The beauty is you can change the pickguard, but that one works. It "softens" the visual impact of 4 knobs and 4 buttons because the 4 buttons pretty much blend in with that pickguard. I think it's kool.
Mine arrived yesterday and i've only had 20 minutes to get into it. Taking it today to a rehearsal to see how it sounds. I haven't taken the protective coating off the p/g because i'm still not 100% sure that i'm going to keep it.
Being a 5 string guy, I really have little use for a 4 string bass, and knowing that in a year I can have a Big Al 5 makes me think I might just wait for it and let this one go to someone who's really into a four banger.
I got to play this at rehearsal tonight. Its a total blast to play. I was doing all sorts of switching and I had a hard time finding a tone that wouldn't work for me. It really did well through my O/D and fuzz pedals as well.