tobiewharton Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Considering an Artist five. Anyone own one? Build quality? B-string? Neck? Overall tone? Versatility? I play gospel old and new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artisan Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 (edited) Not quite the same but i had a KZ5 & it was awesome,great build quality,lovely to play,sounded great it just had too many damn strings for me. Edited September 2, 2014 by artisan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 (edited) I have an early Kingston 5. I have owned an awful lot of basses. 35+? I lost count. Many have been eye-wateringly expensive. 90% of them have gone and I still have the Kingston. It is light, the neck is sublime and it is a joy to play. I cannot comment on the more recent ones, but mine is just the bomb. Edited September 2, 2014 by owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I own an early kingston one aswell, passive witha single humbucker. Playability is better than my SR5, but the tone was too dark for me. Very deep and chocolaty. Upgraded the hardware and electronics, now it's brutal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobiewharton Posted September 4, 2014 Author Share Posted September 4, 2014 Great. Thanks folks. Any more MTD Kingston owners out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammeFriday Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 [b]Very[/b] happy owner of two Kingstons here - an Andrew Gouche 5 (bought new from Bass Direct) and a KZ6 (used, from eBay). I'm afraid I've never owned or even played an Artist, but I can offer some general comments on each of your categories based on the basses I do own, and on other Kingstons that I have tried out (specifically, the Saratoga and the CRB): [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Build quality: [/color][/font] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Excellent. Extremely solid construction, super-tight neck pockets, very nicely finished. QC is way better than, say, Fender - perhaps because they make in smaller volumes and can pay closer attention. Don't be put off by the fact that production shifted from Korea to China a few years ago - I'd say that the general fit and finish of my Gouche 5 (which was made in China) is even better than that of my KZ6 (which was manufactured in Korea). [/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]B-string: [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]BOOM! Big, loud, very, very clear, and eminently usable even beyond the 12th fret. It probably helps that both of my Kingstons are 35" scale (as is the Artist, I think), but I was also very impressed by the Bs on the Saratoga and CRB, both of which are 34. I'd say the CRB is the best sounding 5-string P-style bass I've ever tried, and it's only £500 new! [/font][/color] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Neck: [/color][/font] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Sublime. All Kingstons have the MTD asymmetric neck shape, and words cannot express how nice this is. I instantly fell in love with the MTD neck shape the moment I tried it, and now really find anything else a bit of a let down or a compromise. As you probably know, the profile is fatter on the low strings and thinner on the thin strings. This has been a real revelation for me in terms of cleaning up my left hand technique - my thumb stays nicely on the back of the neck without wrapping round, without me ever having to think about it - it just happens naturally. And I no longer feel any strain or cramp or tiredness in my left hand, even after a long playing session. I really cannot overemphasise how nice MTD necks are. It's also worth noting that I recently acquired a secondhand USA MTD 535-24, and the neck feels exactly the same, so it's clear that the Kingstons are made to essentially the same spec - and the feel is pretty much indistinguishable between the two. [/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Overall tone: [/font][/color][font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Looking at the big fat exposed pole piece humbucker on the Artist, I guess the tone will be very different from my two Kingstons, which have soapbars. Both of mine have a really huge range of tones - in fact they can do pretty much any sound except for the Stingray sound, and I think only the Stingray can deliver that anyway - though it would be interesting to see how close the Artist gets to it - please give us a report if you do buy one! As for overall tone, mine are so varied and versatile that it's hard to say, except that they are both very clear and well defined instruments, if that makes any sense. I suppose that is what people mean when they say MTDs sound 'HiFi' - you can actually hear the notes properly! [/color][/font] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"] [/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Versatility[/font][/color] [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]The Gouche is the most versatile bass I have ever owned. It is a real swiss army knife instrument, and a real godsend for the covers band that I play in, which plays a very diverse range of stuff. Again, not so helpful re. your possible purchase of an Artist, but FWIW anyway! [/color][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobiewharton Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Many thanks for all the info folks - very helpful. I'm tempted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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