{"id":522,"date":"2017-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&p=522"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:46:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:46:52","slug":"bass-of-the-week-roks-instruments-microtonal-futura","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-roks-instruments-microtonal-futura","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: Roks Instruments Microtonal Futura"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sanne<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve featured some gorgeous basses from Roks Instruments before, but this one comes with a twist. Luthier Axel Roks collaborated with bassist Sanne Verbogt<\/strong> to create a stunning microtonal bass. <\/p>\n

\u201cSanne started to see structure in music at the beginning of her conservatory study, which eventually led to her own music theory method: SV Method,\u201d Roks writes on his website<\/a>. \u201cMicrotonality was the next step on her path of musical growth, but she quickly hit a very practical obstacle: the regular bass guitar isn\u2019t made for this. A fretless instrument would have been the simplest solution to explore the distance between the frets. By removing all the frets, not only the timbre of the instrument changes; it affects the feel and requires a different playing technique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together they formulated the Microtonal Futura. Based on the builder\u2019s flagship model, the five-string bass features a short 32-inch scale and is tuned E-C. It\u2019s built with an American walnut body, an Italian olive top, a hard maple neck, and a wenge fretboard. No, you\u2019re not seeing double: there are 48 frets. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe opted to strike a balance between innovation and tradition. It was very clear in the beginning that this shouldn\u2019t be a bass with just a lot of frets, but a well-designed instrument. We kept a lot of the traditional aspects but infused it with microtonality, resulting in a fretboard with 48 frets instead of the traditional 24, finished in silver for the traditional frets and gold for the new tones. Corresponding with the two tone frets, we found a way to accent the frets by using aluminum and brass side dots.\u201d<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve featured some gorgeous basses from Roks Instruments before, but this one comes with a twist. Luthier Axel Roks collaborated with bassist Sanne Verbogt to create a stunning microtonal bass. \u201cSanne started to see structure\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1789,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-522","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/bass"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}