Gremlin Mini P-Bass Copy

This is a P-bass copy, but with a 30" scale and overall about 2/3 the size and weight of a regular P-bass. Because of this, it's nice and light and pleasant to have on the shoulder. It was acquired used from Ebay as a project bass, so whether all the parts supplied with it were original is open to question. The body and neck appear to be original and properly matched.

Year of manufacture unknown - probably late 80's early 90's, as the paint appears to be a poly type. It's a bright glossy red body of unknown wood; the paint has nice even coverage. Neck appears to be maple with rosewood fingerboard. Truss rod adjustment is at the tuner end of the neck, with a plastic cover held in place by three chrome screws. The neck at the nut is similar in width and profile to a P-bass, and is strong; it has required no truss rod adjustment. The tuners with it were Shaller-style but were an incomplete set, and the neck is drilled to accept just about any tuners. I've installed a set of used elephant-ear tuners with Schaller-type bases that require only a single screw and which matched the original screw pattern.

Nut is black plastic, and the bridge provided with it was a chrome Fender-type with four saddles. Pickup is a passive P-bass type. Controls are basic one and volume. No pickguard; pots and jack are mounted through the body; there's a recess on the back with a black plastic cover plate. I replaced the pots and needed to buy miniature pots for this, as the recess is fairly narrow and would not accept standard full-size pots.

Overall quality of body and neck is very good, and electronics appeared to be adequate. I replaced the pots because they were pretty beaten up, and the pickups for the same reason. I had a spare set of P-bass pickups laying around and just threw them in!

The sound from this 2/3 scale bass is amazingly full and deep. With a set of CHS short scale flatwounds, it's hard to tell much difference between this and a full-size P-bass. There's no noise, and the sound has lots of bottom and power. It's not a bright sound, and that's fine with me. I don't like a bright sound and therefore used a .047 cap on the tone pot. I have no way of knowing whether the pickups I installed wer significantly different from those that came with it, but the install was very easy and the sound is HUGE. This bass really stomps!

You can play classic rock or anything needing a strong deep P-bass sound with this. For a smaller player or someone with small hands, this bass would be a real winner!

Overall quality of the neck and body is quite good. This bass appears to be made of basically quality material. it's as solid as any Fender P-bass, and you will not break it if you drop it. Paint is thick and sppears to be good quality, and the neck is nicely finished. The nut may have been fitted for small diameter strings, as the .105 E-string I put on it sppears to sit up slightly in the nut. Nothing a file can't fix in about 60 seconds.

Factory setup was long gone, and the bass had been defretted before I got it. I may re-fret it, as I have more use for a fretted short scale than a de-fretted one. However, setup was very easy - the neck was very straight and erquired no tweaking at all. Since the neck profile is similar to a Fender P or J and it's short-scale, I'm not surprised that it's very stable and strong.

Action is quick thanks to the short scale and neck, and overall it feels just like a Fender bass.

This bass appears to be well and solidly made. The finish is a poly coat, and is thick and durable. I've never had to adjust the neck, and the strap buttons and hardware are all solid. I would take this to a gig without a backup if necessary.

No contact with the company - don't know who they are, or where. It's very hard to get any info about Germlin basses by surfing the web. I've found some hints that the Gremlin might have been made in Great Britain, but I can't get enough information to confirm this. It's not a high-end bass by any means, and there aren't enough of them for Gremlin to be easy to research..

Overall, I got a real steal on this bass. By purchasing it as a parts project and getting replacement tuners from Ebay, I kept the investment small. I now have a solid backup bass that could step right in tone-wise for my P or J basses. The best thing about is is that it's so light and easy to play, but still has the big tone and strong lows of a P-bass. That's a great combination!

If it were lost or stolen, chances I'd find another are vanishingly small - so I'd find another toy.