*** FULL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: Although I do design work in the music industry here and there, I do NOT have any kind of professional relationship with F Bass. ***
Yay, it's new lefty F Bass BN5 day!
Well, to clarify, I've had the bass for over a month now... but I purposely waited to write something up until I could spend enough time with it to write an honest and experienced review.
History: I played my first lefty BN5 at NAMM 2014. Before I ever played it, the bass was available on the F Bass site and I emailed to talk to Marcel a little about it... but, at the last second, I chickened out for some ridiculous reason and decided not to buy it. They brought it with them to NAMM and as soon as I sat down with it, I had serious regret about not pulling the trigger. As you can imagine, lefties don't get the same opportunities to play as many basses as you righties get, so when the magic happens, it's truly MAGIC. The gears started turning and I talked to Marcel, but the bass had already been sold... I missed out.
On top of the bass being bad-ass, it turned out that George, Marcel, Tom and crew were all ridiculously nice and funny, even through the madness of NAMM. That, to me, is as important as anything else these days... I like to support companies who are run by people whom I also happen to like personally. It makes a difference.
Flash-forward to 2015... they brought ANOTHER lefty bass. It was even better than the last one... and it was also already sold.
So, that was the last straw... I had to have one. I immediately set upon selling whatever I possibly could so I could place my order and that is what I did. I kept it simple... no fancy tops or figured woods. I wanted a straight-up ash body and a plain-old 3-piece maple neck. Black grain enhancement and the brown-burst finish.
On May 22nd, I received the bass.
Introduction: After some time-well-spent, I can comfortably say that my new F Bass is easily one of the top 2 or 3 basses I've ever owned. The happy medium George and team have found between "functional workhorse" and "beautiful boutique" with both tone and aesthetics is literally perfect to me. Like a new girlfriend, this bass has quite literally been all I can think about since I laid my dirty mitts on it.
Looks: First of all, it is absolutely friggin' GORGEOUS. I mean, I could probably sit here and stare at it from a distance all day, if it wasn't for the fact that I haven't been able to put it down. Even from several "non-bass player" perspectives, I've already had more positive comments on the beauty of the BN5 than I have with any other bass... it's simply stunning. There's a certain "flow" to the design that is unmistakable, but not at all shocking or weird.
Construction: Aesthetics aside, the F Bass crew's ability to build such a solid and functional instrument that also sounds ridiculously good might be unrivaled. As a lefty, we don't often get to put lots of different and amazing basses in our hands. I, however, have been lucky enough to own and play quite a few "top tier" brands and my BN5 is every bit as good and/or better in almost every regard. Ergonomically, balance is perfect. It hangs perfectly for me, and the neck profile felt like home. The compound radius is the absolute best of "modern meets vintage" and I was able to set the bass up easily how I like to play, with plenty of room to spare. The neck is rock solid. The whole bass feels like it was cut from a solid piece of granite... it feels unmovable, yet completely organic. In fact, the only complaint I could even come up with would be in regard to weight, but the bass feels so natural hanging on a strap, that I haven't even thought about it.
Tone: I don't think it would be incorrect to say that the overall tone that George Furlanetto was going for when he designed this bass is in the active jazz bass ballpark. Pickup spacing is similar, so the similarities in tone to other high-end active jazz basses are immediately familiar. I freakin' LOVE jazz basses, so I'm totally OK with that and that's the mindset I went with... well, that is until I played my first gig. I mean, the bass is just sick on its own, but in a band? FUHGEDABOUDIT. It slices out its own home in the mix so well, that I actually I had to back off my amp a little bit... its ability to "cut through" without being obnoxious blew me away.
Electronics: Pickups are killer. I love the radius... feels great to play over them. Single coil chunk? Tons of it. Getting some noise? No problem... pop out that bridge pickup volume and the noise is GONE. The preamp is a wonderfully natural extension of the entire rest of the bass, and, to me, that is EXACTLY what a preamp is supposed to be. I usually hate preamps and almost always keep them flat. On my BN5, however, I WANT to play with them. The freq selection and db boosts are all dialed-in so perfectly. It's impossible to go overboard with it like you can so easily in so many other preamps, blowing out your tone (and maybe even a speaker) with an accidental overturn. Every tone I dial in is completely usable and musical even when completely cranked... which is completely unnecessary, but at least I could if I wanted to.
Miscellaneous: As far as other stuff goes... factory setup was great and I could have brought it straight to a gig, but, more importantly, I was able to set it up EXACTLY how I like it with ZERO issues. The gig bag is also really nice. I'm not familiar with the design, so I'm not sure if it's available outside of F Bass, but it's rigid and functions how you would want a gig bag to function. One cool feature of the bag is a magnetic flap for the accessory pouch. Never seen that before... neat-o.
Conclusion: So, that's it... happy, happy, HAPPY guy. I play in several different bands, most frequently with a band that plays heavily in the wedding circuit. I average 40 gigs a year with that band and anyone who is in a similar boat will understand me when I say that monotony can get the best of you sometimes. Well, since I've owned this bass, all I want to do is gig. I even look forward to playing Amarillo By Morning, just so I can feel and hear this bass.
It's just been such a pleasure to own and to play that I really wanted to share my excitement with you guys.
Hope you liked my (incredibly long) review.
I know, I know... no pics, no bass... so, here you go!
