Small Size. Big Sound. Italian Style...
The ShortBass-One is a brand new, short scale acoustic bass designed by Mimmo Peruffo - the main man at renowned Italian string manufacturers, Aquila Corde Armoniche - that combines the round, full sound of an upright bass with astonishing portability.
With a comfortable size somewhere between a bass uke and a regular acoustic bass, the ShortBass-One has a substantially louder volume than many full-size acoustic instruments, with superb projection, note definition and fundamental tone. Even without amplification, the ShortBass-One is emminently capable of making its presence felt in a small. un-plugged environment (check out the "Videos" tab for proof) whilst, for full-on, big stage performances, the on-board piezo pickup allows the full expressive power of this little beast to be unleashed.
Aquila "Red Series" Strings
The ShortBass-One takes full advantage of Aquila's new Red Series "Thundergut" string technology. A cunning mixture of elastic plastic mixed with copper metal powder gives the ShortBass a rich, deep, warm tone with a timbre comparable to a double bass and with excellent sustain. The addition of copper to the formula means the Red Series strings feel much more natural to the fingers than silicon and prevents them from sticking or rotating, improving performance and tuning stability.
Construction
Manufactured at Aquila's headquarters in Vicenza, the ShortBass-One features a bound-edge, sold Cedar top with contrasting Sapele back & sides, a choice of fretted or lined fretless Rosewood fingerboard (with pearl front & side position markers on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12 frets), a precisely angled headstock to prevent the strings sticking in the nut, custom geared machine heads, end-pin jack socket with strap button, Abalone rosette and distinctive, Mother-of-Pearl "ShortBass" headstock logo.
In combination with the optimized soundboard structure, strings and build quality, the lack of a conventional truss rod enhances the resonance of the ShortBass-One resulting in greater natural sustain and improving balance.
Models
The instrument comes in two different flavours - The ShortBass-One 14 with 21 frets (67cm / 26.4" Scale) and the ShortBass-One 12 with 19 frets (60cm / 23.6" Scale)... Both variants are also available with lined fretless fingerboards.
