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king blues bass "saint blues"TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK
- Thread starter JamForChrist
- Start date
Got mine in Oct 2007 because I'd heard rave reviews about a slightly older model. Yeah, I took the risk ordering blind. 
The neck joint has a gap I don't like, and the headstock has a slightly funky shape, but I like it. YMMV.
But.
I love this bass. Thumpy, tight P bass goodness to last for days. (Mine has a maple neck. Body is ash.) I only had a few P-basses in stores to compare it to over the following nine months, but it smoked those store P's without a problem. In P/J mode, it's got nice growl/bite on top of the thump, although the J pup is substantially closer to the bridge than you would normally expect. That was done intentionally, as the luthier wrote back to confirm. The J pup soloed will therefore not have quite the low-end girth you would normally expect relative to standard J-basses. Punchy with both pickups wide open. The J pup does add a huge dose of mids if wide open. Overall: this bass is toasty warm and righteously thumpy in just the way I love.
Hardware feels solid to me. No need to change the tone pot, far as I'm concerned.
You also have the option of running strings straight to the bridge, or through the body. Set up stock, the D and G strings ran straight through the body. They sound almost chorusy sometimes. Great vibe.
Action and setup was great out of the box. Very stable holding its tuning. The honeyburst finish is well done, though I wish they'd had a quilted option. I think I oughta get rid of the slightly off-white pickguard. I'm also glad I requested black pup covers to replace the offwhite ones.
Basically I was a looking for a P/J with no compromises on its core / underlying P-vibe. This bass delivers. I don't expect to find a passive P that will come close to its sound, and I wouldn't hesitate to replace it, even if another one came with a similar gap in the neck joint.
YMMV.
The neck joint has a gap I don't like, and the headstock has a slightly funky shape, but I like it. YMMV.
But.
I love this bass. Thumpy, tight P bass goodness to last for days. (Mine has a maple neck. Body is ash.) I only had a few P-basses in stores to compare it to over the following nine months, but it smoked those store P's without a problem. In P/J mode, it's got nice growl/bite on top of the thump, although the J pup is substantially closer to the bridge than you would normally expect. That was done intentionally, as the luthier wrote back to confirm. The J pup soloed will therefore not have quite the low-end girth you would normally expect relative to standard J-basses. Punchy with both pickups wide open. The J pup does add a huge dose of mids if wide open. Overall: this bass is toasty warm and righteously thumpy in just the way I love.
Hardware feels solid to me. No need to change the tone pot, far as I'm concerned.
You also have the option of running strings straight to the bridge, or through the body. Set up stock, the D and G strings ran straight through the body. They sound almost chorusy sometimes. Great vibe.
Action and setup was great out of the box. Very stable holding its tuning. The honeyburst finish is well done, though I wish they'd had a quilted option. I think I oughta get rid of the slightly off-white pickguard. I'm also glad I requested black pup covers to replace the offwhite ones.
Basically I was a looking for a P/J with no compromises on its core / underlying P-vibe. This bass delivers. I don't expect to find a passive P that will come close to its sound, and I wouldn't hesitate to replace it, even if another one came with a similar gap in the neck joint.
YMMV.
Nice basses. They've now been out awhile...yet don't seem to appear that often on stages in K.C. I'm not much on the heavy poly finish on the back of the neck, personally, but fit and finish are decent. Good sound - but my time with one was limited, so a total review is not possible. Good bang for the buck new, but used is certainly a consideration in these economic times. Plenty of excellent available deals to consider...
They are good. I go over to the shop every once in a while to scope out any deals. I bought one of their guitars about 4 years ago, and a prototype bass about a year after. That bass is totally different from what they have now. But it is still thumping. (I put Quarter Pounders in it.) I still have the guitar, kept it stock. It plays great.
If you buy new, the resale value won't be great. I suggest giving them a call if you have questions. The guys putting these babies together are all in the same building as the main office.
If you buy new, the resale value won't be great. I suggest giving them a call if you have questions. The guys putting these babies together are all in the same building as the main office.
I have an '86 model; serial 000153. Was my first bass. It's a real winner for me. It's a P-Bass body with a J-Bass-type neck, and a set of P&J pickups. Passive. The Split-P pickups are moved slightly closer to the bridge than a typical P/J-pickup P-Bass from Fender.
It's easy to play, and tone for days, being that it's not active. So, I believe, if you find one that's from that era, yes, it's def. worth grabbing. It's stood the test of time, for me.
