Bass of the Week: 13 Custom Instruments Alex 4

Austria’s 13 Custom Instruments recently completed a gorgeous bass they dubbed the Alex 4, which caught my attention. The swamp ash body has a unique multi-part top with stripes of lime, pear, walnut, zircote, wenge, rosewood, and ebony set in a color gradient. Its top is also curved over a one-meter radius, builder Daniel Furian says.

The Alex 4’s neck is also a sandwich of maple, mahogany, and wenge, with mahogany veneers dividing the pieces. Furian used ebony for the fingerboard and the headstock cap on which he inlaid a Mother-of-Pearl “13.”

A Bartolini MM humbucker is set in the body and matched with a 2-band Aguilar preamp. The volume knob doubles as a push/pull knob for toggling between active and passive operation. Finally, the hardware consists of a Hipshot Kick Ass bridge, Hipshot Ultralight tuners, and Schaller Security Locks.