Today I had some time to myself, so I decided to take a trip to my local guitar center in Chattanooga, GA. It had been a while, so I assumed they had some new basses in stock. I browsed the store and for those of you who would care for a review of my experience, here goes.
First, I picked up a Squier VM 70's Jazz 5. Aesthetically speaking, it was nice. I always have enjoyed black and maple. Plugged it into a Markbass 2x10 combo they had out. Perhaps not the best judge of the bass, but I set the EQ flat and gave it a go. Very good stuff for a $300 bass. Not my pick for best low price bass, but more on that later. Controls were solid. Action was high, but I made do. To me, it sounds very, very similar to a MIM Fender jazz, albeit easier to play (really nice neck and lightweight. No neck dive.) and a bit brighter. Soloing the bridge pickup gave a growly low-mid heavy tone.
Next was a Yamaha RBX170EW. It was a surprisingly light bass. The main feature of this base was its mango wood top. It looked nice, but almost fake to me. Not important though. PJ pickup combos always have been my favorites, so I was eager to test it out. It did not disappoint at all. Nice fat tone from both pickups. The bridge pickup was a little weak to me, but the overall construction was very solid, and in my opinion, this would be a perfect beginners bass. It just sounded so mellow, like the kind of sound where you'd want to sit back, relax, and jam it all day long.
I then spotted a EBMM SUB Stingray 4. Man oh man. I could go on about this thing for days. At only $300, it had a great, aggressive tone and sleek neck that could compete with basses twice as much. It's just a one trick pony either! Depending in how. I set the bass and treble, I could get any number of nice sounds from it. The walnut finish was pretty attractive as well when coupled with a black pickguard. It may just be because I'm primarily a six string bassist, but that neck was the fastest I'd ever played, hands down. SUB's are great values, no doubt. I'll probably pick one up myself as a matter of fact. Add a thumb rest about halfway down the pickguard, give it nice and low action, and it'll be a keeper.
And lastly, perhaps the most interesting part of my experience was with the Warrior bass they had. They said they had just got it in. I was amazed to find something like a custom Warrior 6 string in such a small shop. Plugged it in and went to town. The previous owner had been a little cruel to such a beauty, and the end of the fretboard was chipped up. Regardless, it played unlike any other bass. Action was amazingly low with no fret buzz. The control scheme was a bit unorthodox in my opinion. Took me a minute to find out what did what. After a thorough rundown of it, I can say that while it was absolutely gorgeous, and would definitely compete with the best of them in a beauty contest, the tone was a bit lacking for a $3000 bass. The preamp was powerful, but it suffered from some really erratic sounds. The mids just sort of jumped all over the place. They stood out, but in a bad way. It was comparable to nothing I've really played before. It didn't sound like the worst mud I've ever heard, but it didn't have the clarity or defined lows I would expect from a custom instrument. I think it's about as good, but very different when compared to my Spector Legend Classic 6.
And that, my low end friends, is the conclusion of my mini-review. If there are any questions or topics I didn't cover, ask away.
First, I picked up a Squier VM 70's Jazz 5. Aesthetically speaking, it was nice. I always have enjoyed black and maple. Plugged it into a Markbass 2x10 combo they had out. Perhaps not the best judge of the bass, but I set the EQ flat and gave it a go. Very good stuff for a $300 bass. Not my pick for best low price bass, but more on that later. Controls were solid. Action was high, but I made do. To me, it sounds very, very similar to a MIM Fender jazz, albeit easier to play (really nice neck and lightweight. No neck dive.) and a bit brighter. Soloing the bridge pickup gave a growly low-mid heavy tone.
Next was a Yamaha RBX170EW. It was a surprisingly light bass. The main feature of this base was its mango wood top. It looked nice, but almost fake to me. Not important though. PJ pickup combos always have been my favorites, so I was eager to test it out. It did not disappoint at all. Nice fat tone from both pickups. The bridge pickup was a little weak to me, but the overall construction was very solid, and in my opinion, this would be a perfect beginners bass. It just sounded so mellow, like the kind of sound where you'd want to sit back, relax, and jam it all day long.
I then spotted a EBMM SUB Stingray 4. Man oh man. I could go on about this thing for days. At only $300, it had a great, aggressive tone and sleek neck that could compete with basses twice as much. It's just a one trick pony either! Depending in how. I set the bass and treble, I could get any number of nice sounds from it. The walnut finish was pretty attractive as well when coupled with a black pickguard. It may just be because I'm primarily a six string bassist, but that neck was the fastest I'd ever played, hands down. SUB's are great values, no doubt. I'll probably pick one up myself as a matter of fact. Add a thumb rest about halfway down the pickguard, give it nice and low action, and it'll be a keeper.
And lastly, perhaps the most interesting part of my experience was with the Warrior bass they had. They said they had just got it in. I was amazed to find something like a custom Warrior 6 string in such a small shop. Plugged it in and went to town. The previous owner had been a little cruel to such a beauty, and the end of the fretboard was chipped up. Regardless, it played unlike any other bass. Action was amazingly low with no fret buzz. The control scheme was a bit unorthodox in my opinion. Took me a minute to find out what did what. After a thorough rundown of it, I can say that while it was absolutely gorgeous, and would definitely compete with the best of them in a beauty contest, the tone was a bit lacking for a $3000 bass. The preamp was powerful, but it suffered from some really erratic sounds. The mids just sort of jumped all over the place. They stood out, but in a bad way. It was comparable to nothing I've really played before. It didn't sound like the worst mud I've ever heard, but it didn't have the clarity or defined lows I would expect from a custom instrument. I think it's about as good, but very different when compared to my Spector Legend Classic 6.
And that, my low end friends, is the conclusion of my mini-review. If there are any questions or topics I didn't cover, ask away.
