NBD - G4M Fanned Fret 5 String

[TeeSee]

Hi all.
So here's my NB that came earlier after I ordered it yesterday. Actually that's not strictly true. I ordered it Wednesday night at about 9pm and it arrived Friday at about 3pm. I had to pay £0.99 for delivery though which is a bit cheeky I thought.
Well, it's not a Dingwall or anything like it, made in China. I have to cut my cloth to suit, but saying that there's some wonderful guitars made in the US and Europe but they're just light years away from my budget and my means. But I was always intrigued with a multiscale and this was the only MS I could ever afford to own for now.
This is the guitar, it retails for £279.99 ($352.96 US).
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This bass has been going for some time under the name Redsub, but from what I heard the first batch was fairly good, the second batch were woeful and then they changed manufacturers to another factory where these basses are considered way better. But lets take a look.
For a start, I've never played a MS before.
Now, I've literally just unpacked it and not yet had a chance to set it up, had a 1/2 hour play but here are my initial thoughts after tuning it only.
Firstly it's an attractive guitar all things considered. It won't sit straight on a guitar stand and I would prefer a upper horn rather than the blended in top but beggars can't be choosers. With a strap there is no nose dive and sits comfortable on your body. Sitting down it's not bad as the lower body is more traditional shaped. I'm not a soloist but yeah you can reach the higher frets using your fingers but if you use your thumb to work at that scale then there's no way you are going to work at the top.

The nut is quite good apart from the sharp edges either side which will need a little filing. There is a mark in mine between the E and A where the worker caught his file when filing the nut, but I'm not bothered about that. A bit of black boot polish and no-ones the wiser.

The guitar comes with a quite nice roasted maple neck, not super detailed as you'd expect from more expensive guitars but a nice touch nonetheless.

The burl finish is actually very well done. I heard some folks saying the Redsubs were printed on, but this seems to be the real McCoy. There are no tiny dots I can discern under a magnifying glass and it looks pukka to me.

There's 5 controls, Treble, Mid and Bass, 1st row going down, then Volume (pull for passive) and Blend 2nd row going down.
All pots have centre indents which is a nice touch but this is where the money saving comes in, a couple of the pot's feel quite 'grindy' insofar as you can hear them and feel them as you turn them without it going through the amp. The bass overloads at about 65 - 70% when played through an amp.

Tuners. Well they are stock cheap tuners, They do hold their tune though and have been fairly consistent an all 5 so there's none that tune perfectly and one that jumps but yeah, you'd probably want to upgrade if you had this guitar for a while and was gigging or recording regularly.

Moving to the back we have a plain black body which is another cost saving exercise, but no-one really looks at the back of your bass except you. Bolt on neck and some strange white residue in the holes. I've wiped a little away and it comes off quite easily and you wouldn't expect this from a $3000 bass but it'll take me 10 minutes to clean it on a $300 bass.

There are luminous fret markers on the neck. I just turned the lights of to have a look and I didn't see jack. But then I only unboxed it 3 hours ago so who knows. I'll give it 24 hours then send it back if it doesn't light up in the dark

So, initial thoughts. I'm totally down with a MS, I love it. The B sounds better already than my normal 5 string that has Elixirs on it. This has no name strings on it for now. I'll be wondering how much better it'll sound with decent strings on.
Not a fan of the extended tele upper horn on any bass regardless of price.
2 minutes is all it takes to get used to a fanned fret. Honestly, and I'm the world's worst critic at reinventing the wheel.
Electrics are the weak point as I see it ATM but there's plenty of 3rd party pre's or DIY you can do to make it way better.
Not convinced about the pickup spacing, you'll never be able to dial in a dub tone on an instrument like this as the 'neck pup' is too near the bridge, But I love my punk too and it's delivering that sound in spades so far as my limited try out has been. Definitely good for experimental too, and *sigh* prog, if you like that sort of thing.
So for us Brits, this isn't a bad buy, considering we have to pay 99p for next day delivery. However for those reading this in another continent the shipping cost could be £100 (just guessing) so would this be the bargain multiscale in the American, African or Asian Continent? I dunno. But I'm happy

 

[TeeSee]

