Designed for serious bass players who require premium looks, sound, playability and features, the Artisan Series basses offer world-class materials, workmanship and high-end components such as Bartolini pickups and Hipshot hardware. When it comes to punch and sustain, nothing beats neck-thru-body construction. The strings vibrate across the body and neck in coherent and linear manner, maximizing the tightness of the low-end with rich mids and singing highs. The original 'USA-made' Bartolini brand dual-coil pickup, the MK4 CBC pickup features a strong meaty midrange that complements a sweet and smooth treble. The tonal versatility and wide dynamic range allow the MK4 CBC excel for both warm fingerpicking tones to bright and punchy slap sounds with authority and clarity. Bartolini's renowned MK-1 preamp provides powerful yet transparent boost along with its trademark crisp high-end. The MK-1 transfers the natural liveliness of the bass through a flexible 3-band equalizer for a variety of applications ranging from studio recording to large concert halls. It also provides a switchable active/passive mode for a powerful modern active sound or an organic traditional passive sound. The lightweight yet solid Swamp Ash body provides a strong fundamental low-end resonance while adding punchy midrange and clear high-end. The broad tonal range of Swamp Ash allows for warm and coherent fingerpicking tones as well as bright and punchy high-end slap tones. The Rosewood top adds a touch of luxurious high-end look and feel. A bass's open strings do matter and TUSQ XL nut goes a long way in providing open-string tones with clear and firm string vibration through the neck and the headstock. The TUSQ XL nut effectively handles the friction between the thick wound strings and its synthetic material while also providing improved tuning stability. The string-thru-body and top-load construction facilitates greater tonal range while adding punch and enhancing sustain, perfectly complementing the longer 35" scale's tighter string tension and focused sound. The Artisan basses are equipped with Hipshot Ultralight Tuners (classic 20:1 tuning ratio) that is made of cast zinc with aluminum strings posts and mounting nuts, resulting in 30% weight reduction over other regular tuners and which results in improved balance and tuning accuracy. Finish: Open Pore Natural.