Bass Collection Speakeasy

What can I say that the other have not? The Speakeasy body is four laminated pieces of very light alder with a glossy sunburst finish. The pickups consist of one P style (neck) and one J style (bridge position), with an active tone circuit (with Treble & Bass pots). The fender (barrel style) bridge is fully adjustable for string height and length and finished like the rest of the hardware in black. The neck has a two octave range made of two pieces of light maple with the join being a scarf joint behind the nut. Gotoh style tuners are fited and the nut is plastic, the headstock being a distinctive 'lollypop' shape. The fingerboard is rosewood fitted with medium size frets. The neck is quit slim, comparable with a Jazz Bass profile and has a gloss finish with the same colour of the sunburst. The bass came with no accessories.

I play in a Heavy Metal Band, Rock Covers Band and Blues Band, & this beast covers all the bases for me. I have had it strung with both Rotosound Swing Jazz standard guage strings & Rotosound Solo standard guage pressure wound strings & the bass gives a somewhat different sound range with respect to the string types.

With the Swing Jazz strings, a good vintage sound can be had from the P style pickup, and a bit of the jazz style 'honk' is available from the bridge pickup. Blending the two gives a great range of sounds and with judicious use of eq can provide most of the things you might be looking for. It is a nice bridge between vintage and contempory sounds.

For the heavy metal band, I needed more mid-range presence to give note definition above the rip-saw soiund of the guitars, and the Solo Bass strings did this, providing good presence and cutting right though the rest of the band. Something about the tone controls though, the treble does not only effect treble, it also gives a bit of a boost to mid frequencies, as does the bass control. It is almost like they overlap conbsiderably in their frequency coverage, which could be construed as a feature, as does give some real versatility when dialing in a tone.

The bridge pickup is a little prone to picking up interference from dimmers, flourescent lighting etc, but then single coil pickup tend to do that anyway. I have never experienced any problems on stage or in a studio, it just seems to manifest itself in rehearsal studios, where the wiring & lights are not always so clever!

If you want a good all around bass either as a backup or main bass, you cannot go too far wrong

Everything was really nicey done on this bass, no real complaints except for the electronics.

The battery just dangles around in the control cavity, with nothing to hold it in place. The wiring to the active eq is also a bit of a rats nest & there are no ferrules to screw the fixing screws into for the cover plate, which means the holes will wear with time.

The fret finishes were much better than other bases I have tried of this price, the only niggly thing was a prominent corner on the nut which catches your hand sometimes.

The action was pretty good from the word go on this guitar, but since fitting the Solo string, have tweaked it more, as it went a little high. I now have the action amazingly low, although it does buzz occassionally when really cold, when it warms up it is fine.

You also have to be careful when fitting strings as it is all to easy to damage the finish on the guitar near the bridge. The hole in the bridge where the string threads though, is awfully close to the body.

Strap buttons were fine, but I swapped them immediately for Dunlop locking buttons. It has been played 5-6 times a week for nearly three years and the finish is wearing off by the corner of one of the 'P style' pickup where I rest my thumb. I have also worn a groove in the pickup cover with my thumbnail, which has gone right through the corner!

I have only had to adjust the truss rod once to set the guitar up for the different strings, and it has stayed pretty much right on the money since. The pickup blend pot has started to exhibit some scratchiness, but a blast of contact cleaner sorted that.

This bass gets played a lot, intonation & tuning have been pretty reliable, although the tuning pegs do get easily knocked in moved in a gig bag. I have never has it go out of tun in a gig unless I knocked the tuning pegs. The electronincs, while a bit primitive always deliver & while I have another bass on stage, i never use it as a backup (used for drop tunings)and always rely on the speakeasy.

I bought the bass from the Bass Centre in London, where the guys were really helpful. I have had no reason to go back for customer support, although I have spoke to the guys since about the possibility of buying a 5 string version of the Speakeasy, and they were really helpful.

The Bass Centre shop has closed down in London, and they run the business mainly mail order, but they still have their workshop which you can visit, so I would imagine that continued service & support will be no problem.

If you were buying this bass as a starter bass, you cannot go wrong.. I have tried a number of different basses in this proice range, and nothing come close for tone & playability. The construction is a little flawed in some areas, but then again, this is not a boutique bass.

As a worker though, I thoroughly recommend it. The main reason I got this bass is that it delivers loads of tone & it is really light. I suffer form back problems & suffer when playing some of my other basses, but this I can wear all night without a twinge!

It suits my playing requirements & while there could be some improvements to it, its faults do not detract from its merits as being a great value for money active bass, with P & J pickups (a combination which gives great variety of sound) which is really fast and playable. What more can I say?

This instrument was made sometime in early 2006 in China as a copy of the Bass Collection Japanese made models marketed over the last 20 years in Britain. The body is four laminated pieces of very light alder of fair quality with a glossy sunburst finish. The pickups consist of one P style and one J style, connected to an active tone circuit. The bridge is fully adjustable for string height and length and finished like the rest of the hardware in black. The neck has a two octave range made of two pieces of light maple with the join being a scarf joint behind the nut. Gotoh style tuners are fited and the nut is plastic. The fingerboard is rosewood fitted with medium size frets.

