.jpeg)
The holiday season may be over, but the unwrapping of what the year has in store for the music industry is just beginning at Winter NAMM 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center. If you’re sitting at the edge of your seat looking for the latest in bass gear, you’ve come to the right place.
Instead of throwing some spec analysis together and calling it a day, we want to give you a musician’s perspective on why we’d want this gear and why you would as well. Numbers are nice, but it’s ultimately about that connection you feel with your gear as you create. We’d like to focus on the factors that will make this gear an everyday player, as opposed to glorified decor gathering dust because it seemed cooler on paper.
This guide takes you through all your favorite brands in alphabetical order, so it’s easy to find your gear of choice. The Guitar Center team—myself included—will be on the convention floor gathering the latest info to update this article with all the details that matter most to bassists. So, stay tuned and hit that refresh button as the convention goes on for our Notes From the Floor updates.
Table of Contents
New Bass Gear at NAMM 2026
Aguilar
BOSS
ESP
Ibanez
Orange
Spector
Squier
Walrus Audio
This Is Only the Beginning
New Bass Gear at NAMM 2026
Aguilar
Ah, low end. You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t feel that affinity for it—and I wouldn’t be writing it. It’s fun to toy with it. For example, go up an octave to annoy your guitar player, or drop down into the sub bass range. To that end, if you liked the original Octamizer pedal, you’ll love the Aguilar Octamizer DLX. It gives you dedicated synth-inspired Filter and Level controls for Up, Down and Clean (original) octaves, so you can be the head chef of your sonic kitchen.
Shop Now: Aguilar Octamizer DLX Octave Generator Effects Pedal
The other pedal from the newfangled DLX Series is the TLC Compressor EQ DLX. Compared to the classic TLC (Trans Linear Control), it adds six Ratio modes, Release and Blend knobs, and broadband bass and treble boosts. It has even got a gain reduction meter, if you get that strange satisfaction from visualizing your compression in action. Don’t worry, I’m weird like that too. Great minds.
Shop Now: Aguilar TLC Compressor EQ DLX Effects Pedal
Next in Aguilar’s NAMM 2026 tool cabinet is the Tone Hammer 210 Combo, which—you guessed it—has a 2x10 speaker configuration, and goes above and beyond its namesake in the power department at 300 watts. Tone Hammer 210 dishes out plenty of warm and punchy bass on its own, let alone via its built-in Aguilar CabIR Suite and I/O that give you the option for a silent stage, if that’s what you and your bandmates desire. Its vertical, shallow design not only looks like the cutest, most depth-compressed washing machine ever—which I dig—but you’ll thank it during load-ins and load-outs.
Shop Now: Aguilar Tone Hammer 210 300W 2x10" Bass Combo Amp
Speaking of gig-friendly gear, Aguilar is also unveiling the DB 700 Hybrid Amp, which brings the legendary sound of the DB 751 into a sleek, 2U rackmountable chassis. That’s 700 watts of continuous power and a 12AX7 tube front end, plus Aguilar Suite integration and dual XLR outs. It’s a clever piece of tube-endowed gear that saves precious space in your ride.
BOSS
Sometimes less is more. The follow-up to the massively popular GT-1B multi-effects pedal, the BOSS GX-1B adds more sounds—to the tune of 16 amps via BOSS AIRD modeling technology and more than 130 effects—and Bluetooth connectivity. It also brings a new Gear Suite workflow and color display to the backpack- and beginner-friendly design, making it easier to get more out of it without the endless menu diving. And you don’t have to be a beginner to enjoy the benefits—quite the contrary, with up to eight effect blocks in your signal chain. Less stress, less weight, less time wasted. More of that, please.
Shop Now: BOSS GX-1B Bass Multi-Effects Processor
ESP
Now, let’s get into some bass guitars. ESP LTD rises to the occasion of NAMM 2026 with the Phoenix-204DX and a surprisingly elevated look and feel for its price: a burl maple top and substantial-yet-agile roasted Thin U maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Its pair of active SB-4 pickups are especially suited for heavier genres—fitting for a bass with such a badass aesthetic.
