I bought this to finally try my hand at a 5 string and it left quite an impression. Here's are my thoughts on this:
Pros:
- Price. It's crazy low for a brand new bass. You could get a nice 5 string in 2005 for this money also, but most of them were either stolen or snapped in half ...
- Fit and finish is great. Plastics are cut neatly, everything is straight and aligned, the body lacquer is spotless.
- Great neck. Perfect satin finish, binding looks nice and straight, frets are astoundingly well done. Seriously, guitars and basses priced 3 times as much as this needed fretwork out of the box. All I did for the HB was tweak the trussrod and lower the saddles and marveled at the lack of fret buzz ...
- Stability. It stays in tune and the neck doesn't bend much over time.
Cons:
- Weight. It's quite heavy. Not something I'd recommend playing for an entire show ... Get a good strap!
- Sound. It's ... okay ... 'ish. It sounds "jazz bassy" enough for what it is, but I'd probably swap those pickups, pots, saddles and nut for something a bit better.
- Woodgrain. It's made to a certain price point so you can imagine they don't handpick their woods. Mine has a swirly bit on it, but I think that just gives it character, so I don't mind. If you're the picky type, you can only hope they send you a perfect example.
To sum up, this is an exceptional choice if you're just starting out, need a backup, transitioning from a 4 to a 5 ... the quality of craftsmanship is high enough that it deserves further investment in better hardware and such. Really didn't expect this much for so little.
){kind=logo}
