I didn't know too much about these Brawley basses but have heard they were pretty good basses for the money and most people who did try one were often surprised (pleasantly) about the quality.
Well.....add another to the list. For the price these often go for, I would say they are as underappreciated as they come much like the US Peavey basses and will keep my eye out for any other Brawley basses I may run into. This particular one is a bolt-on and with a 2 band EQ, there are other higher end models that are neck thrus and with 3 band EQ. All of them are 35 scale, even the four string basses like mine.
I haven't played it much but from what little I did, the first thing that caught my attention was the neck - it's of a very high quality and neither wide nor too narrow but well...just right, somewhere in between a Jazz and a P Bass neck, but the fretwork is great, no buzzing and the action can be set very low on these basses.
In terms of sound, it's capable of both booming lows and too much treble and everything in between, nice clear sound though. I can definitely see a use for this bass and the versatility.
In terms of quality - it is made in Korea but unlike some of the big brand offshore models, they're not hampered by artificially created limits as to what wood to use or parts, (like a Squier isn't supposed to exceed a Fender in terms of material or parts) - level of manufacturing is above standard too. It doesn't use big name pickups or electronics but neither does it use cheaper ones either, basically the best you could get for the money these basses initially sold at. I believe the neck thrus sold for $800 when new - Brawley was only around for 2 years and to be honest, I hadn't tried one till now.
It's not a glaringly beautiful bass with sleek lines and shape by any means, but neither is it "ugly" - it's pretty unassuming in terms of design.If it looks like Laguna basses of yore (Guitar Center's in-house brand at one time), there's a reason for that. Keith Brawley who produced these basses later worked at Guitar Center for a time and the designs of his basses were used for Laguna. I think that's probably what put these Brawley basses off the radar for me, there's that mistaken notion that Brawley basses would be " like the budget Laguna basses". Don't make the mistake I did, Laguna basses may look like Brawleys but they aren't of the same quality at all. Much like OLP Rays don't play like EBMM Stingrays. There's nothing budget about these Brawley basses, mid-priced maybe. They were made to be mid-priced instruments, above the budget range basses but not really to compete against the US Fender, EBMM US G&L instruments, in terms of quality or price they're more akin to MIM Fender, Sterling and G&L Tributes. To be honest, the one bass that pops in my head and perhaps a closer comparison is a Schecter Elite I once had with the dual EMG-HZ pickups and 2 band EQ. If you think of that, but with slightly better and clearer sound and better feeling neck - that would be the Brawley.
it's a very well made bass and probably should have had more success and a longer run than two years if it didn't have the misfortune of being primarily distributed through a music chain that dissolved and took Brawley guitars and basses down with it. Again, I have limited playing time on it so haven't really posted much about it's playability but it does feel like a pretty darn good underappreciated bass to me. If you do see one for the price they usually seem to go for, definitely recommend at least trying it out. I bought mine for $150, I believe they usually sell anywhere from around $100 to about $300-350.
Well.....add another to the list. For the price these often go for, I would say they are as underappreciated as they come much like the US Peavey basses and will keep my eye out for any other Brawley basses I may run into. This particular one is a bolt-on and with a 2 band EQ, there are other higher end models that are neck thrus and with 3 band EQ. All of them are 35 scale, even the four string basses like mine.
I haven't played it much but from what little I did, the first thing that caught my attention was the neck - it's of a very high quality and neither wide nor too narrow but well...just right, somewhere in between a Jazz and a P Bass neck, but the fretwork is great, no buzzing and the action can be set very low on these basses.
In terms of sound, it's capable of both booming lows and too much treble and everything in between, nice clear sound though. I can definitely see a use for this bass and the versatility.
In terms of quality - it is made in Korea but unlike some of the big brand offshore models, they're not hampered by artificially created limits as to what wood to use or parts, (like a Squier isn't supposed to exceed a Fender in terms of material or parts) - level of manufacturing is above standard too. It doesn't use big name pickups or electronics but neither does it use cheaper ones either, basically the best you could get for the money these basses initially sold at. I believe the neck thrus sold for $800 when new - Brawley was only around for 2 years and to be honest, I hadn't tried one till now.
It's not a glaringly beautiful bass with sleek lines and shape by any means, but neither is it "ugly" - it's pretty unassuming in terms of design.If it looks like Laguna basses of yore (Guitar Center's in-house brand at one time), there's a reason for that. Keith Brawley who produced these basses later worked at Guitar Center for a time and the designs of his basses were used for Laguna. I think that's probably what put these Brawley basses off the radar for me, there's that mistaken notion that Brawley basses would be " like the budget Laguna basses". Don't make the mistake I did, Laguna basses may look like Brawleys but they aren't of the same quality at all. Much like OLP Rays don't play like EBMM Stingrays. There's nothing budget about these Brawley basses, mid-priced maybe. They were made to be mid-priced instruments, above the budget range basses but not really to compete against the US Fender, EBMM US G&L instruments, in terms of quality or price they're more akin to MIM Fender, Sterling and G&L Tributes. To be honest, the one bass that pops in my head and perhaps a closer comparison is a Schecter Elite I once had with the dual EMG-HZ pickups and 2 band EQ. If you think of that, but with slightly better and clearer sound and better feeling neck - that would be the Brawley.
it's a very well made bass and probably should have had more success and a longer run than two years if it didn't have the misfortune of being primarily distributed through a music chain that dissolved and took Brawley guitars and basses down with it. Again, I have limited playing time on it so haven't really posted much about it's playability but it does feel like a pretty darn good underappreciated bass to me. If you do see one for the price they usually seem to go for, definitely recommend at least trying it out. I bought mine for $150, I believe they usually sell anywhere from around $100 to about $300-350.
- You have the ability to add more bass on the Brawley to that particular sound than what would be the most you can get on the Ray34 (ie. bass on full, treble and middle at minimum). Of course, you could set the treble at low on this Brawley and it then sounds like a thumpy P Bass.
