The Retro

A new breed of Status Graphite basses... The RetroBass is designed around a classic formula but with a number of changes to bring it into the 21st century. There are currently three designs which have been tailored to suit some great players.

Retro - 1 This bass is currently being used by Guy Pratt and Steve Firth. Guy's Photographs : Guy_1 , Guy_2 , Guy_3 , Steve's photographs : Steve_1 , Steve_2 , Guy's playing history covers a huge range of star profile albums and tours including : David Gilmour and Pink Floyd, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Roxy Music, Robbie Robertson, Tom Jones, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Ronan Keating, Electronic, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lemon Jelly, The Orb, Nathalie Imbruglia, All Saints, Bond, and Elton John. Steve has been working with Embrace for many years has many No.1 singles and albums. They recently been given the honour of recording the official England World-Cup song and Steve has a custom RetroBass fitting the event. Specifications : Alder semi-solid body with book-matched alder top 'Slab' style body with 'F-hole' High gloss lacquer Woven graphite neck with phenolic fingerboard P or J width neck Active 2-band EQ with master volume and pickup balance 18 volt battery supply P and J pickups Side jack socket Chrome hardware Black / white / black pickguard     Retro - 2 This model was designed in collaboration with Harry Collier of Kubb. Harry photographs : Harry_1 , Harry_2 , Harry_3 , Harry_4 , Harry has a unique playing and singing style which recently exploded onto the European music scene. He is currently finishing a new album which is sure to make waves this summer. Specifications : Alder semi-solid body with book-matched ash facing 'Slab' style body with 'F-hole' Deep cutaway for easy accest to upper frets Claret tint with natural satin lacquer Woven graphite neck with phenolic fingerboard P or J width neck Single master volume control with 'chicken head' control knob Hum-cancelling P pickup Front jack socket Chrome hardware Single-ply black phenolic pickguard     Retro - 3 This model was designed in collaboration with Pino Palladino. Pino's biography as the premier studio and concert bass player reads like a ' who's who ' of the music industry. A brief selection includes Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Don Henley, Elton John, D'Angelo, Joan Armatrading, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, The Who, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan. Early in 2002 Pino Palladino was invited to play bass during the " Party at the Palace ", a pop concert in honour of Queen Elizabeth's golden jubilee, which Palladino gladly accepted. The band included Phil Collins on drums, Wix Wickins on keys and Phil Palmer on guitar. The concert, which was broadcasted live on June 3rd 2002 by the BBC, was a huge success. It starred Dame Shirley Bassey, Bryan Adams, Annie Lennox, Ozzy Osbourne, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and many more. Specifications : Alder semi-solid body with book-matched alder facing 'Slab' style body with 'F-hole' High gloss black lacquer Woven graphite neck with phenolic fingerboard P or J width neck Master volume and pickup balance Active / passive switches between 2-band EQ and passive tone control 18 volt battery supply Chrome, hum-cancelling neck pickup J or soap-bar bridge pickup Side jack socket Chrome hardware Black / white / black pickguard

Unlike most other manufacturers, we design our own pickups and active circuits. This helps to give each bass it's own unique character. The Retro-Active is no exception : each features custom wound, hum-cancelling pickups which are fed through a pickup blend and master volume control to an active treble/bass circuit. This circuit has a high impedance input and a low impedance output which retains as much of the clarity and dynamics as possible. It has an 18 volt supply which is necessary for maximum headroom. In the past I designed and made the T-Bass for Trace Elliot and have developed replacement necks for both Fender and Musicman basses, but it is only recently that we have produced a "Retro" style bass under the Status name. This new model - The RetroBass - combines many of the advantages associated with graphite necked instruments... clarity, sustain and stability....with some of the most popular bass designs ever. Both the 'P' and 'J' type models have standard 34" scale necks with 20 frets. The top-nut widths are also standard : 39.2mm (1 17/32") on the 'J' and 43mm (1 11/16") on the 'P'. String spacing at the bridge is 19mm (3/4") on both models . The body shapes are my contemporary version of the original with the profiles being slightly 'sleeker'. There is nothing strange about the choice of timber... all have solid alder backs... the classic tone wood. This wood produces a smooth, rounded tone which, when combined with the extra clarity of the graphite neck, develops a cleaner note with better projection. We also chose to fit a solid brass, CNC milled bridge, which is fully lockable, to help retain as much of the tone and sustain as possible.