Ashbury GR5647

Made in China 2005/6? A four string electro-acoustic bass guitar. The top is laminated spruce, walnut body in gloss. The pickup system is undersaddle and the electronics include a EQ for treble,middle and bass with a presence and master control onboard. Looks like a Fishman type copy. 32" scale but this pup is built for comfort, not speed. The first thing i noticed about this guitar is that its not big or bulky or heavy as most ABG's are. Infact its more like a Fender Mini jumbo being fairly small and compact, the body being 15" across, 19" long and a very small 3" in depth. This means the bass is very easy to handle, the small size means its not as prone to feedback and you can hold it like a standard guitar. It would not work in a purely acoustic setting because of its size but looks far better in an electro-acoustic band than a Fender-P does.

The sound through my little Alpha AER is suprisingly nice, not upright bass or electonic bass guitar in sound but a 3rd way as tends to be the case with acoustic bass guitars. Their is enough bottom presence to provide a suitable bass sound but you also get that special sound which is somewhat unique to acoustic bass guitars. Undersaddle pickups can be a pain but this one seems to sit nicely so that the output from each string is fairly even and balanced. The 4 band EQ seems quite responsive.

The action out of the box was way to high and i had to adjust the truss rod to get the action nice and low. Originally a gloss finish but i usually gently wire wool the high gloss off to a nice matt finish as is my preference.

Looks pretty solid.

Had several ABG's because i like them. This one is practical for live gigs, not an expensive bass by any means but functions perfectly well and also has enough acoustic output to serve as a practice bass. Mine was aquired for ??85 so i have no compaints at this price.