BASS CENTRE Ashbory
Time for something a little different, suggests our Editor...
BASS CENTRE
www.basscentre.com
$495
The Ashbory story goes back as far as the late Eighties, and while these rubber-stringed, small-bodied instruments have a reputation for quirkiness in a classically English way, most of their owners are actually in the USA, thanks to a production deal with Guild in the Nineties. You can read the full story at the Bass Centre’s website—and it’s a revealing tale, digging deep into the vagaries of instrument distribution and manufacture—but suffice it to say that this new bass, also available as a ukulele, has changed radically over the years. The silicon rubber strings are still in place, but the tuners are way more robust, and the active electronics—and therefore the tones—have been completely revamped. Let’s see how it matches up.