makita

I have been using this bass for six years now. To be honest: I couldn't afford an Epiphone Rivoli (or Gibson EB-2), so I went for the Hagstrom. The bass has the basic construction of the aforementioned: a short scale bass with a hollow body and a solid center block (aka. semi hollow). I like the neck. It has a C-shape and plays comfortably. All the Epiphone hollow body basses I've tried had neck that felt more like a D or U-shape. It has more sustain than a fully hollow instrument, yet less than your typical solid body bass. The pickup-selector switch allows the following configurations: neck, bridge, neck+bridge in both humbucker and single coil (split coil) configuration = a total of six positions. It seems to me like Hagstrom produces their own switch for this application. It looks nice on paper, though in practice I've never used the single coil variations, since there's a significant drop in volume; the sound is thinner. The bass does not sound like the Rivoli or EB2 with their Mudbuckers. It does not sound like a Fender either. Judge for yourself. The pots are of good quality (4x500k). Hagstrom chose to install 68nF capacitors on the tone pots. (the recent factory schematic shows 47nF, though). Too big a value; there's no useable range for the pot. I recommend changing them to 22nF. The output jack is of okay-ish quality. Had to replace after five years. Recommend changing it for a switchcraft or Neutrik. My biggest complain would be the bridge. It is light and the posts and their threads are poorly done. This makes for a bad connection between strings and body. Sustain and playability increased immensely after I installed a new bridge. The tailpiece construction asks for long scale strings to be installed. This is a plus! There's a lot more long scale strings on the market than short scale. I like Rotosound RB45 on mine for a mid heavier tone. I enjoy plaing this bass. It is reasonably priced. Recommend trying one out if you're looking for something semi-hollow. It doesn't exactly replace a Epiphone/Gibson bass.

Bought this amp new nine years ago. Never had any problems with it. Use it for practice and concerts. The tube stage is your well known Fender gain stage + tone controls. The middle control is 25k, so there's a bit more mids available than with a standard Fender configuration. The amp has pronounced lower mids, I would say. DI-Out works well, but it is pre-EQ; I would've liked to change between pre- and post-EQ, but well: it's a budget amp. There's more power output available than I'll ever need. Never used the volume post 2 on the scale. Though my bass has a lot of output and I use efficient speakers. The speakers Hartke recommends for this amp are power hungry, so they will benefit from the amps high output. You will hear hissing when the amp is used with speaker cabinets with a tweeter. I don't like tweeters, so this is not an issue for me. The amp has one sound that you can shape a bit. A classic, familiar sound. I have played punk and psychedelic rock with it and it has always worked for me. The amp will not distort until you turn the volume pot past 3 o'clock- this check was done with a scope, not by ear :P This means that you will need stompboxes to add drive. If more flexibility is desired I would look for something with separate low and high mid controls, a separat gain and master volume or a graphic EQ even. The limiter works well for me. Takes away some of the attack and makes everything a little more compact. I leave it on always. If you're a simple and cheap guy like me or you're just looking for an amp to put in the rehearsal room, I can recommend this amp.