{"id":763,"date":"2012-09-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&p=763"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:47:00","slug":"bass-of-the-week-citron-ae4-and-ae5-swallow-acoustic-electric-bass","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-citron-ae4-and-ae5-swallow-acoustic-electric-bass","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: Citron AE4 and AE5 Swallow Acoustic\/Electric Bass"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Citron<\/p>\n

This week we take a look at the Citron AE4 and AE5 Swallow Basses built by luthier Harvey Citron in collaboration with jazz legend Steve Swallow. Citron first presented Swallow with one of his acoustic\/electric basses, and their work went from there. It was Steve\u2019s perfectionism that pushed the bass builder to invent a new bridge. <\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with Steve has been a real pleasure,\u201d Citron said. \u201cI had given up on my wish to create an intonation-adjustable wooden bridge with piezo, because it seemed impossible to achieve. Steve loved the tone of the AE5 and would have settled for the custom-intonated wide-saddle wooden bridge I was making, but really needed an adjustable bridge, because accurate intonation is so critical to him. Suddenly, in Steve\u2019s presence, and out of his need, the solution came to me \u2014 the first wooden piezo bridge adjustable for intonation was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both the 4- and 5-string models are fitted with 6 EMG under saddle piezos and an EMG 18-volt active EQ. You may notice that the only control showing is Volume, as the treble\/bass and 3 gain controls are neatly stored inside the bass\u2019s control compartment.<\/p>\n

The basses feature long scales, with the 4-string measuring at 35? and the 5-string at 36?. The bodies are made of 3-inch thick Honduras Mahogany with X-braced Spruce tops and the necks are one-piece Honduras Mahogany. The fingerboard is either East Indian Rosewood or Ebony. The basses are available in a host of finishes, ranging from natural to burst to transparent options.<\/p>\n

Citron AE4 and AE5 Swallow Bass Photo Gallery:<\/h2>\n
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This week we take a look at the Citron AE4 and AE5 Swallow Basses built by luthier Harvey Citron in collaboration with jazz legend Steve Swallow. Citron first presented Swallow with one of his acoustic\/electric\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2199,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-763","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/763","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\/2199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}