Reacter Bassix

construction: set neck
body timber: mahogany
body overlay: bubinga
neck: mahogany and maple
fingerboard: rosewood
owner: Claudio Berla

owner’s story

In the late 80ies any bassist looking for a 5-string was out for either a Tune or a Warwick fiver, so was I. After working for the complete school summer holiday and preparing for my highschool graduation exam, at the end of 1989 I went into a nice music store in Basel – unfortunately it went out of business since – to get a Tune or Warwick. By pure luck Chris was visiting Markus – the owner of the shop – then and he had a couple of his instruments with him. They’ve told me to try one of Chris’s basses. At first I was a bit intimidated – six strings. This was quite unusual then and I was playing bass for only four years. I gave it a try and from the very first moment this beautiful Irish girl wanted to play with me. Her price was right in between a Tune and a Warwick so we started a longtime affair. She became my main companion for the last 30 years and has been with me around the world. I take her to every concert, apart from double bass and acoustic gigs. Over the years she got a few dings and dongs, went through bar fights, was almost stolen once, confiscated by the police in a foreign country to blackmail me, but we have a solid relationship ever since.

Although she’s got a 34” scale her sound is fat, growling and very versatile. I believe there are four reason therefor – heavy mahogany body, a lot of wood in the neck, Kent Armstrong’s custom-made pickups and an easy to use preamp. She’s pretty heavy but well balanced. You can rock her all night long.

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