[Bass of the Week] 007

See the business listing for this bass builder here

This week’s BotW that arrived in the featureme@bestbassgear.com inbox has more of an understated look but what makes it cool it what’s “under the hood”.

Dan writes:

I play in a few tribute bands for the Jerry Garcia Band, whose bass player played a P-bass during the 70’s and a Steinberger XL-2 in the 80’s and 90’s, so I wanted one instrument that combined these two tones. Through some research I found out that they are not as dissimilar as you’d expect – the Steinberger’s neck pickup is a split-P magnet set housed in a guitar-humbucker shape, placed exactly where Leo Fender placed the P pickup. I grew up playing a P bass and am a huge fan of EMGs so it was only natural to create one that added the electronics needed to capture the other tones available in a Steinberger bass.

“007” aka the James Bond Bass is named for it’s tuxedo looks and hidden gadgets inside. It’s a Warmoth Alder body with a rear-routed electronics cavity, a Gotoh 201 bridge, recessed Dunlop straplocks, a Fender AM Special neck – slim profile with a satin finish and graphite stiffener bars, a custom extra-thin Nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The neck pickup is an EMG PAX with Alnico magnets, it really captures the vintage P sound but translates it perfectly to the audience in a big room – it sounds like a P that’s huge and super articulate! The bridge pickup is a custom made EMG 35P4CS, with ceramic and steel magnets and split P configuration like the original Steinbergers, in an EMG 35 soapbar shape, and a Mike Pope Flexcore 4-band EQ and preamp wired by Max at BBG himself, after I had some trouble getting a custom external power scheme together. The bass is exactly what I wanted, super clean and articulate but still warm in P mode, then I can reach over, blend the pickups and kick on the EQ, scooping the mids and boosting the highs for the more modern Steinberger mode. It’s been my main gigging bass for about 6 months now and I still love it!