NAMM 2025: Magneto will showcase two new guitars at NAMM 2025, with the Sonnet Supreme and the Ruby Bass – its first-ever bass build – given a sneak preview ahead of their early summer launch.
Christian Hatstatt's firm has been making instruments since 2008, building upon 20 years of experience as a luthier. While NAMM 2024 focused on its electric guitar offerings, including the luxurious-sounding Velvet Custom that offered Hatsatt’s take on the evergreen Les Paul design, this time, it has split its attention between six- and four-string creations.
The Sonnet Supreme is a basswood body version of the company's Strat-like build, while a roasted maple neck and rosewood fingerboard complete a delicious dark wood aesthetic. However, it sets itself apart from similar S-type instruments thanks to its figured laurel drop-top.
A floating tremolo also takes it further away from the traditional Stratocaster design, and more in line with Adrian Smith’s signature Jackson, and Tom Morello’s Fender signature. Staggered locking tuners and a bone nut ensure “best string vibrations” and top-tier performance.
Magneto has also invested time and energy into revising its electronics, with the Sonnet Supreme benefiting from an all-new MPMN-1 Mini humbucker and two MPRS 5 single coil pickups as part of an HSS configuration.
According to the firm, the size and lower output of the pickups greatly impact the guitar’s overall tone, ultimately creating “more top-end, which in our opinion makes it the best match to classic single coils while maintaining that creamy fat tone and sustain.”
It’s set for a full release in May, with a choice of Brown Sunburst, Amber, and See Thru Red Bursts available.
Hatstatt's six-string creations have turned heads over the years, with Eric Gales its biggest name player to date, but it’s now offering “a new way to jump in at the deep end,” via a maiden foray into bass territory via a quirky, not-quite-a-Telecaster body shape.
Standing at a stunted 30”, the Ruby Bass is a short-scale build. Those diddy low-end bringers have recently come back into fashion after their initial ’60s boom, with Magneto crediting their “distinctive sound,” for the reversal of fortunes while simultaneously busting the myth that a shorter length means less bass frequencies.
Developed to “provide musicians with a new form of aesthetics and tone,” the choice and placement of its Magneto MAP-1 and MAJ-1 pickups are said to provide plenty of butt-wobbling goodness.
They have been designed to capture the “unique and complex sound architecture,” that makes short-scale basses stand out. Its tonewood recipe, meanwhile, serves up a basswood body and a layered maple neck to “guarantee stability.”
At one end, the same bone-nut-for-great-tonal-response has been employed, while at the other, Magneto has leaned into vintage stylings for its bridge. Controls consist of a volume, a universal tone, and a balance pot, ensuring the “sweet spot” between the bass and a player’s amplifier of choice can be more easily found.
Like the Sonnet Supreme, it is set to launch in May with a trio of colorways – Ruby Red Metallic, Olive Whisper, and Sunset Gold – set to be on offer.
Check out Magneto Guitars for more details.
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