Fender Kingman vs. Washburn Stu Hamm vs. Epiphone Zenith vs.?

Kingman!

Okay, so I'm a bit biased (I own one), but it really is a nice bass. Plus it meets much of your specs:

4-string fretted? Yep.

Less than $1000? Yep, though be warned, no case is included, and it's a tight fit in most gigbags. A case from Sweetwater is $89, so the total cost (bass+case) is still only a little over $600.

Thin nut? Yep. It has a standard Jazz neck (1.5 inch nut), and is not "baseball bat" thick front to back. Extremely comfortable. I'm female and don't have giant hands, so necks are a big factor in my bass purchases; this one is perfect...plus it's bound and blocked. Awesome. Like you said, it's not going to be guitar thin, but for a bass it works.

Projects well? This is iffy, I play (usually) with one acoustic guitar+two mandolins, and sometimes a banjo/fiddle is added to the mix. It's fine with the guitar+mandos, but anything over that and you need a small amp (I use a cheap 15W combo) to keep up (or break out the upright, which I did a few times...)

Preamp? I've had no problems with it; it has a built in tuner, phase control, treble/mid/bass. Everything you need, and (at the moment) I have no reason to replace it.

Overall it's a fantastic bass (IMO). It does everything I want it to do, and it works good in a bluegrass setting (which is why I bought it in the first place). It's also great for noodling around on when I'm too lazy to plug in my Ibby; in fact, I've written most of my bass riffs on it. I'm thinking of putting nylon tapewounds on it, but there's nothing wrong with the stock bronze strings.

Hope this helps.

 

Another fan of the Kingman. Love the Jazz neck profile.

 

i have an old (>20 years) Alvarez acoustic/electric and I also have very long arms. I always felt like I was reaching out forever to get to the end of the neck. Finally I got my Precision and a tape measure out and started comparing. I was very surprised to see that the Alvarez is just a standard 34" scale. What is different is the bridge/saddle location. On electric basses it's very near the end of the instrument, on acoustics there a good bit more space between the bridge and the end of the instrument. I'm sure bridge placement on the acoustics varies some but all of the ones I've seen have some degree of this forward shift.

As for the tapewound strings, I put GHS tapewounds on mine about 5 years ago and I'm very happy I did. Really toned down the clack and mellowed out the sound. Recommend it highly

 

1. I knew there was a flaw I was forgetting! Neck dive is, unfortunately, very present in the Kingman. Mine points straight to the floor if I don't hold it. It's not a problem most of the time, because I use it sitting down a lot, but it is a problem when standing. I'm going to try and remedy that with a thick leather strap, and maybe repositioning the buttons.

2. It is a bit to get used to (I play guitar as well), but I think it's less to do with the instrument in question and more to do with the fact that you're not used to playing bass.

3. That was my thinking as well.

And, FWIW, my final two ABG choices were the Zenith and Kingman. I chose the Kingman because A) my local mom and pop music shop had it in stock and B) I prefered the neck. YMMV. The Zenith is a good bass, though. I played one at GC; good, but just not for me.

 

Haha, well, I bought it last summer, so I don't remember a lot of the issues in detail, but I'll try to to remember as accurately as possible.

Neck: Honestly, I've never really liked Epiphone/Gibson necks, so maybe it was just a personal thing. Specs wise, the Kingman has a 1.5 (Jazz) nut, and isn't too chunky front to back. The Epiphone has a 1.68 (more of a Precision) nut, which I find personally less comfortable. YMMV. Like I mentioned before, I have smaller hands, so I don't like thick necks. Your problem may be more a matter of adjusting from guitar to bass. While it won't be exactly the same, I'd recommend trying out a bass (like a Precision) with a thicker neck profile to get an idea of the Zenith (it won't be exactly the same, but it'll give you an idea).

Neck dive: Can't remember exactly, but I know two things:
-People complain about Gibsons/Epiphones diving
-People complain about acoustics diving
So, I'm sure the Epi dives, just not sure how much better/worse it is compared to the Kingman.

Unplugged sound: The Kingman definitely projected better. Here's a GC review of the Epi:

Second off this is not an acoustic bass in any way. In fact the only hollow parts on this bass is directly under the F holes and where the controls are. It is no loader acoustically than any other solid body bass. The NanoFlex and NanoMag pickups sound good but it doesn't even sound like an acoustic bass when amplified. If you like the look then go for it, but don't think you will get an acoustic sound from it.​

Makes it sound like the Epi is more "semi-hollow" than full on "acoustic." I just remember liking the Kingman's unplugged sound better. Amplified they were both very decent, but other factors (neck, unplugged sound) made me choose the Kingman.

 

I played a Kingman at a local music store for the first time last week. I never did plug it in but the acoustic sound was awesome. The neck is awesome. I play mostly guitar but do have a p bass so I'm trying to get used to the wide neck. The j bass neck was really nice and the action was really low and no fret buzz. When I get some cash, I'm getting a Kingman.