Ren Wei Shi 705

[Shrugged777]

I've been browsing the internet for some information on the Ren Wei Shi 705 bass that is sold on Musician's Friend and I've come up completely short. Does anyone know anything about this bass? Do they have a rounded back or a flat back? How is the construction? How do they compare to some of the comparable basses out there like the Florea Carpathian or the Bellafina Prima? Pictures would be very helpful because as of now all I can find is the one picture on Musician's Friend. Thanks in advance for the help!

[fdeck]

Do a search on Florea here, and also on Musicians Friend. Peruse the newbie links, as there's really a wealth of valuable info here.

One of our regulars, drurb, opines that a new bass worth buying starts out somewhere around $1500. We can debate the exact number, but he's not very far off the mark. It's possible to make a bass that starts its life with negative value due to the amount of work that it will require to make it playable and keep it there. Basses are unlike electric basses, in that many aspects of materials and workmanship are hidden from casual inspection, and some repairs are jaw-droppingly expensive. One of the saddest moments -- and source of frequent threads in the Setup & Repair forum -- is when somebody tells you that the cost of repair is more than the bass is worth.

Of course it's possible to get a good bass, but even the risk presented by buying a cheap bass from a general retailer would be enough to give one pause.

Granted, $1500 seems like a lot of money, but if you get a bass that doesn't need extensive maintenance, I'm convinced that its lifetime cost of ownership is less than an iPhone, and maybe less than the amount that many electric bassists spend on gear.

[fdeck]

I did a search on that bass. Amusingly, I assumed it was a cheap bass, which it's not.

[michaeln]

It appears to sell for around $3k. Nonetheless, it's going to need a good setup for several hundred dollars.

[crowsmengegus]

This looks very much like an Eastman 605 copy. Compare musicians friend pic

http://band-orchestra.musiciansfrien...ass?sku=464138

and my 605:

http://i.imgur.com/9CjVO.jpg

I've heard before that there are various Chinese manufacturers copying Eastman patterns, this must be one of them.

Not to say that you shouldn't be wary. 3k is not cheap for a bass, but it is pretty cheap for something fully carved. Even with Eastmans the wood can sometimes be a little green. If you have the option of purchasing something locally and from a reputable luthier, I would first explore that option, even if it is more expensive (remember to factor in the cost of setup and strings for this Ren Wei Shi bass).

[drurb]

Around and around we go! Don't get sucked in by the "fully-carved" moniker. Fully carved for $3000?

As I've said before:
Do not, however, be fooled. There are entry level carved basses that, from many standpoints, are far less desirable than a quality ply! Think of ply, hybrid, and carved as three overlapping distributions (bell-curves, if you will), with the mean value of "quality" being lowest for the plys, intermediate for the hybrids, and highest for the carved ones.

...A "fully-carved" bass for under $3k involves quite a few compromises. I've yet to see/play/hear one that I found more desirable than the best of the hybrids I've played that were of comparable cost. Perhaps sometime it will happen.

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by crowsmengegus

This looks very much like an Eastman 605 copy.

Or maybe made in the same factory as the Eastmans.