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Tribe Basses?

FlamingToaster

FlamingToaster

May 20, 2020
3
2
Romania
#1
Hi everyone,
Hope you're all doing well and staying safe!

Quick question - has anyone heard about Tribe guitars/basses? Or, better, own one? Apparently it's a small workshop from Switzerland that I found recently (I don't even remember how) and they sell their basses for quite nice prices. It just seems they are pretty unknown. I'm interested in buying a P bass (I've been more into modern basses lately and want to make a comeback to the classics) and their Spike model really seems great looking and a pretty interesting instrument for the price:

https://www.tribeguitars.store/spike4



Unfortunately, I can't find anything relevant about this company. All review-like videos are solely in Italian and there are very few videos or threads online that let us hear/see the Spike model. Even on the forum, it seems that only one other user posted anything about this brand. Besides the awful logo that I can overlook, they really seem to look and sound nice, but it would be great if anyone that actually got, played or at least seen one can share an opinion on them.

P.S.: This is my first post on this forum, apologies if this was not posted where it should've been. :)
 
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#4
Indeed they do look nice. That's the thing - in every video I've seen they look and actually sound nice too... But nowadays it's pretty easy to make anything sound decent. That's why I hoped that someone here actually had the chance to put their hands on one and help us with some sort of additional info. :D no luck so far.
 
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#8
Just an aside without reading the Tribe site...

In this day and age, it's very difficult to manufacture an unplayable bass. I mean, come on! Perfectly giggable NIB basses are to be had almost everywhere for under €200?!?! This was unheard of back in the day.

I see no reason to doubt that a reasonably priced new bass would be anything but a playable/giggable instrument.
 
#12
LowEndLobster said:
... No markings of any kind specifying country of origin. ...
Click to expand...

Tribe headstock, rear view:

tribe_hsb.png


From what I hear, Tribe is a newer sub-brand of Frudua, which is Italian and also produces Tuscany and Exlusive (sic) in the Far East. A Tribe Custom Shop exists in Chiasso, Switzerland.
 
Last edited:
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#15
cdef said:
Tribe headstock, rear view:

View attachment 4152536

From what I hear, Tribe is a newer sub-brand of Frudua, which is Italian, and also produces Tuscany and Exlusive (sic) in the Far East. A Tribe Custom Shop exists in Chiasso, Switzerland.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting, the P3 I had only had the SN: (3 digit) listed, no country of origin.

Pic:
8lU4Psy.png
 
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#17
They look nice. There are so many OEM mills making necks and bodies that it would be relatively easy for a startup brand to invest in some CNC models and maybe find a paint shop and have a very small workforce assembling the products. Especially since everything is standardized. I’ve seen online but never ever in person. But I’d be interested.
 
#19
Hi guys,
I got one of those. A Spike 4. It's a very nice bass. I use it with LaBella flats to get the Duck Dunn/James Jamerson sound (which the bass would get close to if I were any good... ;-).
Tribe is a small Swiss company founded by an Italian Luthier who worked for some of the more famous Italian artists like Gianna Nannini, etc. His plan was to offer well-built basses for reasonable prices while also offering custom options. The Spike imitates a 58 or 59 Fender P-Bass, I believe. My bass came in a box and it was labeled 'Made in Korea'. So that's one mystery solved there. Tribe does not make a secret of this but they don't label the basses either. It is absolutely true that it would never be possible to build basses at this price in Switzerland even with cheap parts (check this luthier from my neighborhood who builds fine basses using local woods: Home DE ⋆ Starmanbass He sells his instruments for about 3'000$ BTW: the travel bass is his signature bass but he makes fine 'normal' P-, and J-Basses as well. Anyway...) As far as I know the Tribe basses get their finish at the custom shop in Chiasso (kind of like Dingwall does with his China-built basses, only on a lower level, obviously). The quality is very good if you ask me. Well crafted, nicely finished. The basses did get good reviews in two of the larger Bass journals from Germany (I'm Swiss but our market is too small to produce such special interest journals). I hope this helps. See ya.
Bass.JPG
 
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