Product: Hondo 8200 Fame Series
Price Paid: US $125 used
Submitted
09/03/2002
at
07:53am
by
geoff
Features
:
4
Can't really determine when or where it was made.
20 frets, 4 strings, staggered single-coil pickup, volume/tone controls.
Red (almost metallic red) body, no pickguard (back panel access to innards), rosewood fretboard.
Body looks like a P-bass body only with longer horns.
Sound
:
5
If you just need a bass guitar to round out your sound, this or something similar would do fine. However if you're an aspiring bass virtuoso, you should probably stay away. The sound is kinda thick, though turning the mids and trebles up on the amp can help this sound more slappy and punchy. I got this bass just to add bass tracks to little punk rock songs that I record on my 4-track, and it seems like it'll do just fine for that. If you're a guitar player who just wants a bass to noodle around on, this is perfectly ok. (I also have no idea how old the strings are; they came with it, used).
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
5
Action is not too bad, and of course it's adjustable with the bridge and with the truss rod. I can get the strings pretty close to the fretboard witout them buzzing against the frets. The hardware, specifically the tuning heads and keys, came slightly oxidixed, but this only makes me wonder how old the damn thing is.
Reliability/Durability
:
7
It seems like it would last a long time. It's pretty frigging heavy, and nothing on it seems loose or like it wants to fall off. So far it's been moved around a lot, and even briefly exposed to a little rain, but it's still in tune and cleans up well. Pretty solid, I'd say.
Customer Support
:
1
Not really.
Overall Rating
:
5
Like I said, if you just need a cheap, solid bass to round out your own recordings, or want to start playing bass but don't want to throw down a lot of money, this is not too bad. It feels solid, sounds like a bass guitar, and looks cool.
