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Hard Luck Kings Club

#21
I got a 5 stringer.

The thing was literally unplayable when I got it. Action horrible. The pickups sounded terrible. The low B couldn't stay in tune. I put in lindy fralin puckups and new tuners and replaced the pots and it's now the bass I play on stage and I just recorded on it. I like it better than my Lakland DJ5. I love the feel and look of it. My lakland has too wide of string spacing. Don't go buying one unless you're ready to upgrade it.

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#22
i just ordered the new Kustom series 17 bombshell bass in Cabernet metallic . I figured what the hell , for $189 plus shipping and what they claim to be a 5 star setup for an extra 60 bucks, it cant be too bad of a deal .. hopefully they improved in all the weak areas the lower ratings were stating as far as the negatives go.. i'll give my review once i receive the bass and after i set it up and intonate it and the action is set for my playing style
 
#23
Red said:
i just ordered the new Kustom series 17 bombshell bass in Cabernet metallic . I figured what the hell , for $189 plus shipping and what they claim to be a 5 star setup for an extra 60 bucks, it cant be too bad of a deal .. hopefully they improved in all the weak areas the lower ratings were stating as far as the negatives go.. i'll give my review once i receive the bass and after i set it up and intonate it and the action is set for my playing style
Click to expand...

So how did it go with the HLK bass?
 
#24
Red said:
i just ordered the new Kustom series 17 bombshell bass in Cabernet metallic . I figured what the hell , for $189 plus shipping and what they claim to be a 5 star setup for an extra 60 bucks, it cant be too bad of a deal .. hopefully they improved in all the weak areas the lower ratings were stating as far as the negatives go.. i'll give my review once i receive the bass and after i set it up and intonate it and the action is set for my playing style
Click to expand...


Thoughts? They still have the red one in stock.
 
#28
el jeffe bass said:
I think that @LowEndLobster did a YouTube review of this bass, I remember the fret markers. It was not very favorable. BTW if you haven’t checked out his videos you should.
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It is a lower end bass to be sure. Hard Luck Kings guitar/basses get very mixed reviews. Some say the necks are garbage but the electronics are fine, others say the exact opposite and say its a good platform to modify but the picks ups suck.

But if you can not afford something nicer it is not a bad option.
 
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#29
I read through most of the posts and there's something I must ask.

Passive Jay and DDXdesigns are supposed to have the same bass and from a quick glance that appears to be the case. Both basses have j-Bass style pickups / controls. It may be the angle of Passive Jay's photo but the body on his bass looks to be a P-Bass shape while DDX is definitely a J-Bass shaped body.

As I said it may be the angle of the photo.
 
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#30
Passive Jay said:
It is a lower end bass to be sure. Hard Luck Kings guitar/basses get very mixed reviews. Some say the necks are garbage but the electronics are fine, others say the exact opposite and say its a good platform to modify but the picks ups suck.

But if you can not afford something nicer it is not a bad option.
Click to expand...

I disagree. It's a bad option. A $200 Ibanez Talman is a much better instrument at least money. I got my Sterling SUB for 220 brand new on sale (they go on sale pretty often) and that is also a much better bass. Rondo's stuff is better as well, at least in build quality. The electronics are probably from the same place lol. There's no excuse for the lack of quality with HLK, especially when after taxes and shipping you're now paying close to if not over 300 bucks...
 
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#32
LowEndLobster said:
I disagree. It's a bad option. A $200 Ibanez Talman is a much better instrument at least money. I got my Sterling SUB for 220 brand new on sale (they go on sale pretty often) and that is also a much better bass. Rondo's stuff is better as well, at least in build quality. The electronics are probably from the same place lol. There's no excuse for the lack of quality with HLK, especially when after taxes and shipping you're now paying close to if not over 300 bucks...
Click to expand...


I paid 139 bucks for mine sir.
 
#33
Pep said:
I read through most of the posts and there's something I must ask.

Passive Jay and DDXdesigns are supposed to have the same bass and from a quick glance that appears to be the case. Both basses have j-Bass style pickups / controls. It may be the angle of Passive Jay's photo but the body on his bass looks to be a P-Bass shape while DDX is definitely a J-Bass shaped body.

As I said it may be the angle of the photo.
Click to expand...
It's the angle. Both are J bodys.
 
#35
LowEndLobster said:
And that's great. However if you want to get one new right now, they're much more... Which is the point. IMO even at 139 they're not worth it.
Click to expand...

fair enough. I liked my bass for what it is but I am pretty easy to please, plus I am still enough of a novice that I might not even notice the problems it has.

On the other hand I ended up buying another sterling by music man ray34 to replace the one that I used to have because the HLK was not the sound and feel I wanted.
 
#39
So, I just impulse-ordered this. I figured "OK, Im in a heavy metal band, guess I should try to find an obligatory Flying V". ......I keep reading mixed reviews on HLK but I think most of the positive ones are from folks trying to justify their purchase? ....As for Me? Looking at it, it looks like the same hardware and pickups that come on DHGate and AliExpress guitars, which - I know from experience - suck bawls. Of course, I will try everything out first before I take a soldering iron to it because, hey, I just may not be a HardLuckKing and miraculously like it as is (but Im doubtful lol)......But, if not, it looks like it will be a fun platform to mod (and probably just pickups providing it stays in tune)...... Not crazy about the painted neck, tho, but the basslines in my current band arent very complicated, and Im not planning to do any slapping, tapping, or fingered fretboard gymnastics on it, nor will it ever be recorded, so a cumbersome painted neck may not be a big deal for live band use in the long run

hlk.jpg
 
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