As a Fernandes bass owner myself I was looking forward to checking out the Ravelle Bass Deluxe, although it’s much more of a modern instrument than my vintage-style J-type bass. My beloved four-stringer is great for old-school R&B, Led Zeppelin riffs and the occasional Audioslave moment, and its modern equivalent is the Retrospect 4 X, an alder-bodied, maple necked bolt-on with single coil pickups.

In contrast the Ravelle is a much harder-edged beast, both physically and in musical intention. Shaped like its six-string guitar brother (also called the Ravelle), this bass has a sleek single-cutaway body with subtle bevelling and a few aggressive points that just scream ‘metal!’ The neck is of the bolt-on maple variety. It has a rosewood fretboard with a relatively flat 16″ radius, 22 jumbo frets and distinctively Fernandes pearl split trapezoid inlays, which will help you find your way while also linking the Ravelle thematically to other unique Fernandes designs like the Vertigo. The headstock features a hardy Graphtech Trem nut at 1 3/4″ spacing, and die cast tuning gears with buttons that kinda remind me of knee bones for some reason. Brutal.

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