I've had a little more time with this now so I'm going to share a bit more about what I'm finding out.
I'm going to start with the one thing I'm a little unhappy about and that's the final fix.
I mentioned a couple of pots were scratchy, but I also had a bit of a suspicion that the knobs were interfering with the body but I didn't say that in the previous post.
Lo and behold, today I removed the offending articles and it was indeed the fact the 2 knobs (treble and mid) were pushed on too far down before tightening.
Here's some pics of the wear on the finish and wear on the underside of the knob once removed (apologies for the crap photos from an iPhone 6). I realigned them about .5 mil above where they were and there's no sign of the scratches to the body once re seated (3rd photo). But, yeah, I doubt whether you'd get this from a Dingwall. That said, I paid £280 so when you buy a Daewoo car, if you expect the same level of luxury that a 5 series delivers then you'd be a bit barking.

So just a word of warning, if anyone else gets one and finds the pots/knobs a bit 'grindy' desist immediately and take a 2mm hex key and a minute of your time to just back the knob off a tadge and avoid scratching the finish under the knob.
Now for the good points.
I've been trawling through a few posts here on TB that mention these basses including the Redsubs, there's not a lot, but the question that keeps popping up is 'is there any neck dive,' I can categorically say no there's not. Being a quite portly fellow to put it politely after spending most of my life from the age of 16 partaking in the occasional pint or two, nothing exemplifies the least point of contact than a rotund belly. Think of it like throwing a cat on a glass dome. I can stand loud and proud with this guitar in a 'look Ma, no hands!' pose and the headstock doesn't go anywhere. Honestly, cross my heart and hope to die, honestly.
The neck - well, it's sublime. I don't know what to say. It plays beautifully, I mean like my Fender MIJ. I've had the fret rocker out and the neck gauge out and there is little to no raised frets and the neck is straight as a die, I didn't have to adjust the truss, and the finish on the SS frets is damn near parfait. There are no sharp edges. The roasted maple is just asking you to eat it, it's possible one of the loveliest necks I've ever played. Just have to take the edges off the nut still.
Bridge(s) wise its the first single string bridge I've ever had and though the factory settings were pretty well spot on I messed with the intonation (not action - perfect) and it was a piece of cake.
I'm still not down with the pickup positioning I feel they are too close to each other. But that's just my thoughts and I think this is a great bass for metal and punk. I've got to be honest I've been playing this through a Dreadbox Kinematic and a cheapa$$ driver and my concerns about the pre on the bass side have sort of dwindled away a bit. It sounds a little more balanced when you add a bit of post.
It's not a perfect bass, but it hits the spot entirely if your not a badge slave and have an open mind.
I've still not got any strings for it I'll wait until Monday and phone around a few suppliers as I'm a bit confused about the multiscale lengths just now. I'll be interested to hear what good strings will sound like on this.
So, this is now definitely a keeper and for a fanned fret for £280 - well that puts this type of neck firmly into learners and bassists on a budget. No longer is it only for those with means only. Think a few folks will be be upset it's not in accordance with the preserves of the rich and it's made in China. But as time passes by they'll still be able to afford the services of top US and European luthiers to be able to tell the world what they can afford, for us unwashed, we have some chinks of daylight.

 

[kodiakblair]

Lo and behold, today I removed the offending articles and it was indeed the fact the 2 knobs (treble and mid) were pushed on too far down before tightening.

Same story with my USA 5 string Peavey Grind.

I tracked it through 3 sellers and all said the preamp was goosed. Preamp was fine, pot was push down to activate and the knob had been fitted to tight for travel .

1 minute to fix

Years spent bemoaning with their disappointing choice of the pickup/preamp combo

 

[JRA]

thanks for the detailed review, too!

it's possible one of the loveliest necks I've ever played.

then it's perfect where it counts! what a glorious-looking EB for such a glorious price --- congratulations on your new instrument!

 

[TeeSee]

thanks for the detailed review, too!


then it's perfect where it counts! what a glorious-looking EB for such a glorious price --- congratulations on your new instrument!

I have to be honest, if you're in the UK or happen to get this bass in another country for what they're costing at the moment it's worth cannibalising the neck onto your own body if doing a self build. It's fantastic for the price. They really nailed the neck.

 

[Sortarican]

Great review.
I see what you mean about the pickup placement, strange they didn't move it forward a bit.
Maybe they reserved it to do a 3 PU version?

 

[TeeSee]

Great review.
I see what you mean about the pickup placement, strange they didn't move it forward a bit.
Maybe they reserved it to do a 3 PU version?

