Marcus Miller - V7 4 Cordes New Gen Tobacco Sunburst

The Sire Marcus Miller V7 New Gen 4-string Tobacco Sunburst makes its presence felt first and foremost through its bodywork: the tobacco gradation radiates from a North American alder body whose natural lightness lightens the load on the shoulder without sacrificing acoustic mass. The 1-ply ivory binding and pearlescent white block inlays on the fingerboard recall the aesthetics of the great Jazz Basses of the golden era, while the 3-ply black pickguard anchors the whole in a sober contrast.

The New Gen luthiery is based on machining choices designed to correct the historical shortcomings of the format: the lightened premium open aluminium tuners shift the mass towards the body and reduce neck dive, the forward imbalance so characteristic of long-string basses. The New Gen C-shaped hard maple neck, secured by a 4-screw steel plate, has an ebony fingerboard whose density gives the fingers a clean, dry glide over the 20 2.4 mm medium stainless steel frets - frets that resist wear and retain their clean edges over years of playing. The 241.3 mm radius flattens the fingerboard just enough for bends without interfering with first fret positions. The 38 mm saddle stabilises tuning at the top, while the Marcus Miller Modern-S Bass Bridge anchors each string to the body with a mechanical precision that is directly audible in intonation. The Luminlay side markers remain legible even in the total darkness of a pit or large stage. The 20 mm string spacing frames the right hand on generous ground.

The fundamentals of the New Gen electronics have been reformulated: the Marcus Super-J Revolution pickups feature new clarity-oriented voicing, with more pronounced note separation in the upper-midrange frequencies. The Marcus Heritage-3 3-band active preamp - treble, midrange with frequency selection, bass - sculpts the spectrum with a granularity that previous generations didn't offer, and the passive push/pull mode transforms the instrument in seconds for live situations without a power supply. The 34" (863.6 mm) tuning fork and chrome hardware complete an architecture that speaks as much to the contemporary jazz bassist as to the funk slapper or studio session sideman.