to beast, or not to beast?

I think the Beast at $450 is a great deal. In fact I've had two of them. I no longer have any - not because there's anything wrong with them but because I have chronic GAS. For me personally the G&L L-2000 is "it" so I've been rotating through a bunch of other basses as 2nd/3rd instruments looking for others that "stick".

I think the overall "quality" of the Beast is a bit below the American Series Fenders (I had a '98 Am Deluxe P with the same neck/fret work). It didn't feel quite as "solid" and I think the hardware (tuners, bridge) are not quite as good as what was on the '98 deluxe P I had. The electronics, while simple, can stand up to any passive instrument. I think the zero fret is a great idea and the feel and sound of the Beast are great. I had traded for a Stingray when I got the first Beast and liked the Beast enough better (lighter weight, preferred the sound, not quite as "solid" a feel again but still very nice) that I sold the 'Ray and bought a second Beast.

All in all I still highly recommend the Beast, particularly at the $450 price, as a super value and very nice instrument. Replace the cheapie plastic knobs and there's nothing "cheap" about it. I think it's better than a friends MIM P by a bunch and would make a super first (and last if it ends up being your sound) bass.

 

I've only heard good things about the Kingston (and have tried one out for a short time in a local store). There are a couple of differences. The Beast is made in the Czech Republic while the Kingston is made in Korea. The conventional wisdom (which may or may not be right) is that the instruments built in the Czech Republic are higher quality. I think the Beast has a poplar body vs. basswood for the Kingston. Also the pickups in the Beast are Bartolinis while the pickup in the Kingston is unspecified. The Beast is shielded while the Kingston info does not say if it shielded or not.

I think the Beast is a bit nicer than the Kingston and I personally prefer the jazz pickup configuration on the Beast. The Kingston is well liked by many people as well. Personally I'd go for the Heir (Kingston with a jazz-style neck pickup added) before the Kingston and definitely thing the Beast is a better value than the Kingston at the same price. However in an absolute sense the Kingston is one of the better basses at its price.

Have fun choosing

 

I just wanted to let you know. I took "Da Beast" to my rehearsal last night, the first since receiving my Beast, and it sounded great. The guys that I rehearse with have years of experience playing and I got a lot a favorable comments about the tone that it provided.

Guess what style of music we were playing? I'll share this with you. Zeppelin, Cream, Stones, Clapton, Albert Collins, Albert King and Muddy Waters just to name a few of the artists. "Da Beast" handled it all with no problems. My only complaint is that I wish that my practice mates were a little more open minded about music. They don't want to play anything unless it's got that "Classic Rock" or "Blues" kind of feel to it. I love to listen to and own a lot of that type of music. It's just that my long term goals are more jazz oriented. I'm out numbered in this group so I just go with the flow. It's an opportunity for me to develop my skills and I treat it as such. This is probably the perfect band for you though!

For what you want to do, I don't think you can go wrong with "Da Beast." There's definitely some better basses out there. Although, I can't think of any for the price that you can get the MTDB at. There are certainly a lot of basses that are similar in cost to the $450.00 cost of "Da Beast" that can't hold a candle to it!

My vote is for "Da Beast." You already knew that though.

 

What's wrong with your wife? Purple Haze is the IDEAL song to read your paper to! Don't keep us in suspense to long TM. BTW, I'll see what I can do to put you in touch with the guys in this band. You'll have a long comute to practice though! Take care.

 

some other options less than $600

Fender MIM Jazz Bass Dlx, great sounding and playing bass, very versatile, great bang for the buck,

Peavey Fury- Great sounding, playing, and looking bass. 3 band eq, I was really suprised at this bass, as I used to dispise peavey. Great bang for the buck.