Bass Gear - Page 166

J Ferro Basses was showing their full lineup at the NAMM Show this year including the brand new Kilian Duarte KD-5ES bass. Based on their Escalon model, it features a mahogany body with a solid flame maple top, a five-piece maple and mahogany neck, and a maple fingerboard with black pearl inlays. Electronics include custom wound J Ferro pickups matched...

Schecter announced the CV Series of basses at the Winter NAMM Show this year. Available in four and five-string versions, the model centers around its electronics with a new set of the company’s Diamond J-Bucker pickups. The pickups, which visually resemble guitar humbuckers, can be switched between series, split, and parallel operation. Instead of a typical blend knob, the pickups...

Taylor expanded their GS Mini series with a new compact bass model called the GS Mini-e Bass. The instrument has a small 23.5-inch scale, which the company explains is about 10 inches shorter than a standard bass guitar. Even with the reduced scale, the bass’s setup creates deep tones. “Part of the magic is the custom nylon-core strings (with phosphor...

Trace Elliot is back in a big way in a tiny package. The ELF bass amplifier weighs in at just 1.6 pounds and produces 200 continuous watts RMS at 4 ohms. Its input section has three regions of operation: uncompressed, variable multiband compression, and overdrive. The three-band EQ section has the company’s proprietary filters with low center (80 Hz), mid...

After introducing the American Professional line in December, Fender has unveiled the Limited Edition Exotic Collection. The series includes the 2017 Limited Edition American Professional Jazz Bass FMT, which combines the features of the Professional model with a figured maple top. The bass is built with an alder body, quartersawn maple neck, and rosewood fretboard. The neck has a slim...

Ampeg launched two new pedals at the Winter NAMM Show this year with the Classic analog bass preamp and Scrambler bass overdrive. The pedals represent either side of Ampeg’s other pedal offering, the SCR-DI, into two smaller focused pedals. The Classic pedal allows for dialing in an Ampeg tone with its three-band tone stack as well as Ultra-Lo and Ultra-Hi...

A lot of times, basses with exotic burl tops look like they are made out of marble. The Stradi Symphony Stone Bass is a step in that direction. In addition to its unique singlecut body shape, this particular bass is built with a cedar body topped with a thin layer of natural stone. The result is stunning. The bass’s five-piece...

Aguilar Amplification has announced the expansion of their AG amplifier series with the AG 700. The company describes their latest creation as having the clarity, dynamic range and fast transient response of their AG 500 with a larger low end and headroom. It offers 700 continuous watts at four ohms while weighing just 4.9 pounds. Its tonal shaping controls include...

Bass legend Mike Watt has teamed up with Reverend Guitars for a special signature bass called the Wattplower. The short-scale bass also features a smaller body and is reminiscent of vintage basses that Watt gravitated towards. “He was always modifying the vintage basses,” Reverend writes, “so Joe Naylor built the Wattplower with all of his favorite mods on board, some...

If you got to catch Rush in the past twenty years, you would have seen Geddy Lee on stage with household appliances in lieu of a bass amp. Going direct means relying on preamps for his sound, and now he’s helped to create a signature SansAmp with Tech 21. The Tech 21 Geddy Lee Signature SansAmp GED-2112 is a bass...

German amp manufacturer Glockenklang has released the Steamhammer, a 700-watt class D amplifier that sets itself apart from their other lightweight amps by using an ICE power module. Its Class A preamp features a four-band EQ as well as a drive section and effects loop. The amp’s input section starts with a 20 dB pad and a mute switch for...

Hartke is expanding their HD series this year with the HD500 Bass Combo. The 500-watt Class D amp weighs in at just 35 pounds and is fitted with a pair of the company’s 10-inch HyDrive speakers. The drivers blend paper and aluminum materials into their speaker cones that add warmth and attack. Its controls include a 3-band EQ plus Hartke’s...