HK BASS 6 string fretless, A bargain ??? your thoughts please

[funkgod]

UPDATED...
HK 6 string fretless,
These were designed by Hermann Kempf (HK) then he had them made in Korea
to keep the price down
Im sure we have all seen these on ebay from time to time,
at one time about 2/3 years ago there was loads of them, 6 and 7 strings.
not so many now tho, unless you like wacky shapes,
And for the cash about 350ish then i was tempted myself, but the sceptical side of me made me
opt my cash for something else,

Then a few weeks ago i spotted this one used on ebay, not far from me and so curiosity got the better of me,
the bid was put on and i won it for the stupid price of
£200ish delivered with a very good quality gig bag, !
Winning at £200 my first thoughts were that everybody knew something i didnt,
The bass came boxed up and Very well packed, a credit to the seller.
After a min or two it was apparent that it needed setting up, to how i like it,
once set up what can i say ??????

Undoubtedly the best £200 i have ever spent on anything, I love it
I have just sold my wal 6 fretless, and still have over 20 very good quality basses
so have some good comparisons to compare it too.
so this is a bit of a revelation for less than £200.

The bass,
is all solid quality wood, the facings would not look out of place on an Alembic,
the facing is not just photographed or even a thin veneer, it is gorgeous looking and almost 1cm thick
piece of solid wood,( this bit has been ammended) book matched poplar burl wood, ( in german it is called Maserpappel) ,
there is a finishing veneer under that,
the core is a 2 piece bookmatched ash body, even the ash body
is not cheap wide grain fast grown hybrid ash, oh no, it looks good quality tight grained older ash.
the neck is a 5 piece, maple and what looks like walnut or rose wood, the two outer are again tight grained maple
the middle one is a slightly wider grain but almost perfect with the grain lines running almost straight from heel to the end of the head !
the head stock is finished with the same wood as the body with again the same finishing vineer under it.
Fingerboard is rosewood

When setting it up i just wanted to release the neck slightly so opend the truss rod cover and was surprised to find
twin alan key truss rods !! OMG.it just gets better.

Pickups are Kent Armstrong 7 string versions so string coverage is well covered bridges are the through body or rear
design, keys i think are wilkinson with a "W" logo on the rear.

Controls are,
Switch 1 Battery on off
Switch 2 passive or active

In active you get Bass, Mid, Trb, pan pot between the two pickups, and on top of the stack knob the master vol,
In passive you get just the stack knobs bottom tone and again master vol on top (as well as pan pot.)

It has a Zero frett and just in case there is also an "adjust a nut" same as the early warwicks.

Playability for me is great all the notes have that swell quality to them the string spacing feels right
and the action is now super low with no buzzing,
I even like the sound it has that punchy mid i love in the wals and G&L 2000s

Down bits...
The adjust a nut string slots are all the same size, wide.
and the saddle grooves are all the same size, thin.
Electrics cover does not match the back ( pity) same as truss rod cover.

ALL in all i dont know if im just lucky and if the others are as good, but for the money what can one really expect ?
for me a great bargin and i am very happy with it,
so what would i really pay for it if it was dumped in my lap without knowing ??
hard to say but i would of guessed over the 1k mark and would of been surprised at less, but under £400 ???????
i know a few on here have tried them, some with niggles
so what are your thoughts ??
(Disclamer.... , its not a review and the above are just my thoughts)
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Edited February 20, 2013 by funkgod

[chrismuzz]

I've seen/heard a 7 string one of these in action on a gig once. Absolutely marvellous! Shame I didnt take the plunge when they were more readily available!

[TheGreek]

I really like this one but I haven't been brave enough to dive in without any experience of the brand..

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HK-4-string-bass-guitar-ash-ambonya-burl-/260989504926?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cc42fcd9e#ht_9093wt_1021"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HK-4-string-bass-guitar-ash-ambonya-burl-/260989504926?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cc42fcd9e#ht_9093wt_1021[/url]

[xilddx]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1334427565' post='1616160']
I really like this one but I haven't been brave enough to dive in without any experience of the brand..

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HK-4-string-bass-guitar-ash-ambonya-burl-/260989504926?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cc42fcd9e#ht_9093wt_1021"]http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_9093wt_1021[/url]
[/quote]

I don't believe you!

[TheGreek]

Ahh you know me so well..However on this occasion I have managed to temper my GAS mainly because I know nothing about the brand and haven't heard anybody discuss these on any thread. I love the look of that Ambonya...German built???

[AttitudeCastle]

I really want a 6 string fretless neck through, shame they don't have them anymore as they company switched factories so they are limited!

[chrismuzz]

I remember a cheap German brand from a few years ago, "H&S Guitars". Got one of their 6 stringers. It was a complete pile of dogshit. Put me well off the idea of the HK brand, but these really are somethin special! I have kicked myself a few times for not getting one...

