binky_bass

Hey guys, Right, so it arrived in one piece!!! That's always good news... The major factor in buying something new is always the price, so lets start there. The guys at Bass Mods did a full set up, plec'd the bass, included an excellent Gator hardcase, shipped it to me from the USA and all for £550 total. It's important to include import tax when dealing with the USA, and this cost me £50. (It was shipped at under it's value, which is a risk I took to lower costs, so it's your call... hence the £50 import tax cost) So all in all this bass from door to door, ALL expenses paid and with a brand new Gator hardcase cost £600. Now I consider that a VERY good deal. So that's the cost and shipping etc dealt with, now down to the bass... My first impressions of the bass are WOW. This thing is VERY good. The build quality is probably 8.5 out of 10, only due to a few very very minor (and i do mean VERY minor) issues, one of the 6 bolt holes attaching the neck to the body has the most minimal bit of crazing around it, its so minor its not worth mentioning, but this review is going to be thorough! The binding around the very bottom of the neck is ever so slightly out of line, but again, it's so minor, I almost feel bad even mentioning it! Other than that, it's 100%. The action on this thing is LOW, very very low, and no buzzing! No dead spots I can hear of either, so yeah, I'm definitely happy with the action, and I am a freak about low action, the lower the better and this really makes me happy that is stupidly low! It was my main concern when buying it... The neck is a beauty to play, its maple obviously, and it has a high gloss coating which makes it super fast to play, the neck is also satisfyingly chunky, and the fret board is gloss as well, the inlays are probably not MOP, but you really can't tell and they are set perfectly, the join between the neck and the body is dead tight. Someone mentioned the neck looked like it was attached with not much connection to the body, but as much as this may be the case for a chunky 7 string neck, it is totally secure and I hold no issue with this. The tuners are Grover, and are very well made, they hold perfect tuning and very smooth to operate, they are dead light too so no sign of any kind of neck dive, the bass overall is quite light, I haven't weighed it but it'll be around 9lbs or so. The pickups actually have a real nice array of tones, again this is something I was worried about when buying, but they sound just as good as any other Kent Armstrongs, they really do. The controls are duel volume I think with 2 stacked pots for tone on each pup (again I think!) you can get some really zingy tight tones through to deep and smooth lows. All in all guys, I have to say for a total cost of £600 this bass is definitely worth it. If it was a blind test, and I was given this bass to play for an hour and then asked how much it would cost, my honest guess would be somewhere in the realm of £1500. It was a punt buying this bass, but it came up trumps and I think its my favorite bass at the mo! (excluding Binky the 10 string, aint nowt beating that! but it was 8 times the price!) If you have £600 and want a really nice 5, 6 or 7 string jazz bass, then go and buy this NOW, you wont regret it. If you're local to me (Essex) and you want to try mine before buying one, then please do so, you'll love it! Here's a little video and a few pics of it in the flesh. Please excuse my unshaven, hungover self in the vid, it was a heavy night the night before! Also, PLEASE bare in mind I am playing this bass through a line6 Spider II guitar amp as I keep my MarkBass stack at the studio, so the sound is not what it should be, though it still sounds pretty spot on! That's the wrap guys, any questions the PM or add a bump to this review. Russ. [attachment=143252:20130907_125031.jpg][attachment=143253:20130907_125026.jpg] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Eh9Z7Zs9w&feature=youtu.be