I sold all my five strings and decided to get one built by one of the best Australian Luthiers. The purpose of the bass was cover all my 5 string needs and cover pretty much music & gigs that require me to play with a more modern\/active sound. In terms of inspiration for the look of the bass, I constantly told Jeff Mallia that I love the look of fresh chocolate milk (milo) being mixed for the first time, where some of the chocolate powder still hasn’t melted off. (Haha, weird I know, but that’s what I wanted).<\/p>\n
I am an Aguilar<\/a> Artist Endorsee, so I wanted to stay loyal to Aguilar and got Jeff to install Aguilar electronics & pickups for the bass.<\/p>\n
One of the greatest features about this bass (from a player’s perspective) is the low B string. This is the most even & balanced B string I have ever played. I first noticed this in Jeff’s Demo Basses. His B String wasn’t weak like most 5 string Basses.<\/p>\n
Mallia.com Desicription:<\/p>\n
This is an Expression Single Cut model bass which has been custom specified for Sydney musician Eric Riel Fortaleza. It features an Oregon walnut burl top showing the English walnut graft line. English walnut trees are grafted onto North American walnut root stock to allow them to grow in North American soil. As the tree grows, so does the \u2018V\u2019 graft line producing an unusual mix of the two species in one piece of wood. Materials and construction method were maximised to deliver on weight without compromising the basses sonic qualities \u2013 attack, clarity and sustain. Unique to this bass is its customised playing ramp. To allow pickup covers and ramp to be cut from the actual top for continuous grain, the ramp was made to be adjustable from level with the body to as high as the pickups.<\/p>\n
Specifications<\/p>\n
Neck: Figured Maple\/Wenge with proprietary carbon internal beams and titanium light weight truss rod option.<\/p>\n
Scale Length: 34 in\/863.6mm<\/p>\n
Fretboard: Madagascar Rosewood with Red Abalone dot inlays<\/p>\n
Body: Oregon Walnut w\/graft front & rear cap\/Old Growth Australian Cedar body core with front cap bent over arm bend.<\/p>\n
Head Veneers\/Truss Rod Cover: Bookmatched matching Oregon Walnut<\/p>\n
Head Rear Inlay: Custom \u2018ERF\u2019 Monogram inlay in Mother of Pearl<\/p>\n
Pickup Covers and Ramp: Continuous cover option cut from top cap on Figured Australian Yarron base<\/p>\n
Rear Control Cover: Continuous cover option cut from back cap<\/p>\n
Control Knobs: Hand made Figured Australian Yarron\/matching Oregon Walnut cap with matching Red Abalone position inlays.<\/p>\n
Electronics: Aguilar OBP3<\/a> 3 band active preamp<\/p>\n
Pickups: Aguilar DCB Ceramic Dual Coil\/Formvar<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Hardware: Hipshot Ultralite tuners<\/a> and Style A Bridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Total Weight: 3.89kgs (8.57lb)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Video<\/h3>\n