Samick Artist Series Fretless

Purchased used.

Date of manufacture is unknown, although I suspect mid-1990s(?). It is obviously discontinued and Samick's web site offers no historic information. There is no model number information on, or in, this bass guitar -- only "Samick Artist Series Established 1958" on the headstock, a serial number on the back of the head, and "Made in Korea" stamped at the heel of the neck.

Four String fretless, 34 inch scale. Passive P-J pickup configuration, with only three pots for control: Neck pickup volume, bridge pickup volume, tone. No toggle selector switch provided.

Maple neck, with what appears to be an inexpensive grade of dyed/stained rosewood for the fingerboard. No fretlines, but it has side dot markers. Body wood is very light weight, and fairly resonanant, but the species is hidden by a thick (well applied) red gloss finish, and inside the rear access plate for the pots, the paint is glopped around thick enough the wood can't be seen. The weight is several pounds less than my 1974 Fender Precision, and it is less neck heavy.

The body shape is more nearly Jazz Bass than P Bass. The bridge/tail piece design is much lighter than a P Bass, and the individually adjustable saddles are built more like a Telecaster than a Fender Bass...except for being a stop bridge, rather than a string-through design. It fits (sort of) in a P Bass hardshell case.

Very light weight "no name" sealed tuners, about half the size of the big open worm drive tuners used by Fender, and somewhat sloppy to tune. Once tuned, the bass holds tune fairly well.

As noted above, it is a 34 inch scale. Fingerboard width is narrower than a P-Bass, but string spacing feels wider than Jazz Bass (I don't own a J-Bass to compare with). The neck profile is also thinner than a P-Bass, with less of the fat "C" shape.

Strap buttons (seem solid) on upper cutaway and at heel of body.

No accessories provided when I bought it used. Not even a case or gig bag, no truss rod wrench, no documentation.

Decent sound for jazz with round wound strings. In order to get a bit of "upright growl," it is necessary to blend in a bit of the bridge pickup with the split coil front pickup running wide open. Excellent sustain, and the pickups aren't any more noisy than the Fenders, Heritages, etc., that I have owned and played.

With the fretless fingerboard, all-in-all, I would rate it as more suited to jazz than my fretted P Bass, and does a "reasonable facsimile" of an upright double bass...while being transportable in a compact car.

BUT...the volume and tone controls taper poorly, and it is considerably more difficult to set the sound than with a P Bass, and a lot easier to lose the desired sound by bumping any of the pots.

I play this through a Polytone Mini-Brute III with no effects.

The action is okay, but not spectacular.Everything, including intonation, pickup height, was "way off" when I got it, but could have been tweaked by a knucklehead long after it left the factory.

The fingerboard has a slight hump on the treble side (bass side is okay), that wouldn't be possible to compensate for with a truss rod adjustment. This flaw requires the bridge saddles set higher than many people like, otherwise the D and G strings are unplayable below a fourth interval. That's not a problem for me, because I prefer a higher action, but many people would be very upset, even if they also prefer a high action, simply because this is an inexcusable quality control oversight, and diminishes the resale value.

Aside from the fingerboard (a fairly big issue for some, no?), general fit and finish is quite good. The inexpensive tuners, no name pickups, poorly matched control pots, and lightweight bridge/tail piece assembly, are par for the course on most inexpensive imports. They are finished and installed well, the wiring is okay, and they aer just "budget priced" parts, that work, but aren't as "refined" as you would expect/insist on finding in a more expensive instrument.

I severely downgrade the fit and finish for the fingerboard hump, even though it doesn't hinder me personally.

It better be able to withstand live playing, because that's what I bought it for.

Now, having said that, understand that a jazz combo where you sit down and don't jump around, is a very different environment than a rock band where the bass ends up smacking the ocassional mic stand, or the neck of the guitarist's Strat.

In other words, the hardware on this Samick requires more babying than a P Bass. It wouldn't be difficult to break one of the light weight tuners if you get carried away.

The finish, however, is tough. I wish it wasn't lipstick red, but what are you going to do?

I'll play it without a backup at my next gig (about two weeks).

I can't even find the model number at Samick's web site. Maybe a dealer could provide original replacement parts, but I haven't checked. If something minor breaks, I'd rather upgrade tuners/pickups/pots/etc., anyway, than buy the original.

Playing for 35 years, guitar and bass. Own a couple of jazz boxes, a Kay upright bass, P Bass, a couple of Polytone amps.

If it were lost, stolen or destroyed, I wouldn't object to replacing it with another identical Samick Artist Series, but I doubt I could find one in a hurry. It isn't in production, and I haven't seen another for sale on the used market.

I like the tone...I don't like the neck hump and the cheap hardware.

I like the passive pickups, because I don't like having batteries die on a gig.

The light weight is nice, and I think it contributes to resonance and sustain.

I compared it to far too many basses (many of them, American built) to list here. I bought it, and kept it, on the basis of price, because I concluded that the tonal qualities of this Samick Artist Series is on a par with $1,000 to $1500 instruments, if used to simulate some of the sound and character of an upright bass in a jazz combo. The more expensive basses offer far more tonal variety -- but which I don't use, or need -- and have better quality, more robust, hardware -- which is nice -- but which costs a lot more.

I would not suggest this bass for modern country, rockabilly, rock and roll...the tonal range ain't much outside of a decent jazz sound, and, compared to a Fender, the light wood actually leads to some feed back, if you are tempted to crank the volume above what you would ordinarily use as a jazz bassist in a small club.

So, I rate it "6" overall, but understand that this is in the context of straightahead jazz. It is a decent, if unspectacular, bass for that, and worth looking at as a practical alternative to an upright, or your first low cost foray into fretless bass guitar territory.

For the price I paid, it can't be beaten, unless you can steal a better instrument without getting caught. :-)