OldePhart
Well-known member
(NOTE: This is NOT the same bass that is bundled in the Ibanez Mikro jumpstart bass kit. The scale is the same but that bass has only a single pickup and there may be other differences.)
Two part review as I know there is a limit on the post length - I've hit it before. I guess I'm too wordy.
Overall I am pleased with this purchase. The bass is obviously not a high-end instrument but I was rather pleasantly surpised by some aspects of it. You might wonder why I would order a little bass like this when I have a Groove Tools GT-5 five-string that I absolutely love. I've been having problems with my left hand; for a while I was experiencing pain and burning that almost had to be the onset of carpal tunnel. I bought a UBASS and was able to continue playing while my wrist recovered, but I was never happy with the UBASS because I couldn't get any sustain or snap from it. When my wrist recovered I happily went back to the GT-5 but very cautiously, not holding any stretchy chords, for example. I'm hoping with the Mikro I'll be able to get back to holding those chords and get my playing back up where it should be.
Overall – 4 (scale of 1 to 5): With a bit of setup the bass is certainly suitable for a beginner and is also giggable. In fact, out of the box it is good enough that it at least would not discourage a beginner, the same can't be said for many axes in this price range ($180). There are definitely some cheezy aspects (plastic knobs designed to look like chrome domes – FAIL) but overall it's a pretty good package considering the price. It's also less toylike than some other short-scale basses.
Fit and Finish – 4: I couldn't find anything I would call a “flaw” in the finish, but neither did the body have the “polished” feel of a really nice finish. It's not rough, just not “slick.” The neck was very smooth and rather nice. Note that I intentionally chose “Pearl White” because I'm just not a glamour guy and white doesn't show every fingerprint. That, and nicks, when they happen as they inevitably will, don't show up so clearly on a plain white guitar. I wouldn't, however, call this a “pearl” white – it's just an ordinary white paint. “Refrigerator white” might be a more accurate description. The fretboard is some variety of rosewood with fairly close, straight grain and even coloring. It doesn't appear to have been dyed, but it's hard to say for sure. Fret markers are plastic, large, and easily seen. There are also side markers, not something I expected on such an inexpensive bass
Setup – 3: I really would like to be able to give it a better score than this because one of the more difficult and often overlooked aspects of a setup was very good; the nut slots were cut perfectly. Checking intonation with a Stroboclip shows no tendency to pull sharp at the first fret on any of the strings. However, the intonation at the 12th fret ranged from good on the E string to far enough out on the D string that there was not enough travel in the bridge to completely correct it (it's pretty close now, but not perfect – most non-strobe tuners probably would show “in tune”). A string change might fix this problem, of course; I'm sure it was shipped with the cheapest available strings.
The action was also pretty high and I was unable to bring it down as far as I would like for two reasons. First, the screws are “captured” in the bridge saddles in such a way that they can only be backed out so far – leaving about 3/16” of screw showing under the saddle. That was kind of a moot point though because the fretwork is imperfect enough that I couldn't lower the A and D strings even to the full extent allowed by the travel of the saddle height screws without buzzing. The resulting action is not terrible, but neither is it “sweet.” It's certainly giggable, and not high enough to discourage beginners, but I wouldn't consider it “good.” It appears that they skipped the final step of a fret leveling job – that of progressively lowering the highest 6 or 8 frets leading to the bridge. On the first string change I will probably level the frets and grind the bottom of the saddle adjusting screws off so I can lower the action another mm or so.
(continued in next post)
Two part review as I know there is a limit on the post length - I've hit it before. I guess I'm too wordy.
Overall I am pleased with this purchase. The bass is obviously not a high-end instrument but I was rather pleasantly surpised by some aspects of it. You might wonder why I would order a little bass like this when I have a Groove Tools GT-5 five-string that I absolutely love. I've been having problems with my left hand; for a while I was experiencing pain and burning that almost had to be the onset of carpal tunnel. I bought a UBASS and was able to continue playing while my wrist recovered, but I was never happy with the UBASS because I couldn't get any sustain or snap from it. When my wrist recovered I happily went back to the GT-5 but very cautiously, not holding any stretchy chords, for example. I'm hoping with the Mikro I'll be able to get back to holding those chords and get my playing back up where it should be.
Overall – 4 (scale of 1 to 5): With a bit of setup the bass is certainly suitable for a beginner and is also giggable. In fact, out of the box it is good enough that it at least would not discourage a beginner, the same can't be said for many axes in this price range ($180). There are definitely some cheezy aspects (plastic knobs designed to look like chrome domes – FAIL) but overall it's a pretty good package considering the price. It's also less toylike than some other short-scale basses.
Fit and Finish – 4: I couldn't find anything I would call a “flaw” in the finish, but neither did the body have the “polished” feel of a really nice finish. It's not rough, just not “slick.” The neck was very smooth and rather nice. Note that I intentionally chose “Pearl White” because I'm just not a glamour guy and white doesn't show every fingerprint. That, and nicks, when they happen as they inevitably will, don't show up so clearly on a plain white guitar. I wouldn't, however, call this a “pearl” white – it's just an ordinary white paint. “Refrigerator white” might be a more accurate description. The fretboard is some variety of rosewood with fairly close, straight grain and even coloring. It doesn't appear to have been dyed, but it's hard to say for sure. Fret markers are plastic, large, and easily seen. There are also side markers, not something I expected on such an inexpensive bass
Setup – 3: I really would like to be able to give it a better score than this because one of the more difficult and often overlooked aspects of a setup was very good; the nut slots were cut perfectly. Checking intonation with a Stroboclip shows no tendency to pull sharp at the first fret on any of the strings. However, the intonation at the 12th fret ranged from good on the E string to far enough out on the D string that there was not enough travel in the bridge to completely correct it (it's pretty close now, but not perfect – most non-strobe tuners probably would show “in tune”). A string change might fix this problem, of course; I'm sure it was shipped with the cheapest available strings.
The action was also pretty high and I was unable to bring it down as far as I would like for two reasons. First, the screws are “captured” in the bridge saddles in such a way that they can only be backed out so far – leaving about 3/16” of screw showing under the saddle. That was kind of a moot point though because the fretwork is imperfect enough that I couldn't lower the A and D strings even to the full extent allowed by the travel of the saddle height screws without buzzing. The resulting action is not terrible, but neither is it “sweet.” It's certainly giggable, and not high enough to discourage beginners, but I wouldn't consider it “good.” It appears that they skipped the final step of a fret leveling job – that of progressively lowering the highest 6 or 8 frets leading to the bridge. On the first string change I will probably level the frets and grind the bottom of the saddle adjusting screws off so I can lower the action another mm or so.
(continued in next post)