AV Bass is a Czech high-end brand that received a lot of attention when it was newly used by Jamiroquai bassist Paul Turner.
The brand was started in the 1990s by professional bassist Ales Vychodil.
At that time, major instrument manufacturers offered many basses on the market, but none of them met his needs.
In order to meet his own needs, he began making custom basses with his own hands.
In the 2000s, we started OEM manufacturing for European and American boutique brands, and made the world aware of our high level of manufacturing technology.
I met the builder Ales at the Guitar Summit in Germany in 2019.
He has a great personality and is a man who has a strong desire to take on challenges, but who also always shows concern for the performers.
I have placed orders several times since 2019, and they have provided stable quality.
I believe that this stability not only shows the strength of a brand, but also is universally important.
This model was exhibited at the European Guitar Show held in 2024 and attracted attention.
I selected two special bottles from among several on display and took them back to Japan.
Here is one of them.
This model uses the JB style as a motif and actively incorporates more modern specifications.
The top of the body is Exotic Africna Ebony and the back is European Poplar.
The builder, Ales, is pushing this top material a lot, and it seems that it is truly rare.
Not only does it look cool, but the combination with European Poplar is the best, and he loves it.
The neck is one piece Maple and the fingerboard is African Ebony.
The fingerboard is coated and beautifully finished.
The bridge and tuning machine are HIPSHOT.
The scale is 34 inches and the string pitch is 18 mm.
The PU is Nordstrand Bis Single on the neck side and Nordstrand Bigman on the bridge side.
As for the preamplifier, I didn't specify it on my side and had it set to a passive circuit.
Controls are also specified: neck PU volume, bridge PU (neck coil) volume, bridge PU (bridge coil) volume, and passive tone.
Each coil of the humbucking PU is treated as a single coil.
This method is recommended for Musicman Stingray's passive MOD, and is very popular due to its wide range of sound variations and high practicality.
The playing feel is extremely smooth, the clarity of the pronunciation, and the quick but not sarcastic response are extremely attractive.
I liked the feel of it and immediately decided to bring it back to Japan.
The string vibrations created in this way are output using high quality PU.
The neck PU is thick but clear.
Even with the bridge PU, there is no lack of bass, and the tight and crisp high mids are attractive.
The two coils have different characters, and I think it's very useful to be able to freely control this balance in conjunction with the neck PU.
This is a miraculous piece that not only fretless fans but all bassists should try.
Please note that there are some scratches as this is a show model.
Accessories: gig bag, wrench, spec sheet
Text: Shunsuke Saga
Inspection person: Oshima
Manufacturer's warranty included
Ships in a sturdy cardboard box.
We also support overseas shipping.
Contact Info
LINE: vwj2699r
email: info@bassick.jp
TEL: 045 534 7133