NBD- Ortega D-Walker : Extra short scale acoustic bass

[edstraker123]

I was just noodling on Amazon looking for sale bargains and came across the Ortega for £202 in the outlet. I didn't know much about the brand, but knew they were generally more expensive than this. A quick google later and I'd established it was less than half price and as it was the last one pulled the trigger.

The box it arrived in was tiny but inside was the bass in its own quality gig bag. At a scale length of 24.6" I knew it would be small but it is absolutely tiny as can be seen against a conventional Ibanez acoustic.

It was wildly out of tune and the machine heads were really loose,  I tightened them up and began to play - something was banging against the body inside. I loosened the strings and found the battery box and volume control were just hanging loose inside the body. Some new  sticky pads later and problem solved. The strings took some getting used to - they are silver plated copper wound on nylon silk - they are lovely to play, but it is extremely easy to bend a note out of tune. Acoustically , as would be expected, the bass is quiet - but perfect volume for a travel bass or just noodling unplugged on the couch.  The low end is nothing like the Ibanez, but perfectly reasonable for what it is  and through the Ashdown with a B3N I can get some  really lovely tones out of it.

For what I paid for it - I think it is excellent value even given the minor required fixes , at double I wouldn't be so sure - but will definitely be keeping an eye on Amazon outlet in future.

 

 

[AlexDelores]

Thanks for your review! I’m looking into getting one of the D-Walker distressed basses with the fish man preamp. I was wondering about the strings as it seems no where stocks them near Shropshire. Good to hear a verdict on them! 

Alex