Bloodfist
Well-known member
I walked into GC here in Charleston today, and lucky me, I was the first person to play the first 25th they've got in so far! Here's my impression of it so far...First off, it's a stunning bass. Absolutely beautiful in every aspect, and amazing craftsmanship. The bass was a 4 stringer, HH, with a maple fretboard. For the record, I played it through an Ampeg SVT3 Pro, and an Ampeg SVT 410HLF which is what I am currently using. I wanted to get as close as possible to my current rigs sound to really judge how I like the bass. To be honest, it felt more like a guitar than a bass to me. It's very light compared to my stingray, and I wasn't a big fan of the small headstock and the tuners. I'm undecided whether or not I like the controls on the bass yet or not. I did like that the buttons do not make any noise when switching between pickups unlike my stingray that makes a "click" sound, but at the same time, I didn't like the push buttons to much at all and still prefer the older switching style. The pickups seemed very "hot" in active mode, and could sometimes cause the amp to distort, but that was solved very quickly with a few adjustments to the amp. I didn't care for the passive mode at all on the bass. To me it just made the bass sound pretty plain compared to the active mode. The tone on the bass was really hit or miss. The smallest adjustment made the bass sound really full and open, or as if someone put some foam over the speakers of the amp. When the bass was dialed in perfectly, the tone was unbelievable to say the least, it just took some time to get there. The neck was extremely comfortable and easy to play, and the body shape was very comfortable as well.
To sum it up, I think it's damn fine instrument, but not necessarily for everyone, or for any type of setting. I could see where problems could possibly occur in a live setting with the bass if you use more than one instrument in your set, and how the buttons could become annoying if your switching pickups several times during one song. I'm sure these could all be overcome and become second nature, but like I said, this is my first impression. The bass is also to nice looking for me to even think about taking it on the road lol. If I had tons of money and could afford several of them, I would gig it just because it looks cool as hell, but I don't and I would cry the first time it got dirt on it. I would definitely use it as a studio bass. I think this is where the bass would really shine. I'll probably go back to GC this weekend and try it again, just to see if I feel the same way about the bass. I can't see myself buying one anytime soon (even though the price was very reasonable) just because it wouldn't be practicable for what I need as a working bass player, but I wouldn't mind having one for the house and for the studio. All in all, it's definitely a bass worth trying out if you get the chance. I realize that not everyone has the same taste in bass tone, and that this bass could be somebody's holy grail of all basses, but for me it just didn't come close to touching my stingrays sound and feel.
To sum it up, I think it's damn fine instrument, but not necessarily for everyone, or for any type of setting. I could see where problems could possibly occur in a live setting with the bass if you use more than one instrument in your set, and how the buttons could become annoying if your switching pickups several times during one song. I'm sure these could all be overcome and become second nature, but like I said, this is my first impression. The bass is also to nice looking for me to even think about taking it on the road lol. If I had tons of money and could afford several of them, I would gig it just because it looks cool as hell, but I don't and I would cry the first time it got dirt on it. I would definitely use it as a studio bass. I think this is where the bass would really shine. I'll probably go back to GC this weekend and try it again, just to see if I feel the same way about the bass. I can't see myself buying one anytime soon (even though the price was very reasonable) just because it wouldn't be practicable for what I need as a working bass player, but I wouldn't mind having one for the house and for the studio. All in all, it's definitely a bass worth trying out if you get the chance. I realize that not everyone has the same taste in bass tone, and that this bass could be somebody's holy grail of all basses, but for me it just didn't come close to touching my stingrays sound and feel.
