mike lull

Mike Lull has been quietly making noise in the bass community for the past four decades, with the last 20 years spent cranking out handcrafted instruments under the Mike Lull Custom Guitars name. Lull’s hands are on every instrument that’s built in his Pacific Northwest shop, and bassists worldwide have long praised his wares. Lull’s basses have a familiar feel since they often utilize traditional body styles, but they boast build features that make them truly stand out. The usual suspects such as a P-style, J-style, and a Thunderbird-style are in his catalog, but here, I was hipped to his latest design called the TXB4. It’s a beauty with a classic Tele-style body shape and some fun features built in to give it a modded, modern twist.

Into the Blue
Pulling the TXB4 out of its gig bag, the big, fat T-bird-style pickups demanded my attention like a custom car daring me to drag race. Factor in other appointments—like the Hipshot Ultralite tuners, bone nut, a gorgeous translucent-blue finish, and the very Tele-like, 3-in-line burled knobs—and you have a bass with a pretty stunning overall presentation.