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Fender Kingman Bass
- Thread starter tat2jim
- Start date
Tell ya what, i walked in to a music shop last week and spied that puppy and was like "whoa" I think its way cool looking and playing. I am not a big fan of ABG most sound like poo and play like poo. This bass plays like a jazz since its a jazz neck and was the loudest ABG i have played myself. This is over a Victor Bailey and a $2000..00 Martin the i played at GC.
With all that it has a fishman in it and i wanted to hear it plugged in. I could really see this shine in my Americana, folk rock band and was gassing right then and there
I did not dig the strings , some kind of bronze rounds but it sounded great except the G string was almost lost. I could hear it better when i ran scales down the neck but it was night and day with rest of the strings. I tried EQing etc no luck. A guy who works there thought i could be cuz the action was too high 
I doubted it myself and saw a review online where someone else said the G was weak on a model they played as well.
I like the look although could be neck divey, the playability is awsome and its loud unplugged. Plugged in it was full and rich, nice mids and good lows a good ABG the best i have ever played. If that model was a dud for the G string i am buying . If its a factory issue on all model's...i am not.
With all that it has a fishman in it and i wanted to hear it plugged in. I could really see this shine in my Americana, folk rock band and was gassing right then and there
I did not dig the strings , some kind of bronze rounds but it sounded great except the G string was almost lost. I could hear it better when i ran scales down the neck but it was night and day with rest of the strings. I tried EQing etc no luck. A guy who works there thought i could be cuz the action was too high I doubted it myself and saw a review online where someone else said the G was weak on a model they played as well.I like the look although could be neck divey, the playability is awsome and its loud unplugged. Plugged in it was full and rich, nice mids and good lows a good ABG the best i have ever played. If that model was a dud for the G string i am buying . If its a factory issue on all model's...i am not.
i like the jazz head on it, i really want one of these!!! nothing could possibly be worse than my SX "Burtha" Acoustic!!!
I have one and enjoy it a lot. It's got a nice jazz neck on it and plays easily. Like all acoustics my under arm starts to hurt after sitting down with it for awhile. The body is on the smaller side and projection is not huge as a result. The electronics are nice and it sounds great plugged in. The on-board tuner is a nice touch. I bought this to play in my bedroom when the kids are sleeping and it's great for that purpose. I don't think I could keep up with two guitarists, but honestly I've yet to find an AEB bass that could. I've owned several AEBs including a Guild and this one is my favorite. It's great to play around with solo. If you want it for something other than that, you may be dissapointed.
Bought one about a month ago, still pleased with it. All the other ABGs i have played, had awful necks, but this is different with the jazz neck. Don't know about the electrics, played one practice trough Marshall VBA400 and didn't like the sound but i bought it for acoustic use only so it doesn't matter for me.
Played one in New York... did not like it, although I wanted to like it.
Not much acoustic output, and very awkward with that heavy Jazz bass neck and big tuners, offsetting the lightweight acoustic body, it was the single worst neck-diver I have ever felt, kinda felt like it was made of spare parts.
I dig the look, but it just wasn't a very good bass in my opinion.
Not much acoustic output, and very awkward with that heavy Jazz bass neck and big tuners, offsetting the lightweight acoustic body, it was the single worst neck-diver I have ever felt, kinda felt like it was made of spare parts.
I dig the look, but it just wasn't a very good bass in my opinion.
I own one. It's very neck heavy while standing, but it is a big deal while sitting. It sounds great amped, the unplugged sound is very quiet. It has to be amped to play with an acoustic guitar. For at home practice, it works fine.
The action is the seller for me. It plays like an electric with very low action. Much lower than any other acoustic bass I have seen. The tuning is also very stable.
I have no issue with the G string on mine. I did swap the strings, it came with D'addario EXPs, to DR Rare. IMHO, this made all the difference in the world. It now sounds like an acoustic bass guitar looks like it should, bright and lively like an acoustic guitar.
I would say that if you have a actual need and use for an acoustic bass, the Kingman is great. It fits my needs perfectly as I play it DI to the board at church every week, along with an acoustic guitar player. If you are buying it just for practice, I would just get the cheaper Dean or Ibanez.
The action is the seller for me. It plays like an electric with very low action. Much lower than any other acoustic bass I have seen. The tuning is also very stable.
I have no issue with the G string on mine. I did swap the strings, it came with D'addario EXPs, to DR Rare. IMHO, this made all the difference in the world. It now sounds like an acoustic bass guitar looks like it should, bright and lively like an acoustic guitar.
I would say that if you have a actual need and use for an acoustic bass, the Kingman is great. It fits my needs perfectly as I play it DI to the board at church every week, along with an acoustic guitar player. If you are buying it just for practice, I would just get the cheaper Dean or Ibanez.
I need to echo this post, my experience with the new Fender Kingman I picked up is exactly as described above here.
Thanks to this member I didn't sell my Kingman right away. I was so disappointed with the sound from both the OEM Fender strings and the D'Addario's I tried on it I was about to give up/get rid of it (no joke). As a last ditch effort I found this thread on a search and its reference about the DR "Rare" strings. So I ordered a pair, slapped them on the Kingman and WHAM!, instant/massive change in the sounds coming out of the thing....100x better than before. It actually sounds right now.
Long story short, it looks kinda weird but it is a J-Bass neck (way cool), it's neck heavy, it's on the quiet side acoustically, plugged-in it sounds great, and last but definitely not least, it responds incredibly to DR Rare strings.
