The old adage is true: so many basses, so little time. That’s why we’re bringing you the “Bass of the Week,” a column featuring low-end instruments ranging from beautiful to bizarre. Have a bass you think we should feature? Drop us a note at [email protected]
Bass of the Week - Page 53
Bass of the Week: Maruszczyk Instruments Frog Omega Europe 5
This week we take a look at the Frog Omega Europe 5 bass from Maruszczyk Instruments, a custom instrument designed on the company’s Frog series. Built on an alder body, the bass a quilted maple theme, with the figured wood being used for the top, fingerboard, headstock, and pickup covers. The set-in neck is made of hard rock maple. The...
Bass of the Week: Mayones Elegance 5 Paper
Some basses are a piece of history, and then some are made from pieces of history. As part of their Master Builder Collection, Polish company Mayones unveiled the Elegance 5 Paper, a limited edition 5-stringer covered with reprints of newspapers, some dating back 100 years. The clippings are from all over the world: Poland, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and...
Bass of the Week: Spalt Instruments vViper
This week we look at the Spalt Instruments vViper, a custom built bass with a unique pickup design that pivots. The idea for the “wiper” arm pickup is the brainchild of proprietor Michael Spalt, a luthier who started building after studying film, photography and painting in San Francisco. After consulting on it with Bill Bartolini, the end result allows infinite...
Bass of the Week: Ritter Royal Flora Aurum
Based out of Deidesheim, Germany, Jens Ritter is an electric bass luthier known for his artistic flair and luxurious basses. In addition to his exceptional line of basses is the Ritter Royal collection, which are set apart due to a “unique feature or an exceptional design history aspect of Jens Ritter’s career as a luthier.” In 2006 he outdid himself...
Bass of the Week: Alusonic S-Special Aluminum Bass
Alusonic takes metal bass to a new level – the Italian bass builders make their instruments out of aluminum, citing characteristic and environmental reasons. The special Anticorodal and Ergal alloys that they use are naturally light, rigid and produce a balanced, fat sound while Aluminum is completely recyclable, making it more eco-friendly. On top of that, the body provides full...
Bass of the Week: Waja-Bass Design Telio G.V. 5-String Fretless
This week we take a look at the Telio G.V. 5-string Fretless from Waja-bass Design. The bass is built by hand in Kempen, Germany and features a striking ergonomic body shape made of swamp-ash and dibetou. Besides sculpting for easier access, the design aims for balance between the body and neck, effectively shifting the the instrument’s focus to the middle...
Bass of the Week: Burrell Fat-Boy Acoustic Bass Guitar
For our first Bass of the Week, we featured a bass with a twisted neck. This week, we look at the Burrell Fat-Boy acoustic bass guitar, which takes the same ergonomic idea and applies it to the body. The design comes from the mind of Leo Burrell, who began dreaming up more comfortable guitars during his time as an engineer...
Bass of the Week: BL Designs Barbary Fretless 5-String
Our featured bass this week is a BL Design Barbary 5-string. This custom fretless bass is a single cutaway design built with a redwood theme, the body is birdseye redwood with a maple veneer, while the stunning top is exhibition grade redwood burl. From there, the body is accented by a 9-piece padauk neck that has wenge and maple pinstripes...
Bass Of the Week: Xylem 5-String Black Limba Bass
This week we’re featuring a beautiful custom Xylem 5-string bass. This particular bass is a neck-through design featuring a black limba body with a bookmatched macassar ebony top, accented with bocote and maple. The quartersawn neck is bird’s eye maple and has an ebony fretboard and custom inlays of a tomoe and falling leaves. All the electronics are Bartolinis, including...
Bass of the Week: Knuckle Guitar Works Quake Bass
Bigger is better. At least that’s the concept behind Knuckle Guitar Works’ Quake, a massive 39.5″ scale built-to-order bass. With the growing popularity of drop-tuning, bassists have to tune their strings down, which Knuckle explains harms tone by losing the upper transients. Seeing the need for better string response and tension, luthier Skip Fantry set out to create a bass...
Bass of the Week: Kenneth Lawrence “Joust” 11-string ChamberBrase I
The world of extended-range basses has taken off over the last few years, and if you’ve ever searched for the term “bass” on YouTube, you’ve likely seen this week’s bass of the week: the Kenneth Lawrence “Joust” 11-string ChamberBrase I, built for Nuclear Rabbit and solo bassist Jean Baudin. A customization of Lawrence’s models, the bass features a chambered North...
Bass of the Week: Rickenbacker Limited Edition Lemmy Kilmister Signature 4004LK
Rickenbacker paid tribute to metal icon and Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister with the introduction of the 4004LK, a signature bass limited to 60 pieces that was first spotted in 1995, though production started around 2000. The bass is half instrument, half art, as each piece’s walnut body features a hand-carved relief of oak leaves and white checked binding. Since they...