neepheid Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 (edited) What a stupid name! I should clarify - I find the name very amusing because I am the last person who enjoys a bass solo, so to play anything that has "Soloking" on the headstock is ridiculously off the mark! Points for the cheeky, Gibson-esque logo though. Right, now that's out of the way, what have we got? Something which has been heavily inspired by the Fender Roscoe Beck IV - in terms of body shape, pickguard shape and electronics. It's not a full blown rip of it though - the pickups are different, the headstock is different, 21 frets instead of 22, less switching options (no push/pull mids thing and the mini toggles are two way, not three, no detuner). Enough waffle, pics please. So, what to make of all that then? Well I've spent a bit of time with it, but only in headphones and at low practice volumes. There's a lot to like here, especially for £250. If you hadn't told me the price I would have guessed at least £400. There are little touches that I would not expect to find at that price point - Roasted maple neck Sculpted neck heel Better than expected hardware quality - tuners feel good and tune up surprisingly quickly, bridge is decent Strung with D'addario XL strings Pots turn nice and the taper for the volume control is actually useful (tone is a bit all or nothing, but I'm not bothered about that - rarely use the thing) Fit and finish are really good, lovely metallic black with a cream three ply pickguard goes very well together, fretwork is decent with no sharp ends, satin finish on the back of the neck (gloss haters rejoice - I'm not bothered but I know some people are). Soundwise, it's pretty punchy, if a little on the "generic" side - it sounds like... a bass. There's nothing wrong with that, it's very functional and even pleasing, but it doesn't really carve out a voice of its own. You've heard these tones before. The series/single switching makes a useful difference to the tone, single is quite sweet and airy, series beefs up the lows and mids in a satisfying way. I'm not a big fan of bridge pickups as I might have mentioned, but the bridge pickup in series definitely has some useful bark about it and less of that annoying honk that they can exhibit. I'll reserve final judgement on the sound side until I get it in a room with a band. All in all, I'm very impressed. To my eyes at least, this is a damn fine looking instrument, feels great to play, punches way above its weight in terms of VFM. It's so cliché to say it's a steal at £250 but I am left with the slightly naughty frisson of having gotten away with something I shouldn't have. Right, enough of my waffling. Hope you like the pics, and I would definitely recommend this bass to anyone. It would make a fantastic instrument for anyone but in particular would be a stunning intro to bass for a beginner and at £250 it's well within beginner budgets IMO. Edited December 18, 2023 by neepheid 21 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkie635 Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 So the van made it over the Lecht. Looks good to me. Enjoy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 55 minutes ago, neepheid said: To my eyes at least, this is a damn fine looking instrument My eyes too, it really works, although I’d have to do something about the headstock logo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 Oooft that looks really good, again, for the price. Just a nice combo of design and finish vs other options in the market. Hope it's not a case of this being a small batch being sold at a discount whilst I work out what to sell to get one in the house 😅 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 Weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 I like the look of that but surprize, surprize, no left handed models. I won't be getting one then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 3 hours ago, ezbass said: My eyes too, it really works, although I’d have to do something about the headstock logo. Easily amended to read "Smoking", methinks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simisker Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 ... or "Sob king", if you move the second 'o' towards the 'l'. Perfect for emo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 17, 2023 Author Share Posted December 17, 2023 7 hours ago, Happy Jack said: Weight? Bathroom scales are the best I can do - this one is 4.4kg or 9lb 11oz. No lightweight, but I've owned heavier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 6 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said: There’s that nice young lady who is a member on here 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 18, 2023 Author Share Posted December 18, 2023 Additional, the cup style jack socket might give you trouble with some right angle jacks. Depends on the jack plug. I tried to use an old cable (like super old, probably my first ever cable, it's probably about 20 years old) and the Neutrik on that didn't quite manage to engage fully, would pop out every so often. The Neutriks on the end of my obbm cables - no bother. So maybe Neutrik tweaked the design in the past 20 or so years, idk. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 18, 2023 Author Share Posted December 18, 2023 (edited) The inquisitive mind got extra inquisitive... I knew that tablecloth would come in useful for something! Modern Neutrik on the left, 20ish year old Neutrik on the right. You can see there's a few mm more clearance between the tip of the jack and the body of the connector and it's all the difference between fitting tightly into the cup jack socket or not. Edited December 18, 2023 by neepheid 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 17/12/2023 at 16:54, Jean-Luc Pickguard said: @CiciBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thump Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 That looks lovely! I really like the headstock shape , and the price too Definitely on the radar now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 Had a proper go with it last night at band jam. I can confirm that it's a great sounding bass, was using neck pickup in series mostly and it had plenty oomph, cut through and had no bother hearing myself. I am happy with this purchase and I would be happy to gig it any time. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkie635 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 4 hours ago, neepheid said: Had a proper go with it last night at band jam. I can confirm that it's a great sounding bass, was using neck pickup in series mostly and it had plenty oomph, cut through and had no bother hearing myself. I am happy with this purchase and I would be happy to gig it any time. "They'll be dancing in the streets of Ellon tonight!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 5 hours ago, neepheid said: Had a proper go with it last night at band jam. I can confirm that it's a great sounding bass, was using neck pickup in series mostly and it had plenty oomph, cut through and had no bother hearing myself. I am happy with this purchase and I would be happy to gig it any time. I seem to remember that the neck pickup on my old Roscoe Beck was very P like in series. IIRC I tended to use both pickups on, both in series, most of the time (never been a fan of the back pickup soloed on J arrangements). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Looks like an absolute banger, nice design features, build looks decent and it sounds good? Win. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Just seen these via a google search for something else. Looks lovely and different to typical fender shaped designs (even though it's based on a particular fender as the OP mentioned. I'm not a fan of pickup switches on basses TBH, I tend to find myself wanting more control of pickup blends. But the additional switching options look interesting, even though I can't determine exactly what they do - even Anderton's aren't quite sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 7 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said: the additional switching options look interesting, even though I can't determine exactly what they do - even Anderton's aren't quite sure. You don't need to determine exactly what they do because I already have - they're a coil split - both coils in series or single coil (the active coil in both cases is the one nearest the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Damn, that looks really cool! Wish they did a 5 string though! 😩 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Still getting love @neepheid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 1 hour ago, LukeFRC said: Still getting love @neepheid? Yes, it's currently my office bass because I've been doing some lunchtime swotting - perks of having one's own office. A couple of the guys in the workshop play bass or guitar and I asked them to tell me how much they thought it cost. They overestimated by several hundred pounds and were blown away when I told them the actual price... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesterbassman Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Thanks for the info. one popped up half price (mint condition) online so I took a punt (can use it as a teaching bass/student loan bass if needed). £140 delivered as new and a REAL bargain. just as well made as my Sire, newer Squiers or higher end Harley Benton’s I own/have played. ridiculous for the price (or 4/5 times what I paid!). not plugged in yet but would be easy to upgrade if needed. bridge and tuners look cheap but no more so than anything else sub £500 these days I think! and again, cheap/easy upgrades! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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