This arrived yesterday afternoon, but I wanted to take some time to get well acquainted with it before broadcasting my opinion.
I was actually pretty excited to get this bass, for such cheapie, and I have to say I'm fairly impressed. Nobody would confuse this with an American Fender, but it wouldn't be the build quality that gives it away. This thing is solid! Check out this neck pocket:
That's pretty tight!
As has been accurately reported, it's a frickin' LOAD. Weighs in at 12.5 lbs! Yikes! This is the heaviest guitar I've ever owned! I may have to sharpen my forstner bits and affect some weight relief to this thing. On the upside, I played it standing up for about an hour and I didn't get any muscle spasms, so that's a good thing.
But if I ever gig again, I think I'll leave this thing at home. Harley Benton should do what SX does with their ash basses and MAKE THE BODIES THINNER! I think my ash Ursa 2 Hum is only 1.5" thick and I don't care... I don't get all bent about body thickness if it makes a heavy guitar lighter.Other than the weight, that's really my only complaint about this bass. The finish is immaculate... I don't see any slop, or tool marks.... The fretwork is just about perfect. No sharp ends, and no high, uneven, or otherwise wonky frets. I was able to set it up with super-low action, and there's zero fret buzz, or dead notes.
The only thing that really gives this away at first glance as an inexpensive instrument is the grade of the wood. It's not the most beautiful ash body I've ever seen, but it's not off-putting, either... The grain is pretty unremarkable (straight and narrow across most of the body), and there are dark streaks and other irregularities (more noticeable in real life than in these pics), but by no means would I call it unattractive... just not super-gorgeous AAAA grade wood. The body is 3 pieces, but I had a real hard time finding the second join (I had to look at the end grain to find it).
The bridge is actually really good. The plate is heavy gauge and it has big brass saddles. I see no need to replace it. I was going to put a Gotoh 201 on it, but I doubt it would be an improvement, and it'll probably add a few grams to an already over-weight bass.
The neck has a satin finish all over, including the fretboard, and the "inlays" are painted (screen printed?) on. That doesn't bother me... SX, Squier, even Fender do the same thing. I think they would be stupid not to do that. In review videos, people didn't seem to know what to make of the neck profile. It's just a normal, 'C'. Not a "slim C" or a "thin C", just a normal, full, C profile. It's perfectly comfortable. I have a vintage spec Jazz Bass neck on my '57 RI P-Bass, and that neck is chunky (but still comfortable). This neck is just not super-thin, like a lot of bassists seem to think they need these days. I have to admit, I got all caught up in that myself at one time, and a thin-profile neck was a priority for me, until I realized that I didn't play any better, or faster on a thin neck than I did on a regular (or slightly chunky) C profile. I just can't stand thick, U-shaped, or '50s era profiles.
Some people complain about the headstock shape too.. In one review, they complained about how big the headstock is. I actually like this shape, and It's no bigger than a Fender headstock.
The tuners are also really good. They feel better than the Fender tuners I put on the fretless. Nice and smooth... And solid too. They don't feel loose, or janky. So like with the bridge, I'll keep the tuners where they are and put the Wilkinsons on something else.
This is an historic moment... I've never owned an import guitar that didn't need any hardware upgrades!
I like their new logo too... It looks like it belongs on a guitar. Like somebody took the trouble to design it, instead of just picking out a random, stupid font in Adobe Illustrator (Ok, yeah, that's how I got my logo... But it wasn't random... and it's a cool font!
). The graphics are screen printed on the headstock. I can't tell if it's under the poly, or printed on top of it. Same with the "inlays". I'm wondering if the strings will wear through them over time. Even if they sprayed clear on top, it's a pretty thin coat of satin poly. I have given some thought to spraying a few more coats on the fretboard.Ok, so what does it play/sound like?
This bass definitely received a set-up before it was shipped out. The action was a little high for me, but I like low action. The strings were set to a reasonable "median" height. I do the same thing when setting up a guitar/bass for sale when I don't know the preferences of the buyer. They also set the intonation, but all the strings were a little flat at the 12th fret. I suspect they checked the intonation with the bass lying on a bench. You should always check the intonation in playing position, because gravity will assist the pickups' pull on the strings and make them a little sharp.
I got the action down pretty damn low, without any excessive fret buzz, and there was only a minimal amount of relief in the neck, so no need to adjust the truss rod. After correcting the intonation, I plugged her in... Straight into the amp... No effects, no compression... All my biases fully intact.... And I gotta be honest, all the wild hype I heard and read about how good these basses sound is completely deserved... This bass sounds really good! And I don't even mean "for the money".... The fact that this bass only cost $152 keeps slipping my mind!
The E and A strings sound like a frickin' piano! An angry piano... It sounds the way a Jazz Bass is supposed to sound, with all the growl and clarity that a Jazz Bass is supposed to have. These pickups don't have the same mid-range "grunt" that the pickups in my #1 have, but they sound legit as hell. If my old MIM Jazz sounded like this, I'd still own it!
I'm having a hard time trying to comprehend this bass... I can barely believe it actually exists! I have no idea how they can build this bass to these standards and make a profit selling it for $152... Literally nothing on this instrument needs to be replaced. And I don't mean it's "decent", or "it'll get you by", or "good enough for the money". I mean, the hardware and pickups are actually of very good quality. The build tolerances are better than an American Standard Jazz I used to own (bloody oath! you could stick a credit card in the neck pocket!). The craftsmanship is impeccable... I can't find any tool marks, imperfection, or signs of rough, or hurried workmanship.
The only cons I can think of are:
It's heavy as fuck... The wood grain is kinda "meh"... and I wish they sprayed more poly on the fretboard.
Other than that, this is a solid instrument. I don't even know where to place it in the hierarchy. They're slightly higher build quality than SX, Squier and MIMs (the old "Standards" I mean. I have no idea how the "Player" series is). About equal to SX and Classic Vibes in terms of hardware (SX hardware has stepped up in quality in recent years). The pickups are about on par with CVs that I've played in the last year or so, but miles better than SX and MIM.
I'd say it's like a heavy-ass Mexican Standard with better pickups and hardware, but in some ways it's on par, or maybe a little better than an American Standard. You could take this bass out of the box, tune it up, and go straight into a recording session, and nobody would bat an eye.
Sounds good, plays good, is good.
If you were thinking about getting a CV Jazz bass, or even a low to mid-tier Fender, you'd be insane not to buy one of these instead... Just for the love of Pete, get the sunburst one made of alder!
