Product: Manne Basic XLR Piezo
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
07/10/2005
at
01:52am
by
paolo
Features
:
10
see my previous review
Sound
:
10
here is the news. I changed set up, lowering the string on the neck via the effective micro-tilt bolts. Besides action, sound changed. And improved a lot: as expected, more nuances came to life and the "present" character of the bass, seasoned with the various amount of piezo you can dial in, mellowed and now is there to delight.
The XLR port has to be given a try: very transparent. much better than the Esh pot-by pass... (I got rid of it).
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
No Opinion
see previous review
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
see previous review
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
see previous review
Overall Rating
:
9
for that defective pot ....
Product: Manne Basic XLR Piezo
Price Paid: N/A used
Submitted
05/22/2005
at
02:07pm
by
paolo
Features
:
10
(Heavy) Ash, originally shaped body 45mm thick, dark wine red see-thru. Multi-laminated (,8 mm veneers epoxy glued + 2 wings)asymmetrical shaped neck: 24 cases pefectly fitted ona resin fretboard. two dueble action truss rods. Perfect intonation with outstanding rigidity and stability.
balanced XLR output + std jack
Manne pu's: single neck, MM style bridge (passive) + piezo (active, with easy access to battery housing)
Controls:
Volume, Tone, Balance between magnetics and piezo, Selector with 5 positions:
- Bridge Humbucker
- Bridge Humbucker + neck single
- Splitted bridge
- Splitted bridge +neck single
- Neck single.
Sound
:
8
Full range of passive sounds meets piezo spicy. all sounds usable, though bridge splitted lacks of character and growl; some coils combinations sings, the full MM cuts through everything. Sum up: versatile, not too compressed. Sometimes you realize it has neither the vintage vibe nor the full active (mising sparkling trebles?) thrust and complexity. Still, a pro tool. Very quiet.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Perfect action, exceptional set-up range and precision. Action as you like. Rather wide neck. Original bridge design to lodge piezo. strings thru body. Flaws: poor wiring despite good components, besides a faulty volume pot I had to substitute.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Confortable despite a a tad heavier, seems rugged to stand evry road abuse;
Customer Support
:
10
friendly and prompt on line support by the owner of the medium size italian company: great!
Overall Rating
:
8
Tons of feature in an original recipe. Nevertheless, more versatility than character, possibly because of complexity: this is what separate a great piece of gear -what sure it is- from the evergreen classic. I own Alembics (the personality!!), Fenders (good ones are your safety belt, the reference everywhere), Esh (good mix character/features, not as rugged as the Manne), Ibanez (I loved some of them but I not always cut through the band, but the old bean bass I still own ....) and owned many more. Value for money very good: see at www.manne.it. Not many bargains like this on the web. used at around 1.100 ?
