“The most brutal bass ever crafted”: Solar’s new Type-E models look to bring “extreme modern shapes” to the bass guitar world
Ola Englund’s firm has announced an angular new bass shape that looks to introduce a “new standard for metal bass”
Ola Englund’s Solar Guitars has expanded its range of bass guitars with “the most brutal bass ever crafted”.
It’s the first of a few hefty claims from the brand regarding its latest arrival. Solar also says its Type-E bass delivers a “new standard for metal bass”, and provides a “bold statement engineered to satisfy the most discerning metal bass player”.
As well as sounding heavy, the bass wants to look heavy, with a pointy, Explorer-like silhouette that looks to correct what Englund and Solar have bemoaned as a lack of aggressive, modern bass guitar shapes currently available.
The release delivers a four-string model with Solar's signature Canibalismo finish, and a Black Open Pore five-string model.
Both instruments deliver a 34” scale length and 24-frets, designed for “comfortable balance and playability”. The Solar-made high-output ceramic humbuckers, meanwhile, aim to put bass brutality front and center.
There are individual tone control knobs for each pickup, which sit alongside a master volume control.
The same assortment of tonewoods – sungkai bodies, maple necks, and rosewood fingerboards – are present across both models, as is a fixed high-mass bridge.
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The four-string Canibalismo model will set low-end chasers back $999, while the five-string equivalent rises to $1,099. A gigbag is included with both bass guitars.
Head to Solar for more information.
Over on its guitar side, Solar has brought premium features like locking tuners to budget electric guitars, with its new lineup coming in at a tidy $599. Its S by Solar range, meanwhile, takes affordability one step further, with models starting at $219.
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A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.