Alright, so finally my B5 got here! Here are some specs:
swamp ash body
clear gloss Blue burst finish
satin neck & headstock w/ blue burst finish
Active electronics (1 volume and 1 stacked midrange sweep for each pickup (4 knobs total))
jazz pickups
Pictures: Sorry for the blurry-ness and/or finger smudges. I was like "I should clean this", then forgot too. Played it pretty hard today for a 2 1/2 hour gig.
So now for my review...I don't really know the traditional format, so i'll just wing it
Looks: Now, I haven't seen many super nice basses with crazy wood tops, this is definitely not that. I like the simple wood grain patterns and think that the finish looks great. The neck and headstock having the matching blueburst finish is pretty sweet and the satin matches the clear gloss well, despite being different finishes.
Feel: The action, from factory, was setup quite nice and i'm sure it could be lowered without problem, but I really like where it is sitting now. There is no buzzing or dead notes anywhere that i've encountered yet. The neck is a little wide (it is a 5 string after all) and the string spacing is probably 19mm? It's definitely wider than my Schecter, which I like. It reminds me more of my 4 string ibanez in terms of spacing.
Sound: Man this thing SINGS. The high c string really has a nice mwah sound to it (well all the strings do but the C is superb) and I would describe this as a "modern" sounding fretless. The midrange sweep allows for huge tonal variety. It has boomy lows if wanted, and singing highs, also if wanted. I kept it on a pretty medium mix and turned the highs up more for songs like Birdland and The Chicken.
Service: Meh...My rep at Carvin only works 4 days a week, and he seemed to not be there alot. He told me they wouldn't be able to ship with the high c on it, but did anyways (which was good but still unexpected). He didn't answer my emails right away, and told me the bass would be done 2 weeks before it actually was. I had to call into Carvin to get the expected shipping date. I believe the factory was set back because of the new bromberg signature basses.
Durability: This bass feels pretty solid. I'm not sure of the weight, but it's around my Schecter 5 string's weight. I am pretty comfortable that it will hold up for awhile. The knobs are all secure (unlike some basses I've had) and straplocks make me comfortable about not dropping the bass.
Overall: I would give this like a 8, compared to most people's standards, and a 10 compared to mine. It definitely exceeded my expectations during a 2 hour show tonight and I got lots of compliments on the sound and looks of it.