[funkgod]

Iv just found on another thred that they are almost a copy of a Marleaux bass

[url="http://www.marleaux-bass.de/marleaux_bass_galerien.html"]http://www.marleaux-...s_galerien.html[/url]

[url="http://www.marleaux-bass.de/"]www.marleaux-bass.de[/url]

And fair enough when you look down the galerie there is one that looks almost the same.
Alot of very nice basses as well, Check out the back of the consat !!!

Edited April 14, 2012 by funkgod

[chrismuzz]

Nice looking, cheap P Bass by them on eBay

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HK-4-string-electric-bassguitar-Ash-Burl-Green-/260983484231?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cc3d3ef47#ht_9103wt_806"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HK-4-string-electric-bassguitar-Ash-Burl-Green-/260983484231?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3cc3d3ef47#ht_9103wt_806[/url]

[funkgod]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1334431363' post='1616235']
I really want a 6 string fretless neck through, shame they don't have them anymore as they company switched factories so they are limited!
[/quote]

Attitude lucky you, a 7 fretless has just popped up on ebay starting at 200 !!!!

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HK-7-string-bass-Amazing-bass-amazing-price-/320899579250?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4ab71afd72"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4ab71afd72[/url]

if your not going to have a pop at it i will !

Edited May 7, 2012 by funkgod

[itsat34]

Hi folks

Just thought I'd add my two penn'orth,

I've got the four string version. It is a bit (very) like a Consat and IMHO a good looking bass.

Got it from HK in Germany a couple of years ago.

Finish on mine is excellent, notwithstanding the comments on the electrics cover and the truss rod plate,

I've made up a black plastic electrics cover - looks much better than plywood posing as bookmatched poplar....

Sound is very punchy, really growls from the Kent Armstrongs.

Action is fine and the neck very playable, the only criticism I could offer is that the fret ends are slightly rough.

Apart from that a complete bargain!

[yorks5stringer]

Just sold a 5 String from them in Spalted Maple and got a replacement coming this week. Will do a review.

[Dread Bass]

I have a 7 string version. I really like it. The finish wasn't great so I'm in the process of refinishing mine. The balance isn't great and it's pretty heavy.

[Dread Bass]

Is it a Amboyna top? It looks different from my ACG http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/122/

Looks more like burl poplar but I am far from an expert. Either way it's a real looker.

[funkgod]

[quote name='Dread Bass' timestamp='1358788191' post='1945008']
Is it a Amboyna top? It looks different from my ACG [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/Gallery/122/"]http://www.acguitars...uk/Gallery/122/[/url]

Looks more like burl poplar but I am far from an expert. Either way it's a real looker.
[/quote]
Edited...
Hi dread bass thanks for that, I have had another check on it and......
Yes go to the top of the class you are right, you can go into smug mode now....
Hk have replyed and said it is indeed poplar burl wood, ( in german it is called Maserpappel)
I will amend the opening post
yours looks fantastic is that amber tint ?
i have just been onto Hk to see if they will do me a matching fretted one,
will review if i get it.

Edited February 18, 2013 by funkgod

[hksixer]

Hi. This is my 6 string hk you can see in my profile picture. I bought it for 200 off eBay about 4 years ago. A basschatter friend of mine totally stripped it down and completed the finish for me. He did a review of it at that time and posted on here. He now has a ken smith black tiger and the hk sounds almost as good as that and looks similar to the new shaped ones.

[funkgod]

UPDATE FROM....
"i have just been onto Hk to see if they will do me a matching fretted one,
will review if i get it."

Reply was...( as attitude castle said)
"I am sorry to say that, but this bass version is not built anymore.
This bass was too expensive in production so we stopped it last year."

Well that did not surprise me, i could not see them making alot of profit out of them
considering the stupidly low price they were kicking them out for,
im wondering now if they made them for a market that did not work out so thats why
the remaining stock ones ended up on ebay at such a low price ??
Ah well, a future classic maybe.
Im looking for a fretted one now,

Hello HKsixer, it does indeed look like a ken smith, and for £200 again such a good deal.

Edited February 18, 2013 by funkgod

[funkgod]

Electrics for Andres,
there are wires everywhere, hard to get a good shot in such a confined space
found a wiring di here for the G&B tone master pre amp anyway
hope it helps
[url="http://wolf3.en.ec21.com/Pickups_G_B--2812992_6839471.html"]http://wolf3.en.ec21...92_6839471.html[/url]

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good luck. !

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Edited November 5, 2013 by funkgod

[ambient]

[quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1334438531' post='1616312']
Iv just found on another thred that they are almost a copy of a Marleaux bass

[url="http://www.marleaux-bass.de/marleaux_bass_galerien.html"]http://www.marleaux-...s_galerien.html[/url]

[url="http://www.marleaux-bass.de/"]www.marleaux-bass.de[/url]

And fair enough when you look down the galerie there is one that looks almost the same.
Alot of very nice basses as well, Check out the back of the consat !!!
[/quote]

I was gonna say they look a bit Marleaux'ish.

Cool looking bass.