Bass Gear - Page 332

Fender has unveiled the Modern Player Series, including three new basses. The Modern Player versions of the company’s Telecaster, Jaguar and Jazz basses are entry-level instruments with modern features and “unconventional” takes on their predecessors. The new Telecaster Bass features an alder body, “C” shape maple neck and a maple fretboard. The vintage-styled bass, originally issued in 1968, departs from...

The Kay Musical Instrument Company emerged in the 1930’s in Chicago, when Kay founder Henry Kay “Hank” Kuhrmeyer and an invester acquired the Groehsl Instrument Company, which was founded in 1890. Kuhrmeyer was interested in producing electric guitars and amplifiers when he took over the company, and they did just that in 1936 with the release of the company’s first...

Baer Amplification is now shipping their ML112, a 1×12 cabinet that delivers 400 watts at 8 ohms. The release is the first production line available from the manufacturer, who caught attention at the 2010 Winter NAMM show. The ML series cabinets are loaded with neodymium woofers and extended range midrange drivers, which Baer says add more body and punch than...

Gibson is helping to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind album with the introduction of the Krist Novoselic Signature RD Bass. The grunge bassist used an RD Artist series bass during his years with the trio and as such, the new bass is a recreation of its predecessor, with Novoselic’s own customizations. The RD body shape is an offset...

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...

M Basses has announced the Elite line of basses, stepping up from their Mj designs with more options while retaining the classic style. Available with Alder, Ash, or Mahogany bodies topped with your choice of figured wood. The maple necks feature Indian rosewood or maple fingerboards. The basses are passive and come standard with Nordstrand NJ4 single coil J-style pickups...

Planet Waves has released the NS Mini-Headstock Tuner, designed in cooperation with Ned Steinberger. The discrete tuner has a ratcheting clip to fit to your headstock and a 360 degree swivel for easy adjustments. Instead of a microphone or cables, the NS Mini Tuner utilizes a piezo transducer to detect pitch and displays the reading on a multi-color display. Red...

Fender has released the Classic Series ’70s Precision Bass, paying homage to the P-bass of yesteryear. Made in Japan, the basses include era-specific features like the bass-side thumbrest, the ’70s-style large headstock logo and a bound neck with block inlays. The bass has an alder body with a C-shaped maple neck and fretboard, which has a 9.5″ radius and 20...

Acoustic Image has introduced its new Series 4 line of amps and cabinets, with new features and updates from their predecessors. The company says the new series simplifies their product line, as it consists of two preamp types, one power amp and three cabinet types. The components are then combined to create the actual line, consisting of two amp heads,...

Thunderfunk has unveiled the TFB800-B2 bass amp, rated up to 800-watts RMS at 2 ohms. The new model is an update of the TFB750, combining all the mods that had been added to its predecessor. The TFB800-B2 is housed in an aluminum chassis, weighing in at 21 pounds, and has a plethora of tone-shaping capabilities with a 4-band parametric EQ,...

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...

Reed James Custom Pickups has announced the RJE Neos, new soap-bar style neodymium pickups. Made in the USA, the pickups have a modern sound, described by the manufacturer as “warm, punchy and very clear.” The RJE Neo pickups are available for 4- through 6-string basses and feature CNC machined black ABS plastic covers with a matte finish, though custom exotic...