As the name implies, this bass belongs in the Gold Series. It features a bolt on neck and has a very alive acoustic sound, something we believe is fundamental in order to get a great sound when you plug the bass to a nice amp.

 

This bass has a swamp ash body and sports a really amazing selected espalted maple burt top that is absolutely stunning. The neck is made from hardrock maple and there’s a beautiful Macassar ebonyfingerboard that sports 2 full octaves (with lines)

 

Top quality USA Hipshot parts are used for the hardware and in this case we get a Style B bridge with 18mm spacing. Tuners are Ultralite and these help control head diving issues. 

 

Regarding electronics, custom USA Bartolini pickups are used as well as Bartolini electronics. These are not your standard Bartolini units but custom made to Rob’s specs meaning they are the perfect match for his instruments. 

 

As you can see in the pictures, these are basses that are true eye catchers and while we love that, we feel that the two most important aspects when it comes to stringed instruments are comfort and sound. Fortunately all custom made Elrick basses score high in those departments. We truly believe that only when you get a non restricted playing experience you can pull the best sound out of an instrument. Elrick achieves perfect playability using familiar dimensions such as 34” scale, 45mm nut and 18mm spacing at the bridge. Weight plays an important role here and this bass weighs in at just 3.85kg. Amazing. Balance is perfect and there’s no neck diving which is pretty impressive considering this is a very light bass. Proves that when the design is right, things make sense. We can feel that Rob has spent many a night designing the body shape as well as the neck in order to come up with basses that play beautifully. No matter what technique you want to play on this bass, it always delivers. 

 

The modern C shape of the neck means you can play this bass for hours without feeling left hand fatigue.

 

When you plug the bass to a reference amp in passive mode you get a really flat type of sound that doesn't boost any frequencies at all. This is asolutely perfect for recording as it will allow you to add EQ and processing afterwards. Switch to active mode (with the EQ set flat) and you get a more open sound with added high end detail but in a very subtle manner. This is what is usually referred at as HiFi sound but the good news is that this more modern character is not overpowering at all. Of course you can use the 3 band EQ to take the sound to a completely different place as there's a lot of scope here. Treble is really crystal clear, Bass is incredibly powerful and Midrange is super verstile because you can choose the frequency (250-500-800Hz). Lots of possibilties here but all the sounds you can pull from this bass are top class.

 

After all it is the sum of all parts that creates a particular sound and we feel that Rob Elrick is like a good cook who knows how to blend the best ingredients. In the case of a fretless bass, every single part plays an even more important role in the resulting sound. After all, the string is touching the wooden fingerboard directly and this creates a different attack and character of each note. If you are lloking for a bass with a strong "mwah" factor and amaing "voice like" singing quality, this is absolutely perfect. Also it growls beautifully and it can actually be used for a lot of different styles, even those that maybe you thought  a fretless bass was not up to.

 

The lines as well as side and front position dots are a big help when it comes to shifting position and taking a great jump in the neck. Of course it's your ear that will tell you if intonation is spot on or not, but this visual aid is a great help and the well positioned front dots look cool too.

 

We just love the way this bass sounds, how expressive it is, the huge dynamic range, the totally noise free operation, the playability, the balance and top it all, the looks. It’s a winner.

 

The low B is remarkably good too. it is strong, clear and best of all, it sounds completely integrated in the other strings (same tonality). That’s not easy to get so when we find a bass that nails it (like this one), we like to give the builder the due credit for it. 

 

All things considered, we feel that the price is surprisingly good for a USA made custom 100% handmade instrument that is the result of a lot of research and hard work.