LAIRAT
Stega Deluxe
Player-friendly design plus precision-engineered components makes for a winner, says Stuart Clayton
The Stega bass, built by luthier Paul Lairat, was originally released back in 2004, and continues to be one of the company’s most popular models. Pairing a futuristic aesthetic with a versatile onboard preamp, the Stega Deluxe bass promises to be both eye and ear-grabbing, a combination that certainly has our interest piqued. Lairat’s growing artist list seems to bear this out, with the likes of Dave Marotta, Pepe Hernandez, Etienne Mbappé, Marc Guillermont, and fusion phenomenon Gabriel Severn all now using the company’s instruments.
Build Quality
The unusual body of the Stega has five different types of lumber: The edge splints are walnut and ebony, while the main body is mahogany with a wenge veneer. Various different kinds of lumber are available from Lairat, but our review model is topped with an eye-catching curly walnut. The neck also comprises multiple types of lumber, formed from six strips of maple, one of wenge, two mahogany, and two walnut. This is topped with an ebony fingerboard, which is the perfect aesthetic accompaniment to the curly walnut top lumber. The large oval Delano Xtender soapbox pickups fit the bill nicely, as does the black hardware. The design and construction of the instrument is obviously more complex than that of a conventional bass guitar, but the execution here is faultless: The build quality and finishing are superb across the board, indicative of a high-end boutique instrument. Fretwork is excellent, as is the overall setup of the instrument. A look inside the electronics cavity reveals a well-shielded compartment and neat wiring, with a separate flip-up compartment for the 9V battery.