Bass Gear - Page 187

Swapping out your Jazz Bass pickups has just gotten a little easier. EMG’s new J System is a completely solderless setup that includes everything you need to drop a new set of their J pickups into your bass. The pickups come with a control plate that’s completely wired with a split shaft volume/tone control, an output jack, a battery clip...

Dunlop went old school at NAMM this year by introducing a new set of flatwound strings. The Dunlop Flatwound Strings are designed to give the tone of classic rock, funk, and R&B recordings while providing a more modern feel. Designed for lower tension, the strings are described as providing a solid fundamental with rich articulation on top. “Rolling off your...

This week we’re taking a look at the Futura from Roks Instruments out of The Netherlands. Luthier Axel Roks, who created the bass as part of Dutch Design Week, uses the human body as a large influence on his creations. “This design originated out of the idea that a bass guitar could be an object in itself,” he writes on...

If you’ve been skeptical to add a wah or volume pedal to your pedalboard because of the space it takes up, Dunlop may have you covered. They unveiled a pair of new Mini pedals at the NAMM Show this year including the CBM105Q Cry Baby Mini Bass Wah and the Volume X Mini. The new CBM105Q Cry Baby Mini Bass...

Hartke turned some heads when they unveiled the TX600 at this year’s Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The 600-watt bass amp is the company’s first lightweight Class D amp, weighing in at a mere 7 pounds. The front end of the amp includes the same Class A tube preamp circuitry from Hartke’s LH Series with separate inputs for active...

ESP got into the multi-scale game this year with the LTD B-1004SE and B-1005SE basses. Four and five-stringers, respectively, the new models have different scales for each string to optimize tension and ergonomics. The multi-scale effect is created with Hipshot solo bridges and a fanned fret design. Both basses are built with a swamp ash body topped with solid rosewood,...

When we interviewed Chip Shearin last year, he let us in on the scoop that he was working with Roger Sadowsky on a special project. That project came to light at the 2016 NAMM Show with the unveiling of the Sadowsky Single Cut 24 Fret 5-String Bass. “Co-designed with bassist Chip Shearin by both myself and Lisa Hahn, this model...

Today we’re checking out another iconic bass with the Gibson SG Standard. Originally introduced in the 1961 as the EB3, the current incarnation of the bass carries many of the same attributes including the instantly recognizable body shape. Nowadays, the SG Standard is built as a dual pickup model with a vintage-style TB Plus humbucker in the neck position and...

Ibanez gave their Artcore line of basses a rustic turn this year with the Artcore Vintage Series. The semi-hollowbody, short-scale basses come in distressed finishes to give the vibe of an old workhorse instrument, right down to the antiqued pickup covers. Each of the models is built with a maple body, which the company says balances out the “boomy” quality...

TC Electronic has taken the SpectraComp found in some of their bass amps and put it into a TonePrint-enabled effects pedal. The multi-band compressor is specifically tuned for bass and housed in a mini enclosure to fit on tight pedalboards. Based on their MD3 multi-band dynamics engine, the SpectraComp Bass Compressor features a frequency specific compression algorithm that the company...

Ashdown’s AAA combo amps have evolved. Introduced at the Winter NAMM show, the AAA EVO collection includes four combo amps as well as a 1×15″ cabinet. Each of the combos comes with the company’s App Tek socket, allowing bassists to access amp simulators, effects, and other apps from their smartphones. Other common features include a Line In, a headphone jack,...

Following up on last year’s bass driver, Boss introduced the BC-1X Bass Comp at the 2016 Winter NAMM Show. The pedal is a multi-band compressor optimized for bass that the company says offers a wide range of compression without altering a bass’s fundamental tone. The BC-1X has the familiar compressor controls of Level, Release, Ratio, and Threshold as well as...