LeCompte Electric Bass UV-4

Features copied directly from lecomptebass.com:

34??? scale
Set-neck construction
Two piece African mahogany body
Maple accent stripe
Mesquite top
Inlayed mesquite burl faux pick guard
Mesquite burl and maple pickup cover
Satin clear finish
Three piece maple neck
Dual action truss rod
Macassar ebony fingerboard
Medium/jumbo frets
Mesquite headstock laminate
Graphite ebony nut
Chrome Hipshot Hardware
0.75??? (19mm) string spacing
Dunlop Straplocks
Bartolini 9CBJD pickups
Parallel/single coil/series output switching
Aguilar OBP-1, two band preamp
Active/passive switching
Passive style tone control
18V power
Chrome control knobs
Gigbag
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This aptly-named Ultimate-V four-string bass is the first of Bud LeCompte???s new Legacy Series.

Options are pretty solid. What I like about LeCompte's design is that it is versatile, practical, and player-oriented. Beyond great tone (discussed beneath), it's the little things about this bass that make it a joy to play. The V-body sure can look badass, but is generally one of the least comfortable to play. Bud LeCompte has given the instrument a sort of rebirth with this model, doing some excellent contour work, using a super lightweight African mahogany body (I have not yet tried to weigh the bass but I'd be surprised if it came in over 7.5 lbs), throwing on a thin jazz neck for pretty fast comfortable playing, and cleverly using the set neck construction to create a cutaway that allows easy access to the instrument's upper register.

Construction aside, the bass is pretty straightforward. Knobs are: Volume/Mids/Treble/Bass. Two switches: Parallel/Series and Active/Passive switch. The switches themselves are excellent quality (small but emblematic of LeCompte???s attention to detail) but will hardly get used, as I can't imagine not playing series and not using the preamp. I feel that Aguilar is inarguably one of the best names in the bass business and this preamp (at 18v) doesn't mess around. It's a welcome addition to the bass given that Bart's 9CBJD are notoriously quiet pickups.

Remarkable natural tone. Very flexible, always sounds golden. I'm admittedly a set-and-forget kind of bassist but I???m convinced I could tackle most styles with this instrument.

I'm getting great results going straight from instrument to amplifier (Acoustic Control Corp. 150 with an early Acoustic 2x12" cab). No frills. No graphic EQ. Alternately I'll play through an Ampeg SVT-3 PRO and a 8x10" cab, or a Fender BXR-300C I keep at my band???s practice space (or I???ll use an MXR M-80 EQ/Distortion Pedal) but there???s only so much you can do to make this bass sound awesome-er. I tend to play with the bass at full, treble at like 5, and mids somewhere past the halfway mark. Similar settings for amp EQ (if I have graphic EQ I tend to boost the 80hz and the 1K ranges) and out comes this velvety vintage P-Bass tone, with very full low-end and sparkling highs. Even with the treble pushed up a bit further this bass somehow never sounds overbearingly bright, nor are the lows offensively deep and rumbling when the bass is pushed up.

Like I said, it's a pretty versatile instrument, and even if I'm not looking for many other tones right now (I'm in a folk-rock band so I hardly ever use effects, play solos, or need a more cutting tone), I could easily roll off the bass, increase the treble and the mids, hit the parallel switch and get more of a growling, passive, J-Bass sound.

Ironically, the only type of music I feel this bass may be ill-suited for is heavy metal -- the preamp tends to emphasize the low end and the pickups are relatively low output jazz pickups. This is fine by me because I don???t like an aggressive sound and I don???t want a bass with a lot of attack (the tones of, say, Ernie Ball or Musicman basses tend to disgust me). This bass sounds great, it just doesn???t sound metal.

Another thing about this instrument that impressed me immensely was its responsiveness. If you strum a chord all of the notes come out clearly and distinctly. I???m also becoming more and more interested in right-hand technique and this bass, tonally, really captures the subtleties. Small changes in hand position, plucking style, force and digit with which you pop a string are all reflected vividly in the sound coming out of your amplifier.

The finish on the instrument is excellent. It???s a very fine clear finish, which leaves the bass looking smooth and brings out the texture of the wood. The natural wood pickup cover and the inverted headstock are also great aesthetic touches; they really contribute to the uniqueness of the instrument. That said, some players may find the small space between the pickup cover and the strings to interfere with playability (I???m thinking mainly of popping and playing with a pick), but I don???t really do much of either of those two things so it???s no sweat off my back.

When the bass arrived I did experience some buzzing (mostly on the G-string around the 9th fret), but I???m willing to write this off seeing as how I???m the first owner but not the first user (this bass was checked-out by many at NAMM and tested onstage by Marciano Cantero of Los Enanitos Verdes) then it was shipped across the U.S. It took one allen key and five minutes to straighten this out.

As stated earlier, LeCompte???s hardware (bridge, switches, pots, tuners) is of superior quality. My previous bass was a U.S.-made G&L L-2000 and the stock hardware on that instrument is nowhere near as nice.

I haven???t used this instrument for a very long time but I can???t foresee it ever breaking down or needing a backup.

As for durability I???ll never find out. I don???t abuse my instruments.

While this UV-4 was not designed specifically for me, I was in touch with Bud LeCompte a year before buying this bass about an instrument I wanted to commission him to build. Finally I held off on that because finances were a bit tight at the time, and then this bass sort of fell into my lap (combination of me having more money, Bud LeCompte posting it for sale on his Web site and it having more or less the specifications of the bass I wanted to build in the first place).

The long and short of it is that Bud LeCompte???s commitment to customer satisfaction is second to none. Every time I sent him a query by e-mail he responded within the day, usually within the hour. When I e-mail about this instrument, for instance, he responded right away with particulars on the instrument not outlined on the Web site and linked a video of it being played live. He is quite affable and always on the ball.

As for after-sales support, I???m sure he would be able to provide suggestions or solutions if ever I had a problem with the instrument, but I doubt I would ever contact him for repair seeing as how I live in Canada. Not exactly a stone???s throw from Texas.

I don???t know what more I could say to extol this instrument. It plays great, sounds great, and has the flair to distinguish it from any other instrument in any club or concert hall I???ll ever visit. It???s the nicest instrument I???ve ever owned, or likely will ever own.

If ever I wanted another instrument for recording or live shows with different features (perhaps a chambered bass or something with heftier pickups and preamp) or, heaven forbid, I needed to replace this one, I would not hesitate to contact Bud LeCompte again.