Acinonyx Short Scale Bass was inspired by Juan Alderete (The Mars Volta, Omar Rodriguez, Marilyn Manson), then reimagined by Carey Nordstrand.
The Acinonyx (genus for Cheetah) is a well thought out, modern reinterpretation of the Goya Panther. Carey sorted out the design flaws of the Goya and there really were a number of interesting issues he needed to work through. String pull, switch assignments sorted out, Carey developed this bass with ease of tone selection and overall playability in mind, but the ultimate goal is for the bass to be as fun to play as driving a race car.
The Cat Bass, as it’s lovingly known as, is now available in two variations. The original Acinonyx Short Scale Bass and the V2 Acinonyx Bass.
Acinonyx (Cat) Bass
2 propriety (of course – it’s what we do) single coil chrome cover pickups.
4 push button pickup selector switches (including “all in” series mode).
4 tone selections including flat, traditional tone roll off, heavy tone roll of, and mid notch.
Acinonyx V2 Bass
3 proprietary single coil pickups.
4 push button pickup selector switches (including “all in” series mode).
1 Volume, 1 Tone Knob.
Acinonyx Short Scale Bass Specs:
780mm scale (about 30.7”)
17mm spacing at bridge.
38mm wide nut.
Alder body with Indian Rosewood fingerboard.
Parchment and Tortoise pick guard options.
Very light weight – averaging 6.5 pounds.
2 way spoke wheel truss rod.
Classic colour options: Lake Placid Blue, Olympic White, Surf Green, Black, and Dakota Red.
Compound radius for excellent playability.
D’Addario Nickel Round Strings.
Proprietary custom US Hipshot bridge.
Proprietary custom licensed Hipshot oval tuning machines.
Cat Bass Quality Control
Every Nordstrand Cat Bass is checked over and QC’d by Nordstrand’s Swiss bass tech Maurilio “Mo” Mina. Once inspected these are the sent to Tone Merchants where we give a final once over to ensure nothing happened in the shipping. Then onto you on a trek and trace shipment.
Additional Pickguards
You can purchase additional pickguards to pimp your Cat Bass to have your own look. Choose from Tortoise Shell, Parchment, Black or Pearl. These can be purchased in the checkout as an additional option. We cannot sell these separately after your initial purchase.
Cat Bass Gig Bag
Take your Nordstrand Acinonyx Cat Bass out with you in style with the custom Gig bag. With Acinonyx (Cheetah) print graphics and logo & awesome Cheetah print lining throughout the interior. This gig bag is functional and turns heads, so wait until your see people’s reactions to when your unleash your Cat Bass from within!
GFLEX 20mm Interior Padding for Impact Resistance.
Spare Guitar Pick Storage on the Patent Pending Pick-Clip Zipper Pull.
Cheetah print graphics and logo on the front.
Cheetah print lining interior.
Carry in Comfort with Padded Backpack Style Straps and Contour Back Padding.
Reinforced Carry Handle.
Store Sheet Music, Strings, Mute and Accessories in Exterior Mesh Pocket.
Internal Headstock and Bridge Reinforcement to Prevent Wear.
Additional Internal Pads to Protect Bottom of Guitar.
Tone Merchants are the official distributor for Nordstrand Audio in New Zealand and Australia.
EXCELLENT Based on 67 reviews Jordan Ellmore13 February 2025 Excellent, fast, easy service, Highly recommend! My guitar is a whole new animal with its new emerson custom wiring harness installed A++ Andrew Welch6 February 2025 Provides an excellent niche service. Sometimes I wish there were a lot more details available on the website or the ability to track delivery (mine took months due to backordered components) but in the end Brad came through and it's highly recommended as the go to shop for NZ mods! Graeme Bull3 February 2025 Very pleased with purchase and service. Super fast courier, will be back! Austyn Mills24 January 2025 I ordered a set of Lollar pickups from Brad and had him install them in my Tele - the difference in tone is night & day, great comms throughout and overall a very fun process. Can't wait to come back for the next mod - thanks so much man! Colin Lawrence10 January 2025 Brad was very knowlegeable and helpful as always. I have purchased several necks for my Tele and Strat builds and they have been of really good quality and apart from relief setting to personal taste, they have required no extra finishing. Brian Clark6 January 2025 Excellent product, shipping 2 thumbs up Logan Andrew3 January 2025 Great service. Very accommodating and good deals. mike kearney29 December 2024 I purchased a strat type neck and machine heads from Tone Merchants online. Really impressed with the quality, and service supplied!!. Brads also a wealth of knowledge for advice... Tone Merchants is now my new go to for guitar parts. Tim Brown10 December 2024 Brad is a real gem for the guitar world. Super helpful and a wealth of knowledge. Marcel Reinen10 November 2024 Bought a shiny new Magellen 800 recently from Tony @ Tone Merchants, because I needed more power for my Barefaced Big Twin II cab, particularly when running my 5 string Fender Jazz. I've used it on a variety of gigs and this amp is insane. Never gone louder than halfway, with headroom to burn. The sound is clear and tight and as a bonus the DI feed for my IEM's is super clean. Couldn't be happier with this amp. No need to look anywhere else!
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