LeftyBassist.com

Bass Gear Magazine reviews two RGW basses in the just released Issue #13

Full story can be found here: http://btpub.boyd-printing.com/publicat ... 87956&p=36

all the best,

R

That's fantastic, congratulations Rod. Will read now...

That's a great review Rod, and I'm sure you're feeling very proud right about now, that all of your hard work over the years has paid off! Vic's comments are very enlightening, and informs the reader just what to expect from one of your basses if they pick one up to play, or decide to order one from you. This should drive more bassists to your door! Congrats!

I'd counter the one criticism the first reviewer had about the bass being noisy and say that out of my entire collection of basses my two Regenerates are the quietest and best shielded of the bunch.
Maybe it was something about the review bass or the room he was in.

I also dislike Paul Maneri's score rating system. It doesn't make sense to give lower scores for "tonal flexibility" and "versatility" to a bass that's purposefully made to be simple. By this logic basses with active preamps will always be the highest scoring basses on his bench, but I think you need to look at the right tool for the job. Passive and active are apples and oranges to me; sometimes you want the simplicity of a passive old school bass, sometimes you want something more hifi. Plus for being the tech/clinical part of their review team I think he injects too much of his personal taste into the review.

I also think basing the Regenerate basses peer group on price is off. Base that on the quality of the bass. Rather than say it's very good compared to similarly priced Musicman, offshore Laklands and such basses, they should be saying it's an outstanding value compared to USA Lakland, Sadowsky and Lull basses.

All that being said, congratulations on the good reviews Rod, well deserved.

Totally agree with Andrews comments.

Great counterpoint Andrew, I agree with your whole-heartedly with your last statement regarding value... Rod's basses should Never be lumped in with big-name Chinese knock-offs! Didn't realize I glossed over this while reading the review...

Also agree with Andrew.
Vic's review was an honest appraisal. The other fella's reviews felt to me like he was pre-disposed to giving Renegerate a ho-hum review right from the getgo. I felt like he let his personal viewpoints lead the tone of the review.

Agreed.

Nonetheless, congrats on the favorable publicity Rod!

Ok, I reserve the right to change my mind. I re-read the reviews and have come to the conclusion that they weren't as negative as I originally thought.

They were good reviews, just picky about odd things.

I'll say that all of us here at RGW are pleased overall, and very thankful for BassGearMag offering us this opportunity to have a pair of basses included in their review. considering the many big bass building guns that have been reviewed before us with very similar results, it was a great review indeed

True - the versatility of a passive P is probably a 2 when compared to a dual pickup model with highly optioned preamp ... but had we received a 4 or 5, I'd have been a little confused if you know what I mean. a good P can cover a wealth of stylistic avenues, but it'll still be right there in your face sounding just like a P should no matter how hard the sound tech attempts to murder it in the mix


Just so you know, we took two of our production units and sent them off as they were. these basses didn't get any special primping beyond what we do for every bass we make. Our intent was to offer basses detailed just like any customer would receive them if they had purchased that bass, and use this to get a barometer reading for how we rate with our everyday product. There's quite a few things we could have done 'special' for a review bass, but we decided that it wasn't right to do so because those little things aren't part of a typical production unit. in our eyes, that would be willfully misrepresenting our product in hopes of tickling out a slightly better review score - definitely not how we roll here

we have no idea if our approach to what we sent is typical of other builders, but based on how many basses we see reviewed that are lavished with significant optional upgrades, our guess is that not everybody takes the same approach we did. nothing wrong whatsoever with juicing up the options on a review bass, just not what we wanted to do for our review instruments.


both of these basses will be on display and available for test driving at the upcoming NAMM Show, although the 4-string will be sporting a different split-P pickup set than the Nordy NP4 installed during the review

all the best,

R

Rod, I appreciate your desire to "keep it real", and allow for an honest assessment of the basses you turn out every day for your customers. By not trying to "primp" your basses for the review, you show that you're proud of every bass that you turn out for sale, and that they all get the same attention to detail day-in, and day-out. That's taking pride in everything you do, and nothing is built in haste or rushed. We've all seen the attention to detail you put into all of the basses you've posted here, so I'm not surprised you didn't feel the need to send the reviewer "primped" basses. Well done, and I hope this review, and upcoming NAMM show, increases your business so that you make a good living doing what you love, providing well made basses to the players that find, and come to you for a quality instrument. I wish you continued success!

Aloha, and Mele Kalikimaka!
Ian

Rod,

Nice meeting you at the show but next year.... bring some more lefties will ya? 5 stringers preferred....