Marcus Miller - M2 5 Cordes LH Transparent Black

The Sire Marcus Miller M2 5-String Left-Hand in Transparent Black is a deliberate departure from the Jazz Bass format that runs through this series: Modern Bass Style silhouette without pickguard, matt black hardware, black plastic buttons - a graphic sobriety that highlights the transparency of the colour on the mahogany body. The mahogany body works on the low and mid-low frequencies with the organic warmth of mahogany, a warmth that takes on a particular dimension on this 889 mm (35-inch) long tuning fork: the elongation of the vibrating section gives the Bb a definition and tension that 34-inch formats diffuse to a greater extent. The grain of the mahogany remains visible beneath the transparent varnish, an open window onto the raw material.

The C-profile Canadian hard maple neck, screwed to the body by four screws with individual inserts - a system that eliminates the mechanical play usually found in conventional turntables and secures the neck to the body with superior assembly precision - transmits vibrations without parasitic damping. The Edgeless™ rosewood fingerboard with rounded edges eliminates lateral resistance on the edges: on five 35-inch strings, position shifts along the entire length of the neck are frictionless at the end of the fingerboard. The 304.8 mm (12") radius - significantly flatter than the 241 mm of the V series - allows bends in the high register on the 24 midrange frets without lifting the strings out of their housings. The 45 mm black TUSQ PPS saddle calibrates the 18 mm string spacing with a mechanical regularity superior to that of the raw bone, and the black-finish diecast tuning machines anchor the tuning under the increased tension of the long diapason.

The Marcus Blue Humbucker Set breaks with the Jazz Bass double single-coil configuration: the humbuckers cancel out the background noise through magnetic coupling and deliver a thicker, fuller signal in the lower midrange, with a dynamic range that responds differently to the two playing styles - slap or pick. The three-band preamp with dual midrange potentiometers - frequency variable by rotation, level by axis - gives fine control over the midrange spectrum that two-band preamps can't touch. The mini active/passive switch toggles between the two modes without the need for a push/pull potentiometer: a cleaner, more reliable action on stage. The Marcus Standard Bass Bridge with through-string option lengthens the vibrating section behind the bridge and densifies the sustain, a mechanical gain consistent with the white pearl dot markers that visually mark out the 24 slots of a neck designed to explore the entire extended register.