Industrial Radio to release Midi Bass in July

Industrial Radio are gearing up to release their brand new Midi Bass in early July 2009 and the guys over there have let some info go so heres a sneak peek at what to expect.

Looks like a classic Jazz bass shape, and I hope to god it plays like one too.

The Midi Bass is billed to have such ultra-low latency that bassists will be able to connect with the very latest hardware and software synths and samplers and not experience any of the usual issues found with using Midi technology like this.
They say that the Midi Bass is going to change the way we as bassists relate to our instrument by opening up a whole new sonic dimension.

Well I guess so, but don’t we as bassists get the “tone-jones” - I know i do, but I’m never ‘jonesing’ for a trumpet or violin sound on my bass, I’ll tell you that for nothing.

And hasn’t this been done before?
Not quite like this.

Its been designed by Austrailian engineer Steve Chick and is the product of many years of development. The core technology was licenced to Peavey for the Midibase and the Cyberbass in the 90’s and was also used by Wal Basses and a couple of others, but since then, Steve has been working hard to further develop the technology and relaunch the system under his own brand.

From the site: “The Midi Bass features a unique, ’split-fret’ neck construction that fully integrates position sensing electronics right through the neck of the bass guitar so that the Midi Bass can instantaneously detect where a player is fretting strings on the fingerboard. This approach provides the fastest possible MIDI tracking on a stringed instrument and results in a highly playable and accurate MIDI controller that works as reliably LIVE on stage as it does in the studio.”

I think the technology sounds great and it would be short-sighted of me not to see the positives of having an instrument like this, especially for those recording digitally who want to be able to use different sounds without using an instrument they aren’t conncted with, such as a keyboard. I use some midi when I record and I have to use a keyboard or a mouse to produce it, so I like the idea of creating the sounds using an instrument I am familiar with.

That said, the Midi pick-up has been around for a while and can be attached to bass in a second…and its pretty good.

For me, the combination of the wood, the build and the hardware will provide everything I need my bass to do, so whilst the technology is cool(I’m a bit of a geek), I’m not sure it will change the way I relate to my instrument.

Here is the published spec. for the Midi Bass :

* Model: Midi Bass (4 string)
* Body: Agathis (Similar to Alder in density & tone)
* Neck: Maple neck, Graphite-reinforced, Gloss finish headstock, Satin finish on back of neck
* Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood, 7.25″ Radius with printed Lexan overlay
* Frets: 21
* Pickups: Nordstrand ‘Big Splits’
* Bridge: Chrome with Graph Tech Ghost Series piezo saddle pickups (frontload)
* Machine Heads: Schaller 4-in-line chrome
* Hardware: Chrome
* Scale: 34″
* Accessories: Hardshell Case, Midi Bass Cable, Midi Bass Module, Power Adaptor
* Controls: Volume, Balance, Passive Tone, MIDI Volume, MIDI programming switch
* Jacks: 1/4″ audio jack & 8-pin DIN connector (connects to Midi Bass Module)
* LCD: 2 line, backlit Liquid Crystal Display

Available colours will be - 3-tone Sunbust, Olympic White, Black, Charcoal Frost, Ice Bue Metallic, Candy Apple Red, Ocean Turquoise and Teal Green.

Check it out here www.industrialradio.com.au

What say you, bass world?