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We’ve been in business for 20 years now. During this period of time we’ve been lucky enough to have in our shop the absolute best electric basses in the world made by the best luthiers and small brands as well as many big company instruments. One may think he's seen it all but from time to time we are really excited and surprised about a new product. We just love it when we find out about new stuff that really gets our attention.

We’ve been aware of the amazing Stradi basses for sometime. There is definitely something about the design and the overall balance of these instruments that sets them apart from the rest.

In late 2023 Stradi Marek Dąbek and Aga (the luthiers behind the Stradi name) visited our shop in Burgos, Spain. They brought some of their really amazing basses for us to test and we spend the day hanging out and talking all things bass. From that very moment we knew we wanted to have these absolutely fantastic basses in our shop. We are really excited to show you our first custom order.

This model is called Symphony and it is a 6 String Fretless bass. The finish is named Yogan, which is Japanese for lava. A quick glance at the bass reveals the truly amazing lava finish on the exhibition grade poplar burl top.

When we order a custom instrument for the shop we are usually quite specific about the specs and features we want. We've sold thousands of basses so we have our preferences in terms of tonewoods, parts, dimensions, etc. However, in this case we preferred to leave Marek and Aga do their thing completely free and we are glad we did. We didn't want to interfere with the creative process and just wait for the bass to arrive and judge. Well, the bass is here and we have a veredict: it's 10 out of 10. Everything is absolutely perfect. Not only does this bass spectacular, it plays and sounds just as well. No corner has been cut here and we have to say we are truly impressed and that's no easy task, believe us...

The Symphony is Stradi's flagship model and it combines two worlds: classic and modern. The idea was to fuse the natural beauty of a double bass and a modern electric bass. The result is an instrument with excellent sound, sustain and a unique shape.

A lot of time has been devoted to getting the proportions just right, and this is something you can feel as soon as you pick this beauty up. The extended fingerboard that goes from the nut to the end of the bass allows the bridge to be pushed closer to the edge of the body, thus bringing the first frets (or notes in this case) closer to the player to increase comfort. This is absolutely essential when it comes to playability. Too many modern basses suffer from an unbalanced design that makes you have to reach extra to get to the first notes. None of this happens here. Scale is the traditional 34" and it plays like butter.

The body is made from padouk and it is chambered (low weight and resonant). The top is carved and it is made from exhibition grade poplar burl finished with lava resin effect which actually glows in the dark (how cool is that!).

The neck is an homogeneous structure glued into the body along its entire length and stiffened with carbon fiber rods, ensuring prefect sustain and stability. It is a 5 piece construction from roasted maple with ash stringers.

The fingerboard is made from Pau Ferro. It looks great an of course is very hard, ideal for a fretless instrument. It will stand the wear of roudnwound strings and will also absorb less string vibration than softer woods, which translates into a very generous sustain. There are mini fretlines along the side of the fingerboard so you get perfect reference for every semitone. These are luminlay so you'll be able to see them in a dark stage just fine. On top of that, there are 24 small aluminum dots on the face of the fingerboard following a really cool swirl pattern.

Regarding electronics, there's more than meets the eye. Obviously you can see the nice oval shaped Delano Xtender magnetic pickup that placed at the "sweet spot" (this is needed to get that almost vocal quality as well as the much sought after "mwah" factor) which includes a very comfortable contour for your thumb. Then there' a custom made Stradi piezo system under the bridge. Electronics include a Glockenklang preamp to blend both systems. Controls are Volume, Blend (Magnetic-Piezo), Passive Tone plus a 3 way mini switch to select the mode of the magnetic pickup: Single Coil, Parallel or Series. The knobs are made from Pau Ferro just like the fingerboard and the backplate is made from roasted maple. Talking about the backplate, it comes with Marek Dąbek's signature as well as a very special engraving that celebrates our 20th Anniversary as a bass specialist shop. This makes this bass even more exclusive. We couldn't be happier, honest.

Attention to detail is just extraordinaire. Even the excellent Gotoh Res-O-Lite tuners have the Stradi Logo in them. Dunlop flush type straplocks are included.

Playing this bass is an absolute joy. The neck is not wide nor narrow. The 52mm nut feels great for your left hand and even though spacing at the bridge is just 16mm between strings it doesn't feel cramped at all. the fact that the first "fret" feels so close to the player makes for an incredibly comfortable playing experience. This is definitely one of the most comfortable 6 string basses we've ever tested.

The bass weighs in at about 4kg so it's not heavy at all and it is absolutely perfectly balanced. We are firm believers in ergonomics. Only when an instrument plays great it will allow us to get the best out of it.

The icing on the cake is of course the incredible sound: the magnetic Delano X tender pickup is a perfect choice because on its own it will deliver three absolutely great sounds that will cover a lot of ground from a very singing voice in Single Coil (noisefree, by the way) to a very articulate tone in Parallel and a punchy one in Series. The Tone control has range enough to tame the highs, get a darker sound and even a more midrangey type of sound when you close it completely. In case that's not enough, we also get an incredibly musical sounding piezo under the bridge and we are happy to say that it sounds warmer and fuller than most piezos out there. Just by trimming down the Tone control slightly you get a very warm and woody sound that is absolutely beautiful and usable. None of the harshness usually associated with piezo systems. This is due to the nature of the piezo itself and the use of a very good internal buffer preamp. Of course you can blend the Magnetic and the Piezo and get a really cool sound. We love it.

Please note that build up time for a new Stradi bass averages two years so grab this one while it's available.