Onyx Guitars are the brainchild of Graeme Wilson, the MD of Australian Musical Instrument Distributors, Musical Merchandisers. Originally conceived as an affordable alternative to the expensive American brands of the day, Onyx guitars first appeared in the late 1970s. Built in Japan, they were on par with the other copies available at the time. In line with other manufacturers in the 1980s however, production moved to Korea and eventually to China and Indonesia where Onyx Guitars are built today.
This is the Onyx Invader…named in recognition of the British “invasion” of the 1960s spearheaded by the Fab Four from Liverpool, one of who still plays a violin shaped bass guitar today!
The Onyx Violin Beatle Bass is a great tribute to the original German made model but without the hefty price tag. Hand crafted, the Onyx features a spruce top and maple back and sides. The antique sunburst finish, bound body and three-ply pearloid scratchplate add a further authentic flair.
The bridge follows the traditional design and comprises a slotted rosewood bridge with individual fretwire saddles for each string on a floating rosewood block. There is an internal centre block for securing the pickups in place. The Invader has a pair of vintage voiced Artec pickups and a control panel with two cream plastic volume controls with gold caps and three switches: Bass On and Treble On which are pickup selectors and a Rhythm/Solo switch that provides a preset attenuation of the set volume.
The set-in maple neck is slim, comfortable and a real pleasure to play. There’s lots to love about this Bass – the shorter scale length and light weight make the Invader a great first bass. It’s perfect for those guitarists wanting some bass tones and not wanting to wrestle with the usual 34″ bass guitar scale length – those with back and shoulder issues should give it a big thumbs up too.
From tailpiece to headstock, the Onyx Beatle Bass is an fabulous re-working of the Bass Guitar that defined a generation.
If you’re in the market for a quality violin bass at a budget price, look no further than the excellent Onyx Violin Beatle Bass – we say Yea, Yeah, Yeah!