The sounds consist of a wide range of tones from very deep warm bass to bright treble. The four controls are volume, bass, treble, and pickup blend. It is very quiet when on full volume, and not being used.
I purchased this bass to use as a backup to the Fender Precision, and as an active EQ alternative instrument to use on the Jamiraquoi style funk songs. It is primarily used through a Peavey TNT and DI'd. Because of the wide range of sounds I am now tending to use this instrument approximately 50% of the time.

The action and setup was excellent, and the fret finishing was excellent with the ends nicely rounded. There are some minor flaws in the finish and the neck body joint is not a good fit, however the neck is secure with the four screws holding the neck tightly. One potentiometer was fitted at an angle which makes the knob "tumble". Otherwise this is an excellent quality instrument which belies it's "budget" status.

This instrument has gigged constantly since I purchased it late May, and is used daily. It has withstood the rigours of the road. It originally came with a gig bag of poor quality which was tossed, and the bass now travels in a very solid flight case. I am confident this instrument will last. I have not changed anything but strings so far and the only alteration envisaged may be replacing the bridge for a Badass.

Not applicable at the moment as this instrument is currently touring Australia. The staff at Bass Cellar in London were excellent when I purchased this instrument, and could not have been more helpful. On returning to England in 2007 I will be taking it into Andy's in Denmark Street for the usual service, they have been impeccable in the past.

I love this bass. It is light and easy to handle, and has a great range of sounds. If it were stolen I would replace it immediately with another of the same brand.
Other bassists have expressed delight when trying it out, and I have received several offers to sell it. Bass Collection has never been marketed in Australia, and this instrument has created some interest here. I have been playing for 20+ years, and have used 4 and 6 string basses as well as electric and acoustic guitars.

Made in the last year, 24 frets, 4 strings, 3 piece Alder body, 3 piece maple neck, rosewood fretboard, PJ pickups, active tone circuit, solid finish, Gotoh style tuners, very slim neck, no accessories included but the store included a gig bag to get it home

There are a wide variety of tones to be had from this bass which suits me as I play a wide variety of styles from big band to heavy rock to whatever is in the charts.

I use this with an Ashdown ABM EVOII 500 RC amp, Tapco Squeez compressor/gate, Fender rack tuner and 2 Ashdown 115ABM 1x15" cabs

This bass is in the 'budget' category so it has no name pickups and electronics but they are pretty quiet and can give you a variety of sounds

I personally bought it for its playability over sound. I'm not a fan of active electronics so I will be swapping these out for a passive set

I play my basses very hard so it is rare to have one set up exactly for me. it would probably be perfect for someone who plays lighter.

The machines are Gotoh style ones and the bridge is similar to the simple Fender type. As I mentioned above, I bought this for its playability so have already swapped these parts for gotoh machines and a Badass I bridge. The original items were fine but i thought the black hardware on a white bass was too much of a contrast.

I have found a couple of flaws in the finish round where the pickup routes are - it doesn't look like there is the same amount of paint applied right to the edge. The jack socket was also a bit loose.

the good bits are that the frets are perfect, as is the platic nut. A good feature to have had would've been an easy access battery compartment. This is like the original ones where you have to undo 5 screws to get to it. It doesn't affect me as I am going for a passive setup but could be a pain for someone keeping it standard unless you modify the wiring with a passive/active switch.

I am giving it a 9 here because the playability is fantastic but the small flaws lose it a point

this bass is very well built and I cannot see how it could fail unless you are clumsy or leave it where it could be knocked over.

the finish is very thick and should last longer than you.

The strap buttons are fine but i always change them for Schallers right away.

I don't see why I would need to adjust the neck as there are no severe climate changes where I live and I always use the same tension strings.

I would happily use it without a backup but I always have my original Bass Collection active fretless for other songs anyway

I'm not sure who makes these, the originals were SGC Nanyo who I believe are no longer in business. They are imported by the Bass Centre in London just like the originals.

I bought mine from GuitarGuitar in Glasgow who are fantastic to deal with and highly recommended. I know that if I had a problem, they would be able to help me out.

I have been playing for 19 years. I have played and owned 4 Fenders, 4 Rickenbackers, a MM Stingray, Status T-Bass, Epiphone Thunderbird, Spector Euro 4 and whole bunch of stuff I can't remember. this beats them all.

If it was lost or stolen I would not hesitate in buying another.

i love the fact that it plays so perfectly, the balance is spot on and it is soooo light.

On the day I bought this one, I tried Warwicks, Fenders, Spectors, Tobias, Gibsons, Schecters and other miscallaneous stuff and chose this one as it was the best playing and feeling one of them all. I am not saying it is the best sounding but is close in that department.

If more models are introduced, I would like a passive one, a 5 string and a 6 string.

You may see another bass with the 'SX' name on it rather than 'bass collection'. They look identical but that is where the simlarity ends. This is the daddy. Even if you are looking for a backup, it is only #299 and cheap at twice the price