US Masters

i saw some guy play a 5 string US Masters Bass at a church that I visited a few months ago.

it had a good tone...but all church bassists sound the same...a lot a bass and not enough mids and treble.


so i don't really know what the bass is truly capable of.

 

Unpleasing to the eye, IMO. All of the proportions seem a little...off. Haven't heard one, though.

 

Well, I'd LIKE to say good things, but my rather limited experience with US Masters has not been sterling.

One of the bands I do sound for regularly is an amateur-ish worship band whose bass players uses a US Masters to play showy slap licks and play Tool lines. Either he uses the bridge pickup exclusively, or they are all very nasal sounding. I try to EQ the bass from the board, but there is not much I can do. It could be lots of things, though, his amp isn't the greatest, and it might just be his technique. Just very thing sounding.

 

Rare birds, these.

Luckily, I've had the opportunity to lay hands on 4 of them. Two belong to a co-worker, Grasshopper, and two are in stock at Bass Central.

Well made, good woods, good electronics, very flexible basses. They seem to balance well on a strap, and are very comfortable to play. The neck feels a bit chunkier than I care for (I'm a Zon nut, like that thin profile), but it plays great nonetheless. The B string on the 5's are consistently tight and full.

Not a bass that I would buy personally, but not because of any major fault I can think of tonally or playability wise, just isn't "for me".

 

Isn't this a fishing tournament?

 

I have played a couple of them. They offered a friend of mine an endorsement and sent him one on approval. From Gards reply perhaps they have gotten better. I found the name to be insulting considering the poor craftsmanship. The bass was very nasal sounding. My friend didn't get the right vibe from the company either.

 

My brother has a US Masters strat and he absolutely loves it. (And he's gone through owning Fender, G&L, Ibanez, and other strats, and used to sell spome high end stuff - he thinks the USM is the best strat he's ever played) It's got a beautiful birdseye maple neck (one piece maple neck/fingerboard) and sunburst alder body. It is a work of art, particularly for the price.

I think the USM basses are hideous, and the electronics are bewildering. I've played with one at a music shop and really loved the feel and playability, but I couldn't get past the ugly (to me) appearance and bewildering EQ section.

 

The electronics certainly seem involved. I also wonder how they mix the pickups in series - is the volume a lot higher when both are on?

 

I know someone who has one. I've played it acoustically, but never heard it through an amp. Nice straight neck. The owner had the action set way too high for my tastes though, so I can't really comment on the "potentially" good action, considering the neck was nice and straight. The thing that turned me off right away was the petite size body. I don't know if they are all that small, so I shouldn't badmouth them because of this one bass, but I don't like small bodies... The body was purpleheart I think.

Randy