I feel particularly close to the bass I’m reviewing this month. Mike Lull was a man I admired greatly for his skill, good humor, and music-first attitude. I always looked forward to visiting his booth come NAMM time, as I knew it’d feel like a sane, human refuge from the chaotic glad-handing that unfortunately dominates that show. Given all this, I was genuinely sad to hear of his untimely passing in February 2020. Nevertheless, I could feel his design DNA all over this instrument, and that was heartening, as was confirming first-hand that Mike Lull Custom Guitars is as strong as ever now that Mike’s son, Spencer, is at the helm. Spencer Lull and Darryl Anders at Mike Lull HQ Full disclosure: I also feel close to this bass because I’ve known Darryl Anders for a long time — first, as a fellow Bay Area bass player (we both spent time in Zigaboo Modeliste’s band, among other things) and then as a professional colleague during my time at Bass Player magazine, working with