Kona Exotic 5 string review and pics.

lostrings · #1 10-27-2010, 05:22 PM

I have seen these basses on Ebay and they really peaked my curiosity. For $300.00 dollars I took the plunge and hoped for the best. When it arrived I was very pleasently surprised...This bass is just beautiful. The woods look incredible, as doe's the whole bass (the pictures don't do it justice). It has wide string spacing...something I have to have in a 5 string. It weights 9lbs on the bathroom scale. I researched everywhere trying to find information on this bass with no luck. Here on talkbass I searched and found other members trying to find information also. Well I have the bass in hand and I will give a short review to hopefully answer any question there might be.

THE BODY: The woods look fantastic...The top is called Sapele. It is in the Mahogany family. It is very figured and has a reddish brown color. The body wings are Walnut and it has a 5 pc neck thru of Walnut and Maple. It has a oil finish (very nice). It is the first bass I have ever owned with a Walnut neck. It is very comfortable with a shallow C feel, but it is wide (because of the string spacing). The fingerboard is Rosewood and it has 24 frets (nice fretwork) with no fret buzz with low action.

The Hardware: The bridge and tuners are very good. I was especially surprised at how nice the bridge is. It has 19mm string spacing and you can lock down the saddles to the bridge base for a more solid contact.

The electronics: Here is where the bass falls alittle short. The bass has two MM humbuckers with a 3 band preamp. First off the electronics are dead quiet. The pickups sound very good but, the problem lies with the preamp. It seems to choke the tone of the pickups. It offers a huge amount of bass and mid, but not much of a top end. I really like a HI-FI sound, so a new preamp will definitely be added. I am not sure what preamp to get, but I'll do my research and figure it out.

Overall the bass is a fantastic deal at that price point. If someone is looking for a nice 5 string at a great price this is one to definately look at. Here are some pictures...

Rumblefisher · #2 10-27-2010, 05:31 PM

Wow, very nice!

For the price of some beginner basses, this looks to be very solidly built!

Sbociol · #3 10-27-2010, 05:32 PM

http://www.konaguitars.com/index.html

looks like a pretty nice bass,especially for the price.

tercesyrev · #4 10-27-2010, 09:00 PM

Looks alot like a Warwick . .

sps500 · #5 10-27-2010, 09:18 PM

Damn! Looks like a Thumb Bass with humbuckers! Sweet!

5string5fingers · #6 10-27-2010, 09:21 PM

how does the b string feel?

seedokebass · #7 10-27-2010, 09:32 PM

They should use your pics on their ebay ads!

Looks a killer alternative to a Warwick.

Andy_D · #8 10-27-2010, 11:11 PM

I've been gassing at those as well. Glad someone finally took the plunge, bought, AND reviewed one. Thank You.

Install an Aguilar or Audre Pre and some Bartaloni or ken Smith PU's and you'll have one killer package.

WarwickE36 · #9 10-28-2010, 05:56 AM

I am currently trying to trade with an ebay dealer for this bass. I have an Ibanez rg420 cinnamon top I want to get rid of... This bass looks better than my Warwick Rockbass... and at half the price it almost seems too good to be true. If the review on here is legit its an amazing deal.. I paid 700 for my Warwick, then IMMEDIATELY put 300 in seymour duncan pickups and eq into it... so if all you need is a new pre-amp in this its a great deal!

cnltb · #10 10-28-2010, 05:58 AM

Have warwick gone Kona?

lostrings · #11 10-28-2010, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5string5fingers

how does the b string feel?

The B feels great. Even though it is a 34" scale,it is tight and feels very good.

bongomania · #12 10-28-2010, 05:27 PM

Looks nice! Where are they made?

flipper_gv · #13 10-28-2010, 05:39 PM

warwick thumb knock off

what the hell?

m_bisson · #14 10-28-2010, 07:15 PM

no Canadian dealers!

eastcoasteddie · #15 10-28-2010, 07:20 PM

That looks like the same exact bridge that Carvin uses on their SB and B40/50 basses.

Looks really killer, man....GAS is starting to set in....

eastcoasteddie · #16 10-28-2010, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flipper_gv

warwick thumb knock off

what the hell?

my dean sledgehammer is a thumb knockoff as well.

lostrings · #17 10-29-2010, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eastcoasteddie

That looks like the same exact bridge that Carvin uses on their SB and B40/50 basses.

Looks really killer, man....GAS is starting to set in....

It is the same bridge. I really like the option of locking down the saddles.

TechJunky · #18 10-29-2010, 08:40 PM

Wow, that's a really nice looking bass! Especially for the price. I just checked, and they're $375-379 right now. Still not a bad price at all. Very tempting...

lostrings · #19 10-29-2010, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechJunky

Wow, that's a really nice looking bass! Especially for the price. I just checked, and they're $375-379 right now. Still not a bad price at all. Very tempting...

Here's a link for a great price...http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PRO-NECK-THR...item2a0b72cb07

Munjibunga · #20 10-29-2010, 11:59 PM

Wow! That is a beautiful bass ... but for that kind of money you could have had a Wishbass custom. Naw, naw, naw.