Instead of picking out notes on a typical keyboard controller, bass and guitar players can now input their MIDI lines in a more familiar instrument layout, with the new Industrial Radio Standard Midi Bass 4.

This new release is a MIDI controller and bass guitar in one, offering bassists the chance to plug in to hardware and software synthesizers and samplers. According to the manufacturer, its unique fret-sensing neck and multi-sensor approach to MIDI conversion provides low-latency MIDI tracking perfect for both the studio and live environments.

You can use the Standard Midi Bass 4 to play synth bass lines live, plug into vintage analog synthesizers, play bass like a pro in a MIDI recording environment, and much more.

What's nifty about the Standard Midi Bass 4 is that when you're not using it as a MIDI controller, you can play it like a real bass, because that's what it is. The Standard Midi Bass 4 combines classic bass design and quality construction to provide the best of both worlds, notes Industrial Radio. You can mix your real bass tone with that of their synth or sound module, or just switch between normal bass and MIDI bass.

Standard Midi Bass 4 features:

• Black satin finish
• 34-inch scale
• Bolt-on maple neck with satin finish
• Optional matching painted headstock
• Rosewood fingerboard
• Agathis tonewood body
• White or black pickguard
• Passive, single-coil pickups
• Controls: MIDI Volume, Front Pickup Volume, Back Pickup Volume, Passive Tone
• Chrome hardware
• Low-latency MIDI tracking
• Latency is consistent across full range of bass from high notes to low notes
• Features both Monophonic and Polyphonic modes
• Operating system with configurable settings to ensure optimum performance and compatibility with all MIDI-enabled synths and sound modules
• Intuitive user interface with onboard display: control MIDI Bass settings direct on the bass from the fingerboard
• 40 programmable performance presets

The Standard Series Midi Bass may now be ordered for $2,495 (add $100 for the painted headstock option) from Industrial Radio. The Standard Midi Bass 4 comes with its Midi Bass Module, 8-pin Midi Bass Cable, and a hard-shell bass case. Lefties may order the instrument in a left-handed model too.

For more information, please visit Industrial Radio's Web site.