I've been meaning to post a few reviews to get this thread going, but time's been an issue. For now, I'm going to use the standard Harmony Central format for review criteria with a few personal embellishments. I'm also attaching a picture of the product, which is not my personal instrument but a marketing shot. I'll post pix of mine when I get a chance. I'll also try to post some MP3s when I get a chance, though you may not want to hear them after you read my review.
So here we go. If there are any suggestions for how we can better improve the review section, or if there's pertinent info I should include that's missing, please let me know:
I know there are a few lefties curious about this bass, so I took the plunge so you don't have to, LOL. There is 1 review of this bass on Harmony Central already, but there are several things wrong in that review so I hope to set the record straight.
Features: 7
This bass is modeled after the infamous? Gibson Flying V bass of the early 80's, but differs in several areas. Purchased on ebay for $189 from Musicians Discount Warehouse. Previous reviewer states made in Japan and quite frankly I have no idea where they got that info. This is most certainly made in China. 4 strings, 24 frets (with 25th fret overhang); Auction stated alder body (NOT 1 piece, as other reviewer stated), 4 bolt on maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Neck strap button positioned in upper bolt of 4 bolt neck. Two volume, one tone knobs. Fender style bridge (kinda - back of bridge lip is much higher). Pickups differ from the Gibson V layout in that there's one "J-style" single coil pickup in the bridge position and one "P-style" pickup in the neck position (both passive). White finish gloss body with matching headstock (also available in black body w/o matching headstock which I bought as well - more on the black one later). Body style is a 34" inch scale, but overall bass size is 52" from wing tip to tip of headstock! The original Gibsons were short scale by comparison. Have you ever played a Thunderbird? Well this bass is 3" longer than that! THE largest bass I've ever played. Very thick, fat neck (1-3/4" at nut, 2-5/8" at 24th fret) with a flatter fretboard radius similar to a Stingray. Only included tools.
Sound : 6
At $189, my expectations were not very high, and I primarily bought this bass for the visual coolness factor, not expecting much beyond that and fully expecting to mod this bass up. In that respect, I wasn't disappointed, as it's fairly pedestrian with the typical PJ PUP combo and as non-distinctive as would be expected. For a bass as striking looking as this, I'm looking for big, thunderous tone, and this ain't it. It is, however, a decent sounding PJ combo bass, and the pickups aren't bad. (though the J pickup soloed is a bit "wooly" sounding, IMO, reminiscent of the lipstick PUP tone of a Danelectro lipstick PUP in the bridge position. They will at least give you the standard P or J tones with perhaps a bit more sustain/ring due to the scale of the bass. (at least beyond the first 3 frets - more on that later). But I will be replacing them.
Action, Fit, & Finish : 3
First the good news: hardware, bridge, tuners and aforementioned pickups are decent enough, and the bass stays in tune. The bass also balances surprisingly well and is fairly lightweight at 8-1/2lbs, as I was fully expecting a bass of this size to nosedive to the floor. You can tell that the majority of the bass's weight is in the neck, yet it really balances very well, so I'm guessing the combination of large V wings and the strap peg at the center of gravity keeps it in balance. The cool body shape does come at a price, however, as the lack of an upper horn makes an already huge bass feel like the first few frets are a mile away and you will be stretching your fretting arm to reach the first frets. (Holding the bass slightly upright compensates for me). As mentioned, the neck is very chunky, especially when you get to upper frets. I've gotten used to it, but if you prefer the neck of a J bass you may not like it.
Now the bad news: the bass is unplayable out of the box, and in my case even unplayable after hours of setup. I replaced the strings with GHS Bass Boomers, adjusted the truss rod, adjusted the height of the string saddles and pickups, and still could not eliminate horrible fret buzzing and fretting out at the first 3 frets of the E, A, and D strings. A previous reviewer claimed he had no problems with his, but both the white one and the black one exhibit this problem on the lefties I received (more on the black one below). The bass probably needs a new nut and perhaps fret leveling. The rosewood board was sloppily finished, with visible sanding scuffs, scratches, and "gunk" visible. Frets are finished poorly and are sharp on edges. Control compartment was sloppy as well.
Reliability/Durability : 3
I ordered the white one initially, and upon receiving it I carefully inspected it. I found a finish crack on the underside of the body where the neck and body meet. I was prepared to return it and e-mailed customer support. They got back to me and said that they carefully inspected all white lefty Vs in the warehouse and EVERY one of them had finish cracks. They offered to send me a replacement black one instead, which they claim they inspected and found no issues. I wasn't crazy about having a black one, but I didn't want damaged goods either, so I ordered the black one and kept the white one for comparison. The black one arrived and to my surprise had the same finish crack in the same location! I proceeded to set up the black one identical to the white one and found the fret buzz and fretting out issues identical to the white one as well, though I actually preferred the tone of the white one (which is immaterial I guess, if I plan on modding the bass). So I shipped the black one back and complained about the issue.
Customer Support : 5
Customer support was very apologetic and accommodating when I mentioned the finish crack issue, and they agreed to eat the shipping costs for both the white one and the return of the black one, and gave me an additional $40 credit. However, the reason I don't give them a higher grade in this area is due to the fact that they continue to sell these defective basses on ebay to the public without addressing the manufacturing flaws that I brought to their attention, and I think they didn't do a very thorough job of inspecting the black one they shipped to me.
I guess they assume that other buyers won't notice or care, but I consider that to be deliberately deceptive to the consumer and they should mark these instruments down and make mention of the cracking issues in their auctions. And FYI, they claim that the red one has, "already sold out" but the truth is there never was a red one in lefty. I gave them a neutral feedback rating as a result.
Overall Rating : 4
I decided to keep the white one despite the finish flaw and other issues mentioned because I had every intention of doing a serious overhaul on the bass anyway and I believe with a LOT of work it could be a great bass. There are better made, better bang-for-the-buck basses out there in this price range, so I would say that you get less than you paid for with this bass. However, nobody makes a lefty Flying V style bass, and in that respect it's worth it for the looks and for modding/upgrading. If and when I get the time I will probably add a Flying V pickguard, new pots, knobs and upgrade the pickups. to get it looking closer to the original Flying V basses. So in conclusion, if you want a cool looking bass and don't expect much (or even less than much, LOL), it might be worth the purchase. Any suggestions for upgrades would be appreciated.
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