Shop Now: ESP LTD Phoenix-204DX Bass Guitar in Black Burst
The LTD Surveyor-204DX flaunts a P-style shape with a decidedly dark edge. Its strikingly beautiful, burled poplar top peeks through either Red Burst or Black Burst transparent finishes, while black hardware makes its statement of intent. More importantly, a pair of single-coil LJP and LPB pickups gives you the articulation and bottom-end depth to make your own statement.
Shop Now: ESP LTD Surveyor-204DX Bass Guitar in Red Burst
Offering a similar neck, fingerboard, rock-solid LTD DB bridge and blacked-out hardware as the two above, the B-204DX and B-205DX 5-string offer another bold shape to ESP’s NAMM arsenal. A duo of SB-4 and SB-5 pickups for the 4- and 5-string models, respectively, dishes out plenty of output.
Shop Now: ESP LTD B-204DX Bass Guitar in Red Burst
Ibanez
It’s always a special occasion when a maker like Ibanez kicks off an entirely new line, and in 2026, we’re getting the Mode Series after 10 years of development. Completely designed from the ground up to be extremely lightweight and comfortable, this line of J-inspired basses includes the Pearl White MDM1000, with its MDM1005 5- and MDM1006 6-string counterparts; the MDM1300 and MDM1305 5-string Amber Burst basses; and the MDM1600 along with MDM1605 5- and MDM1606 6-string variants—available in a few gorgeous finishes.
Shop Now: Ibanez MDM1000 Bass Guitar in Pearl White
Ibanez’s engineers went above and beyond and even gave the Mode Series an all-new, custom pickup, the SJ, which has a hum-canceling single-coil design. All models are switchable between active and passive, and the tone controls work in either mode.
But the real fun hasn’t even started yet. On top of the onboard 3-band EQ knobs, you’ve got a three-way switch that lets you cycle through tones—that is, it shifts where that curve sits on the frequency spectrum. Oh, plus one more switch on the back that gives you a total of six tonal permutations via switches alone. Any questions about why they call this the Mode Series?
Shop Now: Ibanez MDM1600 Bass Guitar in Cosmic Blue Starburst
One of Ibanez’s most iconic guitar shapes since the late ’70s—introduced as a bass in 1994—the Iceman unleashes a new flurry this winter with the ICB620 Black Flat and ICB720FM Cosmic Blue basses. Both boast a fast-playing three-piece maple neck and bound panga panga fingerboard that impart a sharp, clear attack with a tight midrange for detailed note definition. Among some aesthetic differences between the two, the 620 also features a set of passive Bartolini BH2 pickups for a darker, mid-focused tone, while the 720 sports Nordstrand Big Break pickups that deliver a brighter, punchier character.
Shop Now: Ibanez Iceman ICB720FM Bass Guitar in Cosmic Blue Starburst
“Whoa” is right. That’s a sandblasted ash top on an African mahogany body, and its Icebreaker Wave Flat finish wouldn’t be out of place in the sketched-out scenes of A-ha’s “Take On Me” music video. The Aqua Wave Low Gloss rendition is equally mind melting. But even totally ignoring the elephant in the room, the Ibanez Premium SR1320SB feels and plays great, too. An Atlas-4 panga panga/purpleheart neck with KTS TITATNIUM rods feels rock solid, and passive Nordstrand Big Breaks yield a full-bodied rumble.
Shop Now: Ibanez SR1320SB Bass Guitar in Icebreaker Wave Flat
Prefer some extended range? You’re in luck. Ibanez has you covered with a 5-string SR1325SB model in both finishes.
On to the more budget-friendly SR models, we’ve got the quintessential working musicians’ Ibanez bass—the best-selling, active-pickup, ergonomically contoured SR500 (Soundgear) in new finishes. It’s available in Bartolini-stocked, roasted maple neck Mahogany Brown Burst Low Gloss SR500A 4-string, SR505A 5-string and SR506A 6-string versions; and, my personal favorite, the Big Break-equipped Midnight Arctic Ocean Matte SR500N 4-string and SR505N 5-string renditions.