That would make a great deal of sense. You could possibly add a third pickup. Hmm.. now there's a thought..

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Don't hurt anyone with that thing! hahaha Enjoy!

 

[kodiakblair]

You could possibly add a third pickup.

You could, I've certainly thought about it

Couple of minutes later I was thinking G4M/RedSub didn't go with it because of the burl top.

G4M do most of their business online. YT video links are all well and good but few bother clicking them, most folk just make their buying decisions based on the photo. Moving the pickups or adding a 3rd; you lose a fair bit of the burl top.

Using my very poor Photoshop skills , I tried it on for size Now it 'll depend on the burl top you have but I'm thinking it's a goer if yours' is similar to G4M's stock photo

 

[liquidsunshine]

Great review, thancks!!

Just sharing a picture from the inside of the neck pocket
And as you can see on the side, considering the veneer coat, the thickness of the « Birl top » is close to ZERO.
So imho, there’s no chance it’s a piece of birl. Poplar birl or similars are hard to work because it breaks so easily.
I was thincking myself about gluing a « birl leaf » on the top of a bass of mine, but I couldn’t find one because it basically doesn’t exist.
So what it is ? I actually don’t know.

( sorry that I wrote about it also in the G4M topic)

it’s a great bass for the value though… I really hesitate about sending it back or not, but that fanned frets feeling is so nice. Like you, I never played any MS before, and I feel like every instrument should be made in that way !

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Great review, thancks!!

Just sharing a picture from the inside of the neck pocket
And as you can see on the side, considering the veneer coat, the thickness of the « Birl top » is close to ZERO.
So imho, there’s no chance it’s a piece of birl. Poplar birl or similars are hard to work because it breaks so easily.
I was thincking myself about gluing a « birl leaf » on the top of a bass of mine, but I couldn’t find one because it basically doesn’t exist.
So what it is ? I actually don’t know.

( sorry that I wrote about it also in the G4M topic)

it’s a great bass for the value though… I really hesitate about sending it back or not, but that fanned frets feeling is so nice. Like you, I never played any MS before, and I feel like every instrument should be made in that way !

View attachment 5355843

The top is probably similar to Fender’s old “photo flame” which was basically a picture of flame maple on the top wood. I had a guitar with what was listed as a spalted maple top but if you took the pickups out the top was definitely maple but the spalting didn’t go around the edges of the pickup routes where there were darker patterns. I suspect that was the same thing.

 

[TeeSee]

The top is probably similar to Fender’s old “photo flame” which was basically a picture of flame maple on the top wood. I had a guitar with what was listed as a spalted maple top but if you took the pickups out the top was definitely maple but the spalting didn’t go around the edges of the pickup routes where there were darker patterns. I suspect that was the same thing.

There is a possibility that its a paper thin veneer. I've just replied to @liquidsunshine 's post (great name) on his Coliseum thread.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/re...et-5-string-bass.1531631/page-2#post-28212724

 

[TeeSee]

You could, I've certainly thought about it

Couple of minutes later I was thinking G4M/RedSub didn't go with it because of the burl top.

G4M do most of their business online. YT video links are all well and good but few bother clicking them, most folk just make their buying decisions based on the photo. Moving the pickups or adding a 3rd; you lose a fair bit of the burl top.

Using my very poor Photoshop skills , I tried it on for size Now it 'll depend on the burl top you have but I'm thinking it's a goer if yours' is similar to G4M's stock photo

View attachment 5355800

I definitely wouldn't call that poor Photoshop skills, that actually looks really good. Thanks mate, food for thought.

 

[J Posega]

I had the exact same thing happen with the knob pulling off the core on my fanned fretless (as a reminder, made by the same shop that makes these G4M basses). I'd never even seen a knob with a plastic core like it before.

It's great to hear that the bass exceeds expectations. If it had a more standard body style, I'd be tempted to get one (and maybe a longer scale length).

