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Just like every year, as soon as we get into the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, we head for the Marleaux stand to meet Gerald and see what’s new. In this modestly sized booth you’ll find the best basses in the show, and also the best bass players.

Some players testing (and enjoying) Marleaux basses at the 2009 Muskmesse

After trying all the basses in the booth, we set on our favourite 4 instruments, and you can see them here at Doctorbass.net ready for you:

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MARLEAUX M-Bass Custom 5 string

The mBass has always been our favourite Marleaux model. Loosly based on the trendy Singlecut shape that so many builders and players favour, the mBass stays away from some other bulky designs, making for a compact bass with a dinstict elegant look

The previous version of the mBass had a somewhat dark sound to it that made it nice for some styles but not really suitable for others. That was of course until Gerald recently decided to use different pickups and electronics. The specially wound MM type pickups by Delano are clear, detailed, and aggressive when needed.

In passive mode you get Volume and Tone. Coupled with the two mini switches, one per pickup, this proves to be more than enough to get lots of phenomenal tones out of this bass. Actually Marleaux desings this bass to offer its best in passive tone, so the down position in the Push-Pull Volume pot is actually Passive mode. Pull it up and you’ll enter Active mode, enabling you to use the stacked Bass and Treble controls if so you need. You may actually use Passive and Active as two completely different tones that you can switch between at the flick of a switch. Neat!

The two 3 position miniswitches allow each pickup to be used as Single Coil, Humbucker in Parallel or Humbucker in Series.

Sure, you’ll spend a couple of days trying all the different possibilities, and there are plenty on tap, but once you set on your 3 or 4 favourite sounds, it is very easy to dial them in.

As usual in Marleaux 5 string basses, the low B is just loud and clear, and remember this is a 34″ scale bass. This means you don’t have to stretch as much as in 35″ scale basses, but still get a full and defined low B

This is probably one of the few basses that you can play seated without a strap and absolutely no neck diving!

The beautiful binding on the bird’s eye fingerboard is a nice extra. The macassar ebony top and matching headstock add a little weight to the instrument, but it is not excesively heavy. As we said before, if you play seatedyou don’t need a strap, and if you play standing all you need is a nice strap. We are offering a free Comfort Strap with this bass.

Price: 3500€

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MARLEAUX Consat Custom IV, Neck Thru Body

This is our first Marleaux 4 string bass, and won’t be the last!

Not just a gorgeous bass witha jaw dropping Olive Ash top, but also an amazing 4 string bass that really performs.

This Neck thru body bass has an amazing Dynamic Range, which allows you to get excellent results from the lightest pluck to the heaviest touch. There’s a percussive qualilty to it that is seldom found in neck thru body basses, so what you get here is a perfect marriage bwetween sustain and lively attack.

Play any line or use any technique you can think of, and you’ll be rewarded with a true professional sound that seems to be easier to play on this bass than on many others. When a bass makes you sound (and play) better, you may have finally found what you’ve been looking for all your life. We have lots of High End basses in the shop, and we warranty you’ll have to spend 3 times more to get this performace. Enough said!

Two specially wound Delano pickups are used on this bass, an the circuit is Marleaux’ own ultra quiet 3 band Active/Passive unit. Boost the Highs to the max and see how little “hiss” this adds, then compare it to ANY other bass… Amazing.

Price: 3200€

We like this bass so much that we thought you’d like to see some details:

[View with PicLens]

 

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MARLEAUX Consat Straight II , Aged Black

This is our top seller Marleaux model, and also the most affordable. A nice combination

The lightweight body is made from a single piece of dibetou, and the bolt on neck is also made with a single piece of premium hard rock maple. The lack of a top and multilaminated neck means that you get the direct (or straight) sound from these woods, with a clear fundamental and plenty of attack.

The heel-less neck joint design extends up to the neck pickup. This is responsible for an easy access to the top frets and also ensures maximum contact between the neck and the body, a crucial area in bolt on instruments.

Two Marleaux Bigmag pickups made by Harry Häussel are used to offer a wide range of sounds. The bridge pickup comes with a 3 way switch that allows Single Coil, Humbucker in Parallel or Humbucker in Series modes. Marleaux’ own ultra quiet 3 band Active/Passive preamp is used on this bass (this is an extra, as the Straight comes passive as standard).

As usual in Marleaux 5 string basses, the low B is phenomenal, and remember this is a 34″ scale bass. This means you don’t have to stretch as much as in 35″ scale basses, but still get a full and defined low B.

This bass comes with the following Extras:

- 3 Band EQ

- Bird’s eye maple fingerboard

- Aged Black Finish (slightly worn out around special areas)

Price: 2585€

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MARLEAUX Fretless Edition, 5 String

This is our top seller Fretless Bass.

This is not just a a “defretted” version of a standard Marleaux bass, but a bass that has been conceived as a fretless instrument from the scratch. When Gerald Marleaux wanted to creat the definitive fretless he realized he had to take into account many aspects that are ofter overlooked.

The most important aspects are:

- Bolt on neck: many people think that a neck thru body is the best option for fretless, but the truth is that is you want a nice growl, the attack that a bolt on favours acts as an advantage. In this case, the heel-less neck joint design extends up to the neck pickup, and there are special routings at the base of the neck to add a special dimension to the sound.

- Bartolini pickups. This is the only Marleaux bass to come standard with these pickups. Gerald beleives they deliver the sound he has in his mind for a perfect fretless tone. We agree!

The lightweight Swietenia body comes with a nice flamed Pearwood top. The lined fingerboard is made from a very nice piece of top grade ebony.

Marleaux’ own ultra quiet 3 band Active/Passive preamp is used on this bass, and there’s a Passive Tone control too with the right capacitor to offer that trademark Jaco sound from the bridge pickup. The fact that this preamp is so quiet means that you can even boost the Highs to the max and get no noise (or at least much less than in ANY other bass), which will allow you to get some extreme sounds in the Michael Manring way.

To sum up: a bass with a unique voice that sings like no other and responds to the slightest change in dynamics and right hand positioning.

The low B is just perfect, and this is great coming from a 34″. No need to stretch as much as on a 35″ bass, and this is really important on a fretless.

We’ve sold lots of Marleaux Fretless Edition, and customer satisfaction is unusually high. Click here to see the details of a similar bass.

Price: 3300€