Have you ever wished you could fold up your string bass and pack it in a case, airfreight it and know it was going to reach the other end in one piece? The French Dupont company has come up with the answer. The Volante isn’t a stick bass and on the face of it looks very much like its acoustic cousin. The top and bottom bouts fold back and the neck comes off (all in about three minutes) and it all packs into a nicely decked out hard case measuring 45” x 12” x 12”. Coming with a quality Despiau bridge, a David Gage pickup and Schaller machines there has been no short changing on the accessories. But what makes this instrument stand out from other fold-away basses is the use of a perfectly profiled acoustic bass neck and heel and a three ply spruce soundplate set on a hollow block back, giving the Volante its resonance and a remarkably natural acoustic sound. Other features include an ebony fingerboard and nut and fully adjustable string action. And the fully cased instrument weighs in at 19kg, just shy of the airline’s baggage limit of 20kg.

Go to www.sandarac.co.uk