Gillett Contour ST £1850 Taunton UK

[scrumpymike]

Gillett Contour basses are rare and very special, but this one is unique!

 

It's the actual bass that the guys from the American magazine Bass Gear played on the Gillett Guitars stand at the Summer of 2019 NAMM show before declaring the Contour 'Best Bass In Show'. The ST had been launched just before the show and instantly became the most popular bass in the range combining as it does the 'pickup-plus-piezo' configuration in the slimmed-down 'S' body. The first batch had immediately been shipped to impatient customers - me included! As I was helping Michael Gillett out with his sales, marketing and PR, he asked me if I would lend mine back to him so he could have one at the show. Bass Gear played several Contours but it was the sounds of mine strung with the optional Newtone phosphor-bronze round-wound strings (still fitted btw) that really blew them away - see below. 

 

So what exactly is it? In summary, it's an active medium-scale (31.75") electro-acoustic with through-body stringing, a J-style pickup at the neck and a piezo transducer under the bridge. But it's the innovative design and construction combined with the finest components, materials and build quality that makes the Contour so rewarding to own, play and listen to.

 

Playing as I do rock and pop covers on solid-bodied basses, I've hardly played my Contour - which is why I've decided to let it go. I'd really prefer the buyer to collect as the bass comes in a gig bag*. Happy to drive an hour or so from J25 of the M5 for a meet-up.

 

* The OE Gillett hard case was made to accommodate the deeper-bodied Standard version and packed out with a thick foam insert for the ST. This made it needlessly big and unwieldy so I took a £200 discount instead of the case.

 

https://www.bassgearmag.com/issue-22/

[fiatcoupe432]

Had the chance to play both of Mike Gillett basses and they are an absolutely joy to play. I'm not a 4 string guy otherwise....m

[scrumpymike]

Dohhh! Only just had a proper look at the link and realised that's my bass that Michael Gillett is holding on the cover shot of Bass Gear magazine. Unfortunately (or maybe luckily) my Norton software won't let me download the pdf file for issue 22.

Edited 6 hours ago by scrumpymike

[flippyfloop]

Wow. That's a beautifully unique bass 

[scrumpymike]

Knew I had this somewhere. Hope the link to the video of Michael Gillett still works.

Bass Gear 2019 Summer NAMM Awards.docx

[scrumpymike]

Yep, just viewed the Bass Gear interview video on You Tube via the link - once again featuring my actual bass. It reminded me that the RRP for the Contour ST in the USA was $4950!!!

 

Also remembered an interesting encounter with the guys from the Hofner stand when we launched the Contour six-string guitar at the 2018 Bristol Guitar Show. About half an hour before opening time on the first day, they came strolling down the aisle past our Gillett Guitar stand as I was doing a last-minute vac over the carpet. They did a double-take and rushed over for a closer look. It was quite obvious as they handled the demo basses and fired questions at us that they were deeply impressed. After I'd swapped business cards with their Sales Manager, his parting shot was: "I don't know how you can offer premium basses like these for such a low price." By the bye, as one who grew up worshipping The Beatles and Macca, I couldn't resist asking him whether he could do me a good price for a new top-of-the-range violin bass. He said if I called him after the show, he'd be able to sort something out for around £800. I've never forgiven myself for not following the offer up.

 

 

Edited 51 minutes ago by scrumpymike