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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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1
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598
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Wed March 18, 2009
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$179.00
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10.0
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Description:
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Ash body
Dual, deep cutaways allow access to the entire 24 fret neck
Hard Maple neck with adjustable double truss rod
Rosewood fretboard with jumbo frets
Two bass style humbucker pickups
Active pickup system with volume, balance, bass and treble controls
Adjustable BB-006 bridge
Die Cast tuners
Gold tone hardware
Satin Natural finish
Width of the neck at the nut: 2 1/8"
Overall length 45"; Scale length: 34"
Width at the widest point: 13"
Pickup dimensions 4 1/8" X 1 3/4"
Actual Weight 8.5 lbs
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Author
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ceedj
Registered User
Registered: February 2009
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Posts: 66
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Review Date: Wed March 18, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $179.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Low cost, great player, nice introduction to six string
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Cons:
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Poor stock strings, nut needs to be re-filed/re-glued
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This thing is almost too good to be true. Was shipped in a double box, and got here in about 5 days (NH to WNY). The stock strings are AWFUL. Seriously, consider buying a new set of strings before you order.
Despite the strings, this played very well out of the box. The was a buzz on the second fret across all the strings. This could have been adjusted with the supplied allen key, but I wanted to wait until I had my own strings on it first. As expected, the new strings are a bit higher tension on the neck, so no adjustment was needed for me. The nut, however, pulled off quite easily, and required a re-glue and re-slot for the strings I use (.130-.30) on the B, E, and D.
This model has a translucent blue, satin finish. It's hard to see the wood grain underneath except under optimal lighting, though the grains on the back seem more pronounced. It is very sharp looking though, and easy on the eyes. The neck is attached by 5 bolts and like the rest of the hardware, is gold trimmed. The fit of the neck in the pocket seems very tight and solid, which almost seems to be a necessity on something with a large neck.
The control knobs were set a bit too close to the body; make sure you pull the knob up slightly to avoid any damage to the finish. Inside, you have a treble, bass, blend and volume set, along with a small PCB board. The active system is powered by a 9 volt battery, which is always on unless the bass is disconnected from the stereo jack. If the pic shows up (I took them all here myself), you can see the cavity seems to be painted differently than the bass; this may be conductive paint, which would explain how quiet it is. The back panel is also shielded with silver foil. The battery access is a plastic spring type (typical on remote controls) along with a wired plastic clip to connect the battery. The routing looks pretty standard, so it may be very possible to replace this with a more sturdy and/or convenient unit.
The bridge looks solid, though some may be turned off by the retainer style; it basically hooks using the ball slot on the ball end of the string. But so far it seems to be fairly solid. The intonation is adjustable with a Philips head screw driver (the slots are a bit wider than you might think) and the saddle height by the second allen key that comes with the bass.
The tuners are brass coated, and seem solid, though mine required tightening on the peg itself; there was a bit of rattle when playing the low B string. A minor detail, but the Douglas headstock decal is slightly crooked on mine. Most people would never notice it, but I did.
So, how does it play? After the string change, WONDERFULLY. The neck at its thickest point seems about the same as my Cort P-copy, and while wider than the four string, doesn't feel impossible to play. There seems to be some slight imperfections under the finish of the neck near the heel on the C-side, but it's completely smooth and only noticeable visually. The frets feel solid, though there seems to be a tiny bit of over-glue on the 23rd fret. Doesn't affect playability at all, just something I noticed. The edges of the fretboard are nice and smooth, rather surprising for a bass in this price range. The pickups are a tad "boomy" but easily adjustable with the controls available. You can get a wide range of sounds, though it appears to me to lean a bit more to the "Jazz" end of the spectrum than the "Precision". The C string sounds a bit thin compared to the rest, so a slight pickup height adjustment may be in order.
So why does this get a ten? Because it really is a solid bass, and with a small amount of work, you have an ash-bodied instrument that could easily be worth twice or more its purchase price. Just count on a string change and make sure to take a screw driver to all the parts just to be sure everything is tight. Though I didn't need to use it, Kurt at Rondo Music's reputation is almost deity-like, and its been said that he'll go out of his way to make sure you are satisfied. I know I am, and I just ordered based on word of mouth.
If you've got a hankering for a six string but don't want to break the bank, order one of these lovely basses. The price is outstanding, and you won't be disappointed.
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http://www.myspace.com/cjambrosia
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