Bass of the Week - Page 43

Gerald Marleaux is a world-class bass luthier based in Clauthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. His designs bring together the highest degrees of form and function into 4-, 5-, and 6-string basses. Today we check out Marleaux’s Consat Signature, the luxury version of his flagship Consat model. Standard features include a 3- or 5-piece birdseye maple neck with wenge strips, an ebony fretboard with...

Sometimes you see photos of a bass posted on Facebook, and you just have to stop to check it out. This gorgeous Soame Custom Guitars PJ435 bass was one of those for me. Handmade in Argentina, the bass features a Northern ash body and a bookmatched flamed maple top that really pops thanks to a stunning Bahama Blue satin finish....

Luthier Brad Lowe launched his custom instrument business in 2009 in order to combine his lifelong interests of the musical, visual, and industrial arts. His flagship bass model called the Chromasonic is proof that he’s on the right track. Available in 4- and 5-string versions, the bass is designed with a unique body shape that includes his “forearm facet” to...

Sometimes if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. We love it when bassists take building their instrument into their own hands, and Jim Colby nailed it with his bass that he calls “Glitzy.” ”‘Glitzy’ came about due to my love of 60’s Fender basses, and a meager paycheck,” the bassist shares. “Built in 1995 and...

This week we check out the Custom AG by Belgian luthier Paul Belgrado. Finished in a root beer color nitrocellulose finish, the bass gives an air of classic ideas with a modern approach. The AG is built with an alder body, maple neck, and madagascar rosewood fingerboard. It gets its meaty sound from a pair of Lindy Fralin double coil,...

We love innovative basses, so when Jonathan Dauphinais announced the Keybass 3.0, we were pumped. The instrument is a bass guitar with a keyboard synthesizer mounted to its lower half so that each can be played simultaneously. Dauphinais first started experimenting in 2007. This is the third model of his concept, which was completely custom made. “I did major modifications...

The best basses come together through a mixture of inspiration, art, and technology. This week we check out a one-of-a-kind instrument that was born of all three ingredients: the Diana Bass by Ribbecke Guitars. In late 2012, bass legend Jack Casady lost his wife Diana after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Casady pondered ways he could honor her memory before...

Stanley Clarke has not only pushed the way people play the bass, he’s helped to push the way people build the bass. The legendary player is known for experimenting with new concepts in bass designs ranging from body materials, electronics, and tunings. In 1979, Clarke commissioned luthier Thomas Lieber to build an all composite bass. Their partnership resulted in a...

This week we check out a gorgeous CM6 by Omy Guitars. Built in Turkey, this particular bass features a headless, 33″ scale design that finished in a blue burst satin finish that makes its figured maple top really pop. Its alder body is matched with a three-piece male and walnut neck with two way truss and graphite rod reinforcements. Although...

I love instruments that get stylistically creative, and Tony Cochran has a knack for making them. Cochran, who is also the syndicated cartoonist of the comic strip Agnes, has a habit of taking neglected guitars and basses and giving them a new life. “I [find] them on Craigslist, at garage sales, and hidden in closets. The guitars remain fully functional....

Back at the Winter NAMM show this year, we ran into our friend Vuyani Wakaba roaming the floor with a smile from ear to ear. He was overjoyed by his new HJC Customs Fretless Alchemy 5, which is this week’s Bass of the Week. Wakaba teamed up with luthier Harold J. Cagle for the custom creation. It features an African...

This week we check out the Limes bass, a unique singlecut design that’s handmade by Oliver Lang Instruments. The series came as a collaboration between Lang and his customer Michael after meeting at a fretless workshop. Together they created the first of the Limes series, dubbed the “Erik,” which features a five-piece maple and walnut neck, walnut body wings with...