Hey everybody,
Yesterday, I received a Chinese made acrylic bass that I ordered from eBay. It only took 5 days to arrive, as opposed to 3 months from AliExpress.
I've only had a chance to tune it up and play it for a few minutes. Here are my initial impressions.
The body is GORGEOUS! Really well made, clear, good bevels along the edges. It's really a sweet looking bass. I love that it's see through!
I do like that it is a copy of the Dan Armstrong basses in that I love the body shape, pickguard shape, and headstock shape and finish. It just didn't really need to say "Dan Armstrong" on the pickguard. I find that a bit rude of them, but c'est la vie I guess. I can't afford an original, so having this one makes me happy. I just wasn't trying to fool anyone into thinking it's the real deal.
I'm not sure if the pickguard is wood, or not. When I have time to do a setup, I will also pull off the pickguard to see what's going on under there because I do have a couple of minor issues I want to look into (more on those below).
After tuning it up, it played well. The neck has a sanded, natural finish. It could be a teeny-tiny bit smoother in my opinion, but it's not bad, at all. Fretwork is done really well, with no high spots (that I've noticed thus far), and zero fret sprout, or sharp edges. Although, fret sprout seems to be inevitable here near Albuquerque where I live, so I won't be surprised if it eventually crops up.
Plugged in, it sounds good! LOUD!!! CLEAR!!! CRISP!!! It has a tone, and a volume knob, but they are acting a bit out of the ordinary, so not sure if this is normal for some basses, or something is going on with this one.
Basically (no pun intended), and this is one of the minor issues I mentioned above, if I have the tone rolled all the way off, the volume knob doesn't really kick in till at about 1/2-3/4 of it's turning availability. After that, it gets quite loud!
If, however, I have the tone knob turned up, from about 1/4 turn to its full throw, the volume knob has adjustment all throughout its turning availability. It's quite useable as is, and I can get the sounds I want out of it quite easily, but I do find the way it works kind of odd.
Another oddity I noticed is that when I touch the bottom, left screw that holds in the neck (as looking at it from the back of the bass), it's microphonic, similar to when you tap on a pickup with something metal. Upon further investigation, it seems that that screw has protruded ever so slightly through the body which put a small crack in the pickguard (see the pic where my finger is pointing). I wonder if the is something conductive on the back of the pickguard which, with the screw toucing it, is making it microphonic? That's another reason I want to remove the pickguard, so I can see what's going on under there.
I have written to the seller to mention the crack on the pickguard. I asked if there's any way they can send me a replacement pickguard.
That's all I can say, for now. I'll add updates as time goes on and I get to play it more. I can say that, all in all, I am REALLY happy to have it. I just love looking at it, and looking foward to playing it.
Yesterday, I received a Chinese made acrylic bass that I ordered from eBay. It only took 5 days to arrive, as opposed to 3 months from AliExpress.
I've only had a chance to tune it up and play it for a few minutes. Here are my initial impressions.
The body is GORGEOUS! Really well made, clear, good bevels along the edges. It's really a sweet looking bass. I love that it's see through!
I do like that it is a copy of the Dan Armstrong basses in that I love the body shape, pickguard shape, and headstock shape and finish. It just didn't really need to say "Dan Armstrong" on the pickguard. I find that a bit rude of them, but c'est la vie I guess. I can't afford an original, so having this one makes me happy. I just wasn't trying to fool anyone into thinking it's the real deal.
I'm not sure if the pickguard is wood, or not. When I have time to do a setup, I will also pull off the pickguard to see what's going on under there because I do have a couple of minor issues I want to look into (more on those below).
After tuning it up, it played well. The neck has a sanded, natural finish. It could be a teeny-tiny bit smoother in my opinion, but it's not bad, at all. Fretwork is done really well, with no high spots (that I've noticed thus far), and zero fret sprout, or sharp edges. Although, fret sprout seems to be inevitable here near Albuquerque where I live, so I won't be surprised if it eventually crops up.
Plugged in, it sounds good! LOUD!!! CLEAR!!! CRISP!!! It has a tone, and a volume knob, but they are acting a bit out of the ordinary, so not sure if this is normal for some basses, or something is going on with this one.
Basically (no pun intended), and this is one of the minor issues I mentioned above, if I have the tone rolled all the way off, the volume knob doesn't really kick in till at about 1/2-3/4 of it's turning availability. After that, it gets quite loud!
If, however, I have the tone knob turned up, from about 1/4 turn to its full throw, the volume knob has adjustment all throughout its turning availability. It's quite useable as is, and I can get the sounds I want out of it quite easily, but I do find the way it works kind of odd.
Another oddity I noticed is that when I touch the bottom, left screw that holds in the neck (as looking at it from the back of the bass), it's microphonic, similar to when you tap on a pickup with something metal. Upon further investigation, it seems that that screw has protruded ever so slightly through the body which put a small crack in the pickguard (see the pic where my finger is pointing). I wonder if the is something conductive on the back of the pickguard which, with the screw toucing it, is making it microphonic? That's another reason I want to remove the pickguard, so I can see what's going on under there.
I have written to the seller to mention the crack on the pickguard. I asked if there's any way they can send me a replacement pickguard.
That's all I can say, for now. I'll add updates as time goes on and I get to play it more. I can say that, all in all, I am REALLY happy to have it. I just love looking at it, and looking foward to playing it.
