The O Bass is the brainchild of Orange Technical Director and lead designer Adrian Emsley, whose inspiration came from his self-confessed love of vintage gear. Having spent a lifetime modifying all manner of bass guitars, the O Bass brings together all of his know-how in a unique and truly charismatic instrument.
Aside from its impeccably sleek lines and shapely aesthetics, the O Bass delivers the goods where it really matters. Plugging in reveals a sound with buckets of personality – familiar, yet somehow all of its own. A custom-wound split–coil pickup bears a very distinctive sonic mojo, with a well-balanced bass response and a bold and defined mid-range. Players with a softer touch will immediately find themselves in Motown territory, with earthy overtones in abundance. Dig in a little more aggressively and the O Bass responds with an infectious harmonic grind that harks back to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. As Emsley puts it, “It growls like a policeman’s dog!”
The O Bass first made an appearance in an early form as a demonstrator piece at the 2014 winter NAMM show, hidden from public view in the Orange booth. However, having been leaked on a number of videos on the internet, we were inundated with requests to put it into production.
• FINISH OPTIONS: TEAR DROP SUNBURST | OFF-BLACK | ORANGE
• CONSTRUCTION: 4 STRING FRETTED SINGLE CUTAWAY| BOLT ON
• BODY: OKOUMÉ |BASSWOOD VENEER | A.B.S. BINDING ON TEAR DROP SUNBURST & OFF-BLACK VERSIONS
• NECK: MAPLE |DUAL ACTION TRUSS ROD | EBONY FRETBOARD |A.B.S. BINDING & HEADSTOCK OVERLAY
• ELECTRONICS: 1 X CUSTOM WOUND SPLIT-COIL HUMBUCKER | MASTER TONE & MASTER VOLUME
• HARDWARE: NICKLE TOP-LOADING 4 SADDLE BRIDGE & OPEN GEAR TUNERS
• INCLUDED EXTRAS: PADDED ORANGE GIGBAG WITH PRINTED ORANGE CREST | ALTERNATIVE 3 PLY SCRATCH PLATE (TEAR DROP SUNBURST/OFF-BLACK FINISHES – TORTOISE SHELL | ORANGE FINISH – BLACK)
• SCALE LENGTH 864MM
• RADIUS R400 FINGERBOARD
• WIDTH AT TOP NUT 43*6MM NUT
• STRINGS 045-.105