I've been going back and forth for a while now on either getting a 5 string Dingwall D-Bird to go with my Combustion or getting a Brice Defiant to have a less expensive option as the group I've been jamming with has talked about doing some gigs and I'd be devastated if my Combustion grew legs. My main issues were the cost and wait time for a D-Bird and the finishes on the Defiants. Well, I saw a few weeks ago that Rondo had put up some new Defiants with a quilt finish and pretty much fell in love with the blue one on sight. I talked myself into ordering one and took delivery this Thursday.
Specs are here: Brice Defiant 53437 EB Blue Quilt - RondoMusic.com
On with the pics!
I noodled around a bit and found that the stock strings were, as I had expected, pretty thin sounding. I had a set of Circle K's that I hadn't used yet so I strung it up with those and the sound is much better. I haven't had a chance to play at volume yet but I have a church gig and jamming with my group tomorrow so I'll post an update afterward.
The Pros So Far: The finish is great, the whole bass has a satin-y finish to it so the neck is nice and fast. The quilt looks great, I have no idea if it's a veneer or a photo though. Acoustically the bass sounds good, which is what I was hoping for as I am planning on switching out the electronics fairly soon anyway. The neck and body seem well made, no real flaws that I can see. It appears to have been paint shielded, which is more than I expected. There's a fair bit of extra room in the control cavity so I don't have any reservations about adding a preamp and possibly another pot or switch or two. I'm happy with the profile of the nut as well, that's my big complaint on my ESP/LTD fanned-fret bass, the nut is so high it pokes my finger if I'm on the first fret. After two days the tuners appear to be holding tune, so they seem to be good. The fretwork seems excellent, no rough edges or high frets that I can tell. The bass doesn't neck dive, it wants to sit level on a strap.
The Cons So Far: The pickups are not the greatest sounding. Either pickup soloed produces a usable if uninspiring sound, but with the switch in the middle position which I'm assuming is both pickups on, the sound gets very thin and quiet. Possibly a phase issue but I'm probably just going to not use it rather than mess with it. As mentioned I'm planning on replacing the guts anyway. The nut also seems pretty rough on the treble side. I don't really notice it when I'm playing but I may have a new one cut at some point. The bass is a pound or two heavier than my Combustion, too, but I wasn't expecting it to be that light.
I'm pretty happy with this purchase, I like the bass and needed a backup for my Combustion as well as an option for playing seedier places. I've modded my Combustion to a point that I'm happy with so it'll be nice to have a project with this bass as well.
Specs are here: Brice Defiant 53437 EB Blue Quilt - RondoMusic.com
On with the pics!
I noodled around a bit and found that the stock strings were, as I had expected, pretty thin sounding. I had a set of Circle K's that I hadn't used yet so I strung it up with those and the sound is much better. I haven't had a chance to play at volume yet but I have a church gig and jamming with my group tomorrow so I'll post an update afterward.
The Pros So Far: The finish is great, the whole bass has a satin-y finish to it so the neck is nice and fast. The quilt looks great, I have no idea if it's a veneer or a photo though. Acoustically the bass sounds good, which is what I was hoping for as I am planning on switching out the electronics fairly soon anyway. The neck and body seem well made, no real flaws that I can see. It appears to have been paint shielded, which is more than I expected. There's a fair bit of extra room in the control cavity so I don't have any reservations about adding a preamp and possibly another pot or switch or two. I'm happy with the profile of the nut as well, that's my big complaint on my ESP/LTD fanned-fret bass, the nut is so high it pokes my finger if I'm on the first fret. After two days the tuners appear to be holding tune, so they seem to be good. The fretwork seems excellent, no rough edges or high frets that I can tell. The bass doesn't neck dive, it wants to sit level on a strap.
The Cons So Far: The pickups are not the greatest sounding. Either pickup soloed produces a usable if uninspiring sound, but with the switch in the middle position which I'm assuming is both pickups on, the sound gets very thin and quiet. Possibly a phase issue but I'm probably just going to not use it rather than mess with it. As mentioned I'm planning on replacing the guts anyway. The nut also seems pretty rough on the treble side. I don't really notice it when I'm playing but I may have a new one cut at some point. The bass is a pound or two heavier than my Combustion, too, but I wasn't expecting it to be that light.
I'm pretty happy with this purchase, I like the bass and needed a backup for my Combustion as well as an option for playing seedier places. I've modded my Combustion to a point that I'm happy with so it'll be nice to have a project with this bass as well.
