Review of the Chinese P-bass clone ($70!)
After a long hiatus, I’m playing bass guitar again. I started in 1974 and stayed active on and off until 2006. I’ve owned many basses ranging from custom-built costing thousands to inexpensive ones.
I bought a Chinese made P bass clone from Temu and, frankly, I’m amazed!
In my experience, cheaper basses can be good– especially in terms of sound. IMO, you need to watch out for the neck and fretboard work, the fret ends, nut, etc. Too much relief in the neck and poorly finished details on critical components of playability. You take a chance when buying cheaper instruments. Although a particular example may have good neck and fret board details, and even sound fabulous, there is also a lot of junk out there at that price level. It’s kind of a “luck-of-the-draw” situation.
I bought it mainly to practice slapping. I’ve sold all my basses except an expensive custom Zon and a fretless jazz bass copy. The Zon currently has flat wound strings on it and isn’t ideal for slapping anyway. So I was looking for an inexpensive P style bass that I could have around the house. I did not expect to find one for less than $100.
Turns out I won the luck-of-the-draw! This bass is really very good! The neck is straight, with reasonably low set up and good relief. No buzz. No high or low frets, intonation is very good all the way up the neck, and no fret “sprout”. The fret ends appear to have been filed a bit–they are not polished and rounded but the sharp edges have been filed. It’s playable right out of the box without additional set-up or work on frets and that’s saying a lot at the price.
It’s advertised as a “basswood” body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard (which I kinda doubt) but there’s no telling exactly the wood species. That said, it looks good, the finish on the neck is a smooth matte finish, the sunburst paintwork looks good, and the body is light weight. The entire bass with strings weighs just 6lbs 13oz–new born babies weigh as much! There is some neck dive but that’s true of just about all P style basses weighing less than 9 lbs or so.
Some basses just have “that sound” we all look for, and this bass has it. It is very resonant and, unmuted, it has sustain for days and a lot of overtones in the sound, especially when playing harmonics and chords. I really love that about this particular copy. Other examples of this same bass may or may not have these characteristics but for the cost I think it is definitely worth taking the chance, particularly as returns are allowed.
I am gob-smacked at how good the bass is! It sounds amazing for the price. Being a passive P style bass, there is only a volume and tone control, but with a decent preamp, you could gig with this bass. I’ve been working my way through an old copy of the Bassist’s Fake Book, playing everything from Beatles to Steely Dan to Jackson 5 tunes and even some funk, and this bass is admirable! I really do like the particular one that was delivered to my door.
You take a chance buying any instrument for less than $100 but in this case it turned out to be well worth it. I’m hanging on to this one!
After a long hiatus, I’m playing bass guitar again. I started in 1974 and stayed active on and off until 2006. I’ve owned many basses ranging from custom-built costing thousands to inexpensive ones.
I bought a Chinese made P bass clone from Temu and, frankly, I’m amazed!
In my experience, cheaper basses can be good– especially in terms of sound. IMO, you need to watch out for the neck and fretboard work, the fret ends, nut, etc. Too much relief in the neck and poorly finished details on critical components of playability. You take a chance when buying cheaper instruments. Although a particular example may have good neck and fret board details, and even sound fabulous, there is also a lot of junk out there at that price level. It’s kind of a “luck-of-the-draw” situation.
I bought it mainly to practice slapping. I’ve sold all my basses except an expensive custom Zon and a fretless jazz bass copy. The Zon currently has flat wound strings on it and isn’t ideal for slapping anyway. So I was looking for an inexpensive P style bass that I could have around the house. I did not expect to find one for less than $100.
Turns out I won the luck-of-the-draw! This bass is really very good! The neck is straight, with reasonably low set up and good relief. No buzz. No high or low frets, intonation is very good all the way up the neck, and no fret “sprout”. The fret ends appear to have been filed a bit–they are not polished and rounded but the sharp edges have been filed. It’s playable right out of the box without additional set-up or work on frets and that’s saying a lot at the price.
It’s advertised as a “basswood” body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard (which I kinda doubt) but there’s no telling exactly the wood species. That said, it looks good, the finish on the neck is a smooth matte finish, the sunburst paintwork looks good, and the body is light weight. The entire bass with strings weighs just 6lbs 13oz–new born babies weigh as much! There is some neck dive but that’s true of just about all P style basses weighing less than 9 lbs or so.
Some basses just have “that sound” we all look for, and this bass has it. It is very resonant and, unmuted, it has sustain for days and a lot of overtones in the sound, especially when playing harmonics and chords. I really love that about this particular copy. Other examples of this same bass may or may not have these characteristics but for the cost I think it is definitely worth taking the chance, particularly as returns are allowed.
I am gob-smacked at how good the bass is! It sounds amazing for the price. Being a passive P style bass, there is only a volume and tone control, but with a decent preamp, you could gig with this bass. I’ve been working my way through an old copy of the Bassist’s Fake Book, playing everything from Beatles to Steely Dan to Jackson 5 tunes and even some funk, and this bass is admirable! I really do like the particular one that was delivered to my door.
You take a chance buying any instrument for less than $100 but in this case it turned out to be well worth it. I’m hanging on to this one!
