5-string Bass Archives - Page 22

Nineteen years after it debuted, Peavey reintroduced the Cirrus bass to their instrument lineup at the 2016 Winter NAMM Show. The neck-thru design will once again be available in four-, five-, and six-string models featuring a 35-inch scale maple and mahogany neck. Its alder body wings will be topped by either red oak or walnut. Similar to the previous versions,...

Made in the USA, the Wilkins Road Tested Roasted Cayenne WRTJ5 Bass is an instrument that the builder says will make you feel right at home. Luthier Pat Wilkins, who has been in the industry since 1976, writes that the WRTJ was developed from years of extensive research on one of the most widely used basses in the world. This...

Kiesel Guitars has introduced a bass version of their Vader Series of instruments. Available in four, five, and six-string versions, the basses feature a headless design with a compact, beveled body for ergonomics. Each version has 24 frets and a 34-inch scale, though the option of a 30-inch short scale is available. Standard features include an alder body, a carbon...

Fodera has announced two new basses with the Emperor II Hybrid and the Tony Grey Signature Monarch. Both instruments are handmade in their custom shop and are expansions on their flagship models. The Emperor II Hybrid takes their classic Emperor singlecut and introduces the Hybrid chambered body design. Fodera says the bass shares the complex internal structure and other design...

When we first started this column, our goal was to present instruments that range from beautiful to bizarre. This week we’re featuring a bass that falls somewhere in between. The Spalt Instruments Terminator bass is part musical instrument and part modern art, thanks to luthier Michael Spalt’s creative background. He studied painting, photography, film, and set construction between schools in...

Roger Sadowsky and his crew have been making some of the world’s best basses for decades, and bass #7210 is another fine example. The instrument is one of the company’s 21-fret standard style five-stringers with some gorgeous styling. “It’s what we classify as Standard Style, which means no pickguard or control plate,” Sadowsky Shop Manager Lisa Hahn tells us. That...

Willcox is now shipping a new version of their Saber SL bass called the HexFX Edition. The new model has a 13-pin DIN connector that allows for individual string outputs in addition to the Lightwave Optical Pickup System. “The HexFX Editions bring the individual string outputs, along with a summed mono output, to a 13-pin DIN connector,” Willcox writes. “The...

This week we’re featuring the work of Aaron “Ray” Ross, a Missouri-based builder who began making basses to supplement his own collection. “I make basses by hand in a VERY modest shop,” Ross explains. “This started when I wanted a fretless bass but could not afford one.” Ross builds each bass by hand with an assortment of materials. His five-string...

After relaunching the brand earlier this year, Teye Guitars has unveiled the prototypes for a new bass model called the Super Coyote Bass. The instrument, which feature the company’s signature acid-etched aluminum artwork, was designed with AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams. “When Cliff Williams received his first Teye-bass, a superb Master series ‘La Mora’, his immediate reaction was to order two...

Sire Guitars’ Marcus Miller V7 5-String Bass really caught me off guard, more about that after the details. This instrument is definitely of the Fender-style design. The body and neck feel as you would expect from this approach. The Maple neck had that full rounded profile associated with J basses, and the Ash wood body felt familiar. What catches the...

Parliament Funkadelic and Maceo Parker bassist Rodney “Skeet” Curtis has teamed up with Brubaker Guitars to create the a signature bass called the JXB-Extreme II Skeet Model. The bass, which was developed over two years, is based on the company’s JXB series and comes in four-, five-, and six-string versions. It features a buckeye burl maple theme for the body’s...

Ibanez has announced two new basses to their SR500 series with the SR500TFF and the SR505TFF. The basses, which are four- and five-string versions of the same model, feature mahogany bodies with a traditional Tri-Fade Burst Flat finish. The neck on each bass is a five-piece laminate of jatoba and bubinga topped with a rosewood fretboard. Ibanez fits the basses...