lownote Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 (edited) First out the box review of this 5 string active/ passive bass, bought off Thomann as B stock for £167. Light: 3.88 kg or 8 1/2 lbs. Absurd for a 5 string Small? Yup Build quality: Superficially excellent. What i mean by that is that it has the air of a thing that's been very well made by a CNC machine with an extremely sharp eye to the cost of materials and production. You're just not sure how long everything will last in the long term. As to the B stock thing, there's a nasty graze 2x1 cm on the lower body edge so not very visible from the audience POV, BUT it's not exactly 'may have some traces of use' as Thomann say of their B stock! And one pickup screw just falls out and has no traction in its hole. Bad. Flexibility: Passive mode is fine and barely different from active. Battery runs out even if you unplug the bass, need to select passive before storing by pulling out volume knob. Sound: Two humbuckers, silent, not every one's cup of tea but the tone suits my taste. B string's a bit boomy but may be pickup height, which could be difficult to adjust with one screw not working. OEM strings: Round. usable but why round? It's a fretless. Side dots: On the note, perfect. Tuners: Smooth Action: Good straight out the box, string heights exactly as I'd set them up, which is a bit spooky. Relief is very low for me < 0.2mm but no buzz so board must be good. String width: Tight 17mm, OK if not ideal for me. Overall: For size and weight think modern less hippy version of the Vintage 940FL. Previous reviews criticize the tuners and saddles but they're fine for me so far. Value: For £167 new? Silly money. If Sire or even Squier made the same bass I'd likely pay the extra just for the more in depth quality, but if you need a fretless fiver and cash is very tight it'll do the job. Edited March 10, 2023 by lownote 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 Nice one. Personally speaking I always prefer rounds on a fretless. I know it's a very personal thing. I'm going to move this to the reviews section if that's ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassAdder60 Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 Nice looking bass John 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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