jim_wehmeier's Reviews

from a hobbyist: great progressive bass, ergonomic for what it is

A solid bass that is versatile in tone, with both a treble and bass EQ controls that have a nice detent at the middle setting plus a traditional single volume and blend knob with a detent. the 9 volt battery in the permanently active electronics is very very stable. tuning pegs are smooth and have a high gear ratio allowing for smooth comfortable adjustment over other tuning pegs. beautiful construction for the price (800) i have red quilted maple "wings" for my thru-body construction which looks very pretty. thrubody neck models have an ergonomic ramp where the neck meets the body and the center of gravity rests right at this transition. String spacing is narrow making slap bass difficult but plucking and picking is convenient and effortless. the reduced spacing makes the long scale slightly easier to fret as well.

GRIPES: PSA DONT TAKE ALL OF THE STRINGS OFF THE BASS you will definitely need a truss rod adjustment afterward. the 35 inch scale is both challenging to play and challenging to find strings for. buy 'extra long scale' if you want to use the thru body string ferrels. I've found some extra long scale 5 string packs through elixir and Daddario and it comes with Ernie ball but i haven't done an exhaustive search. Regular longscale strings will suffice when slotting through the bridge and offer more options of string gauge. The long neck can be sensitive to humidity, moving from iowa to indiana for school/ home requires a neck adjustment which can be challenging with the 'A' string directly in the way at the headstock. loosening and re-tuning the singular A string is definitely easier than having the adjustment hidden in the neck pocket but it still is a chore. the ergonomics of long scale is challenging when picking at the bridge. Also the bass has a slightly small body to account for the 24 long scale frets. so it sits strangely on the lap when in a sitting position in comparison to a precision or jazz. this bass lends itself to standing with a strap in a prim and perfect playing style, neck at 45 degrees and not much else (though it is well balanced in this position) IN ALL: very good for progressive playing: rock, metal or jazz.