bullshark
Registered User
Registered: September 2006
Location: Montreal, Canada
Posts: 596
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Review Date: Tue February 20, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $170.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Cheap, smooth and fast neck, solid construction, nice finish
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Cons:
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Weight, blocky body, muddy pick-up
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This was my first bass, didn't want to spend too much money before I knew I would stick with bass playing but I wanted a decent quality bass. The B-50 delivered.
This bass is very well built. The neck is attached to the body with 6 bolts, it fits the pocket very closely, is straight and true, truss rod is easily accessible, fret work is decent (but not spectacular) and the finish looks very good if somewhat on the thin side. The neck measure 1.5" at the nut and is shaped somewhat like a jazz (thin rather than thick P bass style). They used a satin finish on the neck that, to me, both looks extremely good and also feels very good; this bass is very nice to play.
The bridge looks very solid, a thick piece of metal, with easily adjustable string height and intonation and no buzzing or side play. The tuners are also nice, they turn easily (thanks to Teflon spacers) and are precise while holding tuning for a long time.
The body is on the heavy side and feels and looks blocky; the bass hang nicely from a strap, is well balanced with no neck dive but I would have preferred more contoured corners on it which would have felt and looked better while removing some of the weight. Finish on it is ok, no more no less.
The electronics... Here's where the bass is hurting. The stock pup sounded ok on my practice amp, but muddy recording through a DI box and didn't cut through at all so I changed them for Dimarzio, a major improvement in sound. Then the tone fader is noisy, will have to change that. I also had to replace the 1/4 output connector because the connection was shaky, sound would cut off if I moved too much. I also changed the stock strings pretty fast as the one that came with it had very little tension and flopped around too much for my taste.
Overall, I had a very positive experience with the B-50 and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. ESP put money where it matter on this bass (neck and solid construction), and the shortcomings are neither expensive or difficult to fix. A very good beginner or backup bass.
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MIM P bass club #9
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