Bass Gear

Greece’s Burretone Guitars makes handcrafted instruments based on vintage designs. Their first build of 2020 is for a customer who wanted a tribute to the classic 1951 Precision in all maple.

MXR unveiled the Thump bass preamp at this year’s Winter NAMM Show. Based on the Echoplex preamp, the compact green pedal features a three-band EQ with a mid-frequency knob.

One of the most shocking pieces of gear we found at the 2020 NAMM Show was the AeroTech bass cabinet series from GR Bass. The lineup is described as the lightest bass guitar speaker cabinets in the world.

Taylor has expanded its GS Mini line with a new bass model. The GS Mini-e Koa Bass sports the same scaled-down body and string length as its maple predecessor, with some new features.

Gallien-Krueger has expanded its amp offerings with the new Fusion S series of heads. The hybrid amps have a tube preamp matched with a Class D power section. They also include a new first for the company.

EMG has expanded its lineup of signature bass pickups with the Robert Trujillo Signature “Rip Tide” Set. The Metallica bassist’s new pickups are described as a first with “stainless steel, black chrome caps to the world of the jazz bass.”

Genzler Amplification was at NAMM 2020 to unveil a new bass cab in their Bass Array line. The BA15-3 is fitted with a 15-inch driver with a vertical array of four 3-inch drivers, and more.

This week we’re checking out the BlueLotus Basses BLSC4, a singlecut neck-through design built by Matt Scarpa. The luthier crafted it around a five-piece quarter-sawn hard maple and wenge neck.

Sandberg Guitars was on hand at the 2020 Winter NAMM Show to display several new products, including a new short-scale passive bass called the Lionel. Featuring a 30-inch scale, the bass is based on the company’s California VS model.

Ashdown has unveiled a new and impossibly small 200-watt bass amp called The Ant. Weighing in at just two pounds, the unit measures 8 inches wide, 4.6 inches deep, and 2.4 inches tall including its feet and knobs.

After the first version sold out almost immediately, Earthquaker Devices has unveiled the Life Pedal V2. The circuit is in a new, more traditional housing and has all the sounds of the original with a few more features.

Fodera doesn’t have a booth at the Winter NAMM Show this year, though they’ll be on hand. That isn’t stopping them from revealing the new Yin Yang Standard, which will come in two color/wood options: Purple Heart or Mahogany.