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I have an actual Fleabass in my hands and...

G

GassieBall

Oct 15, 2006
1,300
30
#1
Here is a quick review of the SHORT SCALE FLEA BASS JUNIOR. :) And please read through to look at the end result!

I'm on a short scale kick and used the MF 20% off deal, so it was a little pricey for a "budget" bass, but I couldn't resist the temptation.

So I got the orange and yellow one. All the colors except black/white were pretty tied in my other poll for colors.

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Unfortunately, my overall impression is that this is a typical Chinese made bass with fair, if not poor, quality control. :( Doesn't mean it's not a diamond in the rough, though.

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#4
The pickguard and the control cavity plate are actually plexiglass with the color painted on one side. The bass came with a crack caused by overtightening the screw down on the plexi and also by the screw being placed at an angle.

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#17
Gosh, you guys are beating me too the punch and replying before I get to the playing part.

SO HOW DOES IT PLAY? Well, let me quote Flea's website:

EACH BASS WILL BE MADE WITH CARE AND THOROUGHLY CHECKED FOR QUALITY. WE TAKE PRIDE IN EACH INSTRUMENT - I would highly disagree with this. There are several flaws and inattention to detail that I don't think should go through QA as seen above.

IT IS OUR STEADFAST INTENTION TO MAKE AN INEXPENSIVE BASS GUITAR - If you compare it to SX's or the Ibanez GSR series, it ain't cheap at all.

THAT IS NOT A TOY THAT BREAKS AND HAS LOUSY INTONATION, AND HAS AWAKWARD ACTION, LIKE SO MANY CHEAP BASSES I HAVE ENCOUNTERED WITH YOUNG MUSIC STUDENTS BUT IS A SERIOUS INSTRUMENT THAT PLAYS BEAUTIFULLY AND THAT WILL ONLY GET BETTER WITH TIME AND LOOKS COOL AS HELL - Well, Flea is right here, in part. It's playability out of the box is very good. If I were a parent who knew nothing about basses and needed to buy a good playing bass and didn't want to either set it up or pay to have it set up, this would be a good choice. The only reason my particular bass will get better with time is because I will mod it and know how to shine $h!t.
 
#19
Pickups and electronics:

As for the pickup, it's pretty darn lousy. Low output, muffled tone. Even with the height set correctly. The stock strings are worse than the SX stock strings with no zip in them. The E string was a dud and sounded dead.

The tone pot is scratchy and physically bottoms out against the paint.
 

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