Alvarez AEB 205RD

This is a Killer Bass for the price I paid. It's a 5-Stringer w/22Frets, dual passive Humbuckers, a volume knob for each pickup, and a knob for mid-sweep between the two pickups. The maple veneer top has a beautiful grain, and the Deep Burgundy finsh offset w/black hardware is just plain classy looking. The bridge looks very similar to the Ken Smith bass bridge, and is also well set into the body w/6 screws. The bridge is heavy duty, but one minor flaw. Like many 5-Stringers w/34" scale the B can be flabby. The B string hole on the bridge was not wide enough to accept the 130 Gauge B strings I set at high action to overcome the flabbiness. My tech reamed it out for $20.00 and we set the action a little higher. The B string now sings w/the best of them. The maple neck is very well cut and fits my hand perfectly. The Gotoh like tuners are solid and stay in tune. The Factory Humbuckers have a Sweet and Pure sound. I understand you can get these now w/EMG soapbars, but I like these plain old factory jobs. Somebody wound these very well. They are quiet, sweet, and punchy. Lotsa midrange w/out being harsh or brittle. Not tons of bells and whistles, but an excellent balance of just the right stuff. The Koreans are building great instruments now. Just ask Bill Conklin, or any number of companies farming their lines out to foreign countries.

I run this through a Peavey Delta Bass Head and Peavey 2x10 cabinet w/horn. Refer to the previous box. The sound is clean, punchy, and just perfect for the many styles I do play. From Country to Fusion the simplicity of tone controls, and versatility of the humbuckers allow me to dial in many different tones. My amp is also versatile which helps. I have no dislikes in sound. I had to set the action a little higher to meet my personal preferences, but hey, I play Upright as well. I need higher action just to feel the string correctly under my fingers. Otherwise ALL electric basses feel flabby to me. It records well, and cuts through the mix in live situations.

The only flaw is due once again to my personal preferences. I like a 130 or 135 on my B string, so my tech had to ream out the B string hole on the rather well designed high mass bridge in order to accomadate me.

I have already used this bass on many gigs w/out backup. The fact that it is so well built makes me feel comfortable w/it. The finish is gorgeous, and it feels like it will be with me for many years to come.

Bought used, have not dealt with the company. I understand that these basses come with a lifetime warranty when new. As Alvarez has been around ever since I can remember, I am certain that they would stand behind it.

I have been playing for well over twenty years. If this bass were stolen I would defintitely get another. It fits my hands perfectly. That is rare and hard enough to find. Picky person that I am, I wish the strings went through the body to help lengthen them for more sustain. I also wished the fingerboard were Maple instead of rosewood. For $300.00 I am very satisfied, and if this bass were stolen--I would hunt the thief down like the dirty dog they are, and force them to renounce their rights preventing cruel and unusual punishment. I cannot print what I would do to them, but after that I would buy a new one of these. Due to the recession I have recently sold off my collection of a Dozen Plus basses---Fender, Hofner, Hayman, Fernandes, etc.....and bought this one to tide me over. It dials in my sound quite well, and I no longer need to carry 3-4 basses to every recording/rehearsal session.

I'm not sure what year this was made, but since it doesn't specify where it was made, I'm pretty sure it was made in Korea, not St. Louis MO. This bass has 22 frets and 5 strings. The fret markers for frets 15 through 21 are offset between the G and D strings which is useful for higher range stuff. The bass has a beautiful clear red finish which shows off the woodgrain which is definitely a plus. It has an Alvarez-made P-bass pickup in front and an Alvarez-made Jazz bass pickup in the rear(slightly forward of where it's found on a jazz bass). The fact that it has passive electronics means that there are fewer parts to break down and no annoying batteries that die on you. This has a fairly heavy top-loading bridge, especially for it's price range(instead of just having a bent piece of metal like many basses do). The body style is like that of an Ibanez--a sort of aerodynamic version of the Fender Precision Bass body. The tuners are very accurate and stay in tune. The neck is of 34 inch scale.

I play mostly praise music and this bass can do anything needed there. It can also get funk sounds or pretty much anything you want. I've only used it with my Peavey Basic 60 amp. The biggest downfall with the sound is that the low B(as with most lower end models) doesn't have a very well-defined sound. It's more of a rumble. Other than that, the sound is great.

I got this used, so I don't know about how well the factory set it up. When I got it, I had to adjust the intonation and the action(which was easily enough accomplished with the bridge). Although the bass was used, the finish was nearly perfect, with only the slightest surface scratches on the finish that could only be seen by tilting the bass up to a light.

This bass withstood 2 one hour gigs a week and a 2-hour practice session every week for a whole semester. In the 14 months that I've owned it, the only thing that has failed has been a small plastic washer on the E tuner. This did not affect the tuner's operation at all. The hardware seems like it will last. The strap buttons were the best I'd ever seen when I got it, but having already had too mcuh experience catching guitars, I got straplocks. I might have a backup, but I wouldn't consider it neccessary.

I have no experience in this area whatsoever.

This bass is the best first bass I think I could have gotten. I've now been playing for 14 months seriously and I'm looking into getting a Fender 5 string. The only other complaint I have about it is that the strings are too close together--something else I will be looking out for on my next bass. I would probably move up to something better if this was stolen or lost. Overall, I like the sound, looks, and playability. I think I'd recommend a Squier Precision Special 5 to anyone starting out, though.