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I'll try to post a video soon!
drool
Yay, it's new lefty F Bass BN5 day!
Well, to clarify, I've had the bass for over a month now... but I purposely waited to write something up until I could spend enough time with it to write an honest and experienced review.
History: I played my first lefty BN5 at NAMM 2014. Before I ever played it, the bass was available on the F Bass site and I emailed to talk to Marcel a little about it... but, at the last second, I chickened out for some ridiculous reason and decided not to buy it. They brought it with them to NAMM and as soon as I sat down with it, I had serious regret about not pulling the trigger. As you can imagine, lefties don't get the same opportunities to play as many basses as you righties get, so when the magic happens, it's truly MAGIC. The gears started turning and I talked to Marcel, but the bass had already been sold... I missed out.
On top of the bass being bad-ass, it turned out that George, Marcel, Tom and crew were all ridiculously nice and funny, even through the madness of NAMM. That, to me, is as important as anything else these days... I like to support companies who are run by people whom I also happen to like personally. It makes a difference.
Flash-forward to 2015... they brought ANOTHER lefty bass. It was even better than the last one... and it was also already sold.
So, that was the last straw... I had to have one. I immediately set upon selling whatever I possibly could so I could place my order and that is what I did. I kept it simple... no fancy tops or figured woods. I wanted a straight-up ash body and a plain-old 3-piece maple neck. Black grain enhancement and the brown-burst finish.
On May 22nd, I received the bass.
Introduction: After some time-well-spent, I can comfortably say that my new F Bass is easily one of the top 2 or 3 basses I've ever owned. The happy medium George and team have found between "functional workhorse" and "beautiful boutique" with both tone and aesthetics is literally perfect to me. Like a new girlfriend, this bass has quite literally been all I can think about since I laid my dirty mitts on it.
Looks: First of all, it is absolutely friggin' GORGEOUS. I mean, I could probably sit here and stare at it from a distance all day, if it wasn't for the fact that I haven't been able to put it down. Even from several "non-bass player" perspectives, I've already had more positive comments on the beauty of the BN5 than I have with any other bass... it's simply stunning. There's a certain "flow" to the design that is unmistakable, but not at all shocking or weird.
Construction: Aesthetics aside, the F Bass crew's ability to build such a solid and functional instrument that also sounds ridiculously good might be unrivaled. As a lefty, we don't often get to put lots of different and amazing basses in our hands. I, however, have been lucky enough to own and play quite a few "top tier" brands and my BN5 is every bit as good and/or better in almost every regard. Ergonomically, balance is perfect. It hangs perfectly for me, and the neck profile felt like home. The compound radius is the absolute best of "modern meets vintage" and I was able to set the bass up easily how I like to play, with plenty of room to spare. The neck is rock solid. The whole bass feels like it was cut from a solid piece of granite... it feels unmovable, yet completely organic. In fact, the only complaint I could even come up with would be in regard to weight, but the bass feels so natural hanging on a strap, that I haven't even thought about it.
Tone: I don't think it would be incorrect to say that the overall tone that George Furlanetto was going for when he designed this bass is in the active jazz bass ballpark. Pickup spacing is similar, so the similarities in tone to other high-end active jazz basses are immediately familiar. I freakin' LOVE jazz basses, so I'm totally OK with that and that's the mindset I went with... well, that is until I played my first gig. I mean, the bass is just sick on its own, but in a band? FUHGEDABOUDIT. It slices out its own home in the mix so well, that I actually I had to back off my amp a little bit... its ability to "cut through" without being obnoxious blew me away.
Electronics: Pickups are killer. I love the radius... feels great to play over them. Single coil chunk? Tons of it. Getting some noise? No problem... pop out that bridge pickup volume and the noise is GONE. The preamp is a wonderfully natural extension of the entire rest of the bass, and, to me, that is EXACTLY what a preamp is supposed to be. I usually hate preamps and almost always keep them flat. On my BN5, however, I WANT to play with them. The freq selection and db boosts are all dialed-in so perfectly. It's impossible to go overboard with it like you can so easily in so many other preamps, blowing out your tone (and maybe even a speaker) with an accidental overturn. Every tone I dial in is completely usable and musical even when completely cranked... which is completely unnecessary, but at least I could if I wanted to.
Miscellaneous: As far as other stuff goes... factory setup was great and I could have brought it straight to a gig, but, more importantly, I was able to set it up EXACTLY how I like it with ZERO issues. The gig bag is also really nice. I'm not familiar with the design, so I'm not sure if it's available outside of F Bass, but it's rigid and functions how you would want a gig bag to function. One cool feature of the bag is a magnetic flap for the accessory pouch. Never seen that before... neat-o.
Conclusion: So, that's it... happy, happy, HAPPY guy. I play in several different bands, most frequently with a band that plays heavily in the wedding circuit. I average 40 gigs a year with that band and anyone who is in a similar boat will understand me when I say that monotony can get the best of you sometimes. Well, since I've owned this bass, all I want to do is gig. I even look forward to playing Amarillo By Morning, just so I can feel and hear this bass.
It's just been such a pleasure to own and to play that I really wanted to share my excitement with you guys.Hope you liked my (incredibly long) review.
I know, I know... no pics, no bass... so, here you go!
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I'll try to post a video soon!
drool
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