 

[TeeSee]

OK, a little addendum to my thoughts on this bass. While now overall, very pleased with it, having spent a bit of time with it something has been niggling me with it.
Just to put it into perspective, I've never been able to play pick/plectrum style as I'm left handed and lack the fine skills in my right wrist. So I've always played with my fingers.
Usually, I rest my thumb on a pickup and just play.
With this bass due to the angled pickups there's very little meat to get your thumb onto so I find myself resting on the corner of one of the pickups. This kind of limits my ability to move about the playing area to get the different tones.
The remedy is a thumb rest. I might fashion one up, but may wait until I've decided if I'm going to add a third pickup closer to the neck. It would have to be an extended rest (more of a thumb rail) if that's the case so it may look a little odd.
We'll wait and see.

 

[TeeSee]

**Update**
So I've now found the first thing wrong about this bass. I did a minor set up and really didn't do much to the action. I found later that the A was a little high so I thought I'd tweak it. One of the 2 saddle screws just didn't turn with the Allen Key, so I took the saddle off to have a look see, nothing wrong with the threads in the saddle block but the cheap screws are made of butter. If you put the Allen key in it'll just turn without moving. Either someone at the factory is using an air wrench, or they are just really crap hex sockets in the screws. I think the latter. I found the same problem on the D and G too. I've bought some better screws and replaced all 10 whether they needed it or not.
They don't cost a fortune you're looking at £6 for 12 off Amazon, or if you have a decent hardware shop by you probably a lot cheaper. You need M2.5 x 8mm cup screws.
Slack off your string, remove the saddle and hold the saddle between your fingers in one hand and screw the screw out from underneath with the thumb and forefinger of your other hand and remove from saddle block underneath and place carefully in the bin. Beats trying to screw a damaged hex screw out from the top that would probably bugger up your Allen key, and it well less time consuming.

 

[olko]

You could, I've certainly thought about it

Couple of minutes later I was thinking G4M/RedSub didn't go with it because of the burl top.

G4M do most of their business online. YT video links are all well and good but few bother clicking them, most folk just make their buying decisions based on the photo. Moving the pickups or adding a 3rd; you lose a fair bit of the burl top.

Using my very poor Photoshop skills , I tried it on for size Now it 'll depend on the burl top you have but I'm thinking it's a goer if yours' is similar to G4M's stock photo

View attachment 5355800

Yo low key necrobump, but i did that mod to my (redsub branded) Coliseum 5, it's alright but depends on pickups, had 3 fishman fluences in first currently have delanos and i still feel it's missing something

 

[TeeSee]

Yo low key necrobump, but i did that mod to my (redsub branded) Coliseum 5, it's alright but depends on pickups, had 3 fishman fluences in first currently have delanos and i still feel it's missing something

Awesome! I moved the neck pickup, well, further to the neck, and rotated it at a slightly different angle to give me a more dub sound. I see a lot of interesting stuff going on on yours did you put a different pre in? Difficult to tell from the pic but looks like you're down a tone knob to make room for the switches?

 

[olko]

Awesome! I moved the neck pickup, well, further to the neck, and rotated it at a slightly different angle to give me a more dub sound. I see a lot of interesting stuff going on on yours did you put a different pre in? Difficult to tell from the pic but looks like you're down a tone knob to make room for the switches?

that is older pick, currently i have 3 delanos SBC HE/S-4 in there with darkglass tone capsule, 6 position rotary switch, the mini switches were for switching north coil/humbucker/south coil on fishmans, on delanos i changed them for ON-ON DPDT switches so i can change between revers p-bass like configuration and parallel humbucking, also preamp is currently darkglass tone capsule since i use that bass mostly for my friends djent project in which i was forced to downtune to drop G#

when i get around it ill try to do some different switchings per pickup since i have few on-on-on switches lying around

lowkey wanna get 6 string version and change it up even more but everytime i think about it i remember the difference of price between long scale and super long scale bass strings and i quickly lose my gas need for it


at what angle did you put the neck pickup? the thing i kinda regret is not getting the neck pickup closer to the OG neck pickup to make it even more akin to poor mans dingwall

 

[TeeSee]

I'm not gonna lie, I have absolutely no clue what the angle is, I'd say about 10 - 13 degrees? I just made a pickup mule and kept messing around with the position and angle until I got the sound I think I wanted, bit subjective as every time I went back too the mule I'd adjust it a little but after a day or so I was back at where I first started.

I've kept the original pickups for now but might explore different ones in the future. I put the Glockenklang 3 band eq in mine but TBH the stock eq wasn't all that bad (apart from the rat's nest it came with) but the GK seems a lot more warmer and well rounded to me.