Basses - Page 54

Höfner has introduced the Club Bass 500/2 Double Cut, a model inspired by the original 1965 model. The short-scale, hollow body bass dishes out old school tone with a double cutaway design for easy access to the upper register. It’s built with a select spruce top and flame maple for its back and sides, which are bound in black and...

Chowny Bass has expanded their lineup with the SWB Pro, an upgraded version of the bass designed with bassist Scott Whitley. While the short-scale model retains many features, there are a handful of updates. The SWB Pro comes in two finishes – Matt Ash/Walnut or Gloss Ash with Quilt Maple – with other new features including a satin five-piece maple...

Willcox Guitars has expanded their lineup with a USA Custom Shop series. The full-service shop allows players to pick out their own tonewoods, tops, finishes, and hardware. The first custom shop Willcox instrument is the USA Saber Bass, which is available for order now in four, five, and six-string versions. “Just like the production model Saber Basses, Willcox offers HexFX...

Ibanez is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their SR Series with some limited edition basses. After announcing Premium and Standard versions earlier this year, they have now announced three new 2nd Edition SR Anniversary basses. The second round of basses includes four- and five-string versions of the SR30TH with Flamed Ash tops as well as a Premium five-string model with...

Supro has announced the Huntington Bass, a retro model that comes in single, double, or triple pickup configurations. The short-scale bass takes the body shape of an early ’60s Ozark model with the passive electronics and sound design of the equally vintage Supro Pocket Bass. It is built with a choice of mahogany, swamp ash, or alder for the body....

Epiphone has added a four-string to their Masterbilt Century series called the Masterbilt De Luxe Classic Acoustic/Electric Bass Guitar. It carries all the features of the Century line including a solid spruce top with traditional longitudinal bracing, an ebony fretboard, and five-piece maple/mahogany neck. Available in Vintage Sunburst and Vintage Natural finishes, the bass is fitted with a Shadow NanoFlex...

Serek Basses announced a new model at the Summer NAMM Show this year. The Midwestern 2 is a new version of the company’s flagship model with a few new refinements. It still retains many of the same features – a light-weight mahogany body, short scale, vintage profiled neck, and Hipshot hardware – but has a new body shape for playability....

NS Design’s WAV series got a little bigger this year with the addition of the NS WAV Omni bass, which debuted at the 2017 Summer NAMM show. The new model brings the Omni design, which has an upright bass design with the 34-inch scale of an electric bass, to the company’s most affordable WAV series. Available in four and five-string...

Ibanez has further expanded their BTB model range with several incarnations. This summer they expanded the BTB700 series with four and seven-string models, plus their BTB Premium line will now have options for figured maple tops. The BTB is typically a five or six-string bass, but the BTB740 and BTB747 take things one step further as a four-string and a...

Bassists looking for a super short scale bass have a new option with the Guild Jumbo Junior Bass, a four-string acoustic/electric. It has just a 23¾-inch scale. Part of Guild’s Westerly Collection, the Jumbo Junior bass is built with a solid Sitka spruce top with arched flamed maple for the back and sides. “We chose [the combination] to mirror the...

Fender debuted five new signature models at the Summer NAMM show this year including one bass: the Justin Meldal-Johnsen Road Worn Mustang Bass. The session ace, who has worked with artists ranging from Beck to Nine Inch Nails, teamed up with the company to create an instrument based on his personal ’66 Daphne Blue Mustang Bass. The short-scale bass is...

Yamaha’s BB Bass series is growing this summer with nine new models that debuted at the Summer NAMM Show. The reworked basses, which range from entry-level to professional, will feature a smaller body among other upgrades. The new line starts with the four-string BB234 and five-string BB235. Each is built a solid alder body fitted with a custom V3 ceramic...