There's just something sleek and futuristic about a bass in a single, solid color, with black hardware and no pickguard.

To me, there's always been an aesthetic difference between "guitar as furniture" - hence the rise of coffee table basses with exotic wood sandwiches and transparent finishes, purfling and binding, marquetry, inlaid mother-of-pearl everything, and the Chippendale design of Gibson headstocks; and "guitar as vehicle," with simplified designs and vivid hues.

In many ways the...

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