Bass of the Week - Page 37

This week we’re checking out a six-string Glade model from Mana Basso custom basses. The gorgeous singlecut bass features a Padouk, Wenge and Swamp Ash body matched to a Wenge, Padouk and Flamed Maple neck for a rich textural palette. Its Birdseye maple fretboard leads your eye to the bass’s carved headstock, which is made as part of the neck...

Many people know bassist Yves Carbonne for his incredible playing on extended range instruments with up to 12 strings. Most can enjoy the music, but some can’t get past the number of strings on his bass. After musing online about the merits of how many strings a bass should have, Carbonne teamed up with luthier Jon Letts to create the...

Jake Serek of Serek Basses has a style that is rooted in the tradition of bass guitar history while advancing in his own ideas. That makes sense when you realize that he worked for one of the larger bass companies around, plus his natural curiosity led him to reverse engineering classic designs. This week we’re checking out his Sacramento model....

This week we’re checking out a sleek black custom bass called the Gotham by Spain’s Ramos Guitars. The seven-string brute is built with a mongoy body and fretless ebony fingerboard for a dark theme and an air of mystery. Featuring neck-through construction, its three-piece maple neck is reinforced with graphite for added strength. Ramos fitted the bass with a Delano...

As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s why luthier Scott Sterling of Lea Bass Guitars decided to create the Dumpster bass. Although the bass has a fine fit and finish, the components didn’t start out that way. “This bass started out as an ‘upcycled’ experiment in tonality – all the wood is from dumpsters in my...

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...

This week we’re checking out the Sirius by Aquilina Basses. Available in passive and active versions, the bass has several options to dial it towards a modern tone or take you back in time with old school thump. The active version of the bass features an ash body, an American maple neck, and a maple fingerboard with 20 frets. More...

This week we’re checking out a 35″ Scale Four-String model by luthier Ben Lambdin of Lambdin Guitars. The California-based builder opened shop recently, but he’s no new-comer to the industry. “After nearly a decade of working for and learning from some of the most respected guitar manufacturers in the world, such as the Santa Cruz Guitar Co, Zon Guitars, and...

Prog bassist Colin Edwin has been sharing details of his bass arsenal on his blog, including his exquisite Wal Mk 1 Fretless. The Porcupine Tree member explains that the model is probably his most played bass as he used it exclusively for several years. “Made in 1984 at Electric Wood in the UK, my Wal fretless has a Brazillian Mahogany...

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...

This week we’re checking out the Chowny CHB-1, a semi-hollow body bass with lots of flair. Designed in the UK and manufactured in China, the bass centers around a maple body and neck. It comes in a variety of flamed maple finishes as well as flat black or flat white colors, all of which are accented with 5-layer binding. Its...

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...