Besides the incredible light show, the Chamele is not your typical bass. It features a hollow fiberglass body that’s fitted with programmable LEDs as well as a...

Schecter announced the CV Series of basses at the Winter NAMM Show this year. Available in four and five-string versions, the model centers around its electronics with a new set of the company’s Diamond J-Bucker pickups. The pickups, which visually resemble guitar humbuckers, can be switched between series, split, and parallel operation. Instead of a typical blend knob, the pickups...