Shop Now: Ibanez SR500A Bass Guitar in Mahogany Brown Burst
And, of course, this section wouldn’t be complete without some “concept to reality” models from Ibanez Bass Workshop. Ibanez doubles down on their commitment to break the mold with the UB804 upright electric, which is a daringly minimalistic and futuristic—not to mention practical—take on the instrument, utilizing the AeroSilk piezo pickup system. On the other end of the spectrum, the BT605MS 5-string multiscale bass, now available in Midnight Arctic Ocean Matte and Solar Eclipse Matte, caters to the most technically inclined players.
Shop Now: Ibanez Bass Workshop BTB605MS 5-String Bass Guitar in Solar Eclipse Matte
Orange
You could try to stack it up against other releases in this guide, but that’d be an apples-to-Oranges comparison. As unapologetically giant as it is Orange—or finished in black, if you’re a contrarian among contrarians—the OBC215C bass cab unleashes 800 watts of oomph via a pair of 15" Celestion Pulse XL speakers to captivate everyone’s attention. Built in the outskirts of London with a 13-ply birch housing that stands as proud as Big Ben, it’s ordained to emerge victorious from the trials and tribulations of the most epically brutal touring cycles. I’d say the juice is worth the squeeze.
Shop Now: Orange Amplifiers OBC215C 2x15" 80W Bass Speaker Cabinet
Spector
The story of the Spector NS bass goes back to 1977, when Ned Steinberger, fresh out of furniture design training at Cooper Hewitt, used a “form follows function” ethos to build the first NS-1. Two years later a high-end low-end legend, the two-pickup NS-2, was born. Using the exact geometry the Spector Custom Shop uses for its designs, Spector has launched their surprisingly accessible entry-level NS Icon Series Bolt-On. Available in 4-string NS2 and 5-string NS5 basses in various finishes, these models go for about a fifth of the price of their higher-end counterparts. All models have an alder body, Aguilar DCB pickups, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard with Spector’s classic crown inlays. This one’s a “power to the people” move.
Shop Now: Spector Icon NS-2 Bolt-On Electric Bass in Black Stain Gloss
Squier
A maker like Squier doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel to generate some buzz. In fact, it thrives on connecting the new generation to the classics. For NAMM 2026, Squier is unleashing new colorways for some crowd favorites. These include the Sonic Bronco Bass in Daphne Blue, which adds a soft and pretty hue to the collection of single-pickup, short-scale basses. The second is a take on the very first production electric bass, the Precision Bass, also now offered as part of the Sonic Series in Midnight Blue.
Shop Now: Squier Sonic Bronco Bass in Daphne Blue
And, for younger and smaller players, Squier is releasing a new variation of the short-scale model of the P Bass, the Mini Precision Bass in 2-Color Sunburst.
Walrus Audio
In the search for classic analog bass tone in a pedal format, Walrus Audio may have cracked the ultimate cheat code. And they were uncompromising in their approach to get there. The Mantle Bass preamp/DI brandishes transformer gain, 2-band EQ, a JFET input buffer and high headroom +24V internal power supply. It not only satisfies the elusive mega sound with a tiny form factor sweet spot that you can feel confident sending straight to front of house—it feels palpably alive.
Shop Now: Walrus Audio Mantle Bass Preamp/DI Effect Pedal
This Is Only the Beginning
NAMM is the kickoff for a ton of exciting new gear, and we can’t wait to see what you do with it. We’ll continue to update this article, as well as ones for acoustic and electric guitars, guitar amps and pedals, pro audio and drums throughout Winter NAMM 2026 in Southern California. As always, our helpful Gear Advisers are happy to answer any questions you may have about any gear that’s caught your eyes and ears.
Want the latest on NAMM 2026 releases? Don't miss out on the rest of our coverage: