Bassline Worp Fretless 5

assline basses have been made for 15 years in Germany by luthier Rüdiger Ziesemann. From the Bassline shop in Krefeld come out some of the most special, imaginative and well made basses in the market today. Rüdiger combines centuries old craftmanship with the latest tools and CNC machines to produce the fabulous instruments that he creates in his mind.

This is a Worp model, and it is a bass that doesn't pass unnoticed! This model is based on the patented "Universal" Electric Upright Bass, which was (and is) an instrument that featured an extended neck to add sustain and fundamental to the notes.

Bassline "Universal"

Rüdiger got many requests from customer to build an electric bass with that same principle, and the Worp was born.

The body is made of walnut and maple, and the top is a beautiful piece of quilted maple. The neck is a 5 piece laminate made of bubinga and maple, so you get a lot of stability.

With a neck-through construction, the extended neck and single cutaway design, this bass has all the sustain you could ever ask for. In order to retain some attack and crispness, Rüdiger chose a headless design, and this produces an arguably perfect balance between sustain and attack. This bass just has it all, and it is the player who determines how the bass should sound by using different technicques.

The ebony fingerboard sports more than two octaves (26 frets if there were any) and access to the last one is clean and unrestricted.

With a design and construction so special, this bass could not come with standard electronics. You get a handwound magnetic pickup made by German pickup guru Larry Haeussel that sounds amazing. The miniswitch allows you to split the magnetic Häussel pickup so you get these sounds: Single Coil/Both coils in Parallel /Both Coils in Series

The piezo unit is an amazing Schertler Bluesitck microphonic pickup, and is located under the wooden bridge. The bridge itself is a very intelligent design, as there are individual adjustable metal saddles for each string.

Sounds: the magnetic has a wonderful semihollow tone that is warm, deep and also inspiring. The piezo is without a doubt one of the most sonically balanced systems we've ever tried (there's none of that typical piezo harshness that you've probably experienced in other basses).

The active/passive Noll 3 band preamp is the final touch in case you need more flexibility or if you want to gently adapt the sound to a particular amp or room.

Playing the bass is a very unique experience, especially the first minutes. First impression is a little bit strange, no so much because you cannot pass your left hand thumb over the neck (which is something hardly ever done in a 5 string bass anyway), but beacuse the extra amount of wood over your thumb is a little bit confusing and your left and right hand coordination gets a little bit lost. Fortunately, all it takes is 5 minutes playing the bass to realize it is very easy to play, and in no time you feel really comfortable. The neck extention is also great to make to use a "correct" left hand position.