April 20, 2024
I ordered the natural wood version of this bass. I'm a semi-pro jazz musician who gigged regularly for about 10 years and I have a lot of basses. I ordered this one to turn it into a piccolo bass -- the same as a regular bass but tuned an octave higher. I use it to front a band.
I was hoping the shorter scale (25.5") of this bass would make the string tension lower so it exaggerated the kind of buzzy sound you get with a piccolo bass -- a feature of its sound that distinguishes it from a gui ...
I ordered the natural wood version of this bass. I'm a semi-pro jazz musician who gigged regularly for about 10 years and I have a lot of basses. I ordered this one to turn it into a piccolo bass -- the same as a regular bass but tuned an octave higher. I use it to front a band.
I was hoping the shorter scale (25.5") of this bass would make the string tension lower so it exaggerated the kind of buzzy sound you get with a piccolo bass -- a feature of its sound that distinguishes it from a guitar. It didn't make much of a difference compared to my other 30" piccolo basses. But it still sounded good.
My biggest concern is the finish on the bass. It's almost as if it's the bare, unfinished wood, but not quite. While lack of finish does improve the sound of a bass (more resonance), too little finish makes the wood susceptible to dirt, grime, and stains. This natural wood finish doesn't seem to have much of a coating on it. That's my only complaint.
April 29, 2024 Update:
I returned the natural wood version of this bass and replaced it with the red one. The red one has a much nicer, and apparently more durable finish than the natural wood one. I compared them side by side and the red one outshone the natural wood one by a long shot. So, I think this is a very good, playable regular bass for someone starting out or who has small hands. It makes a mighty fine piccolo for a regular scale bass player took and looks and sounds just fine.