Basses - Page 89

Stanley Clarke will be stretching out a bit more with the introduction of his new Alembic Signature Deluxe 5-string bass, which the company will offer in their signature series. Tuned E to C, the step from a 4- to a 5-string bass allows for playing Clarke’s songs written for tenor bass as well as everything written for traditional tuning. Clarke...

J. Backlund Design has stepped into the low end with the introduction of their first bass, the JBD-800B. Modeled after the company’s versatile JBD-800 guitar, the new 4-string bass sports three Seymour Duncan Bass Lines pickups with a 5-way pickups selector for extended tonal range. The JBD-800B features bolt-on construction with a 6-bolt maple neck and either rosewood or maple...

In addition to their new Embrace model, Birdsong Guitars is celebrating their 8th anniversary with the introduction of the Corto2. The new bass is a take on their flagship short-scale Cortobass and features rear-routing with a pair of Kent Armstrong soapbar pickups. Other changes include a more refined body with subtle recurving. Though many options are available, the bass comes...

Sterling by Music Man has unveiled the new S.U.B. line of basses, which the company says is meant to make Music Man designs available at more affordable pricing. The new line includes the Ray4 and Ray5, which are cousins to the Music Man Stingray 4 and 5 basses. The new basses are built with hardwood bodies and maple necks with...

Gretsch has added several new models to their Electromatic series, including two new hollow body basses: the G5440LS and the G5442BDC. Though they share many features, the G5440LS is a 34? scale bass with a single-cutaway design while the G5442BDC is the little brother of the two, with a short 30.5? scale and double-cutaway body. The new offerings are both...

Spector has expanded its ReBop family for basses with the ReBop4 MM and ReBop5 MM. While keeping many of the same traits as their predecessors, the new models are equipped with an EMG-HZ MM passive dual coil pickup. They also introduce maple fingerboards with black Spector inlays and a trans blue stain matte body finish. As with the rest of...

Custom shop Birdsong Guitars has introduced a new fretless model called the Embrace. The bass, which was prototyped over several years, is a 32? scale fretless neck-through with a single passive soapbar. Described as a “working man’s electric fretless”, the bass is handmade in Texas yet streamlined to offer a price most everyone can reach. Birdsong will be making Embraces...

Fender has upped their acoustic bass game this summer with the CB-100CE. The dreadnought cutaway bass sports a spruce top with scalloped X bracing and mother-of-pearl acrylic rosette. The mahogany neck’s profile is styled after that of a Jazz Bass and has a dual-action truss rod for proper adjustments. Its bridge is rosewood and has compensated saddle. For further flexibility,...

Fender’s Custom Shop has unveiled their 2012 Limited Edition Models, including the Limited Edition Relic La Cabronita “Boracho” Bass. Bringing together elements of the Porazzo and its sister Boracha, the Boracho sports a reversed Jazzmaster body with added mass. Couple that with a custom T.V. Jones Thunderblade pickup and you get what Fender says is a “very unique and LOUD...

Late last year, G&L upgraded their flagship bass line with the M-2000 and M-2500 basses. Now the company has announced Tribute Series versions of the instruments, which offer the models at lower price points. Both the 4- and 5-string basses come in two different configurations of either a honeyburst over swamp ash body with a rosewood fingerboard or gloss black...

Eastwood Guitars has had a busy summer. Rounding out their new retro releases is a 34? scale version of their Airline Map bass. A tribute to the 1962 National Newport Guitar, the new full-scale bass comes in Seafoam Green and is equipped with D’Addario Chrome flats. Similar to their 30? scale version, the bass features a tone chambered mahogany body,...

We see and cover a ton of basses here at No Treble (I know, tough life). And while the features are often as varied as they get, they also vary wildly on price. Many basses today are topping the $5,000 mark. Some by a lot. We hear more about price from readers when the basses hit these upper ranges than...