Schecter Stiletto Deluxe 5

Basswood body, made in China, Diamond Series Schecter pickups, 6 bolt neck, single truss, strings through bridge (not body), maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, active eq, single volume, blend, tone and bass boost knobs, Elixir strings, chrome hardware. Battery is in the single rear cavity with the pots, etc.

Well constructed, although the neck wasn't totally smooth. I don't mind because is has that nice, wood feel. Otherwise nice craftsmanship. Pickups are reasonably lively, fingerboard is fine (though you may want to file them a bit if you like), tuners are adequate but could be better, bridge is standard P-bass style and solid. Electronics are nice and give good variability. Turn up the bass and shake you're kahonies.

I took back the first one I bought because I think it had been on the sales floor a long time and was a bit worn. I swapped it for a newer one and love it. GREAT sound, very lively, nice highs and lows are not washed out or lost to buzz. Pops nice, slaps with tone and just sounds like a way more expensive bass. 10 just because of the price point.

Set up was pretty good with the new one I got. The other I won't comment on because it wasn't really "new". Very little adjustment needed. Neck was well set and action was, for me, perfect! The volume pot was a bit crackly from dust/lack of use, but smartened up with some reefing. Very good strings (Elixir); nice tonal quality, good stock guage. Nothing loose on this bass - solid as a rock.

Definitely good for live use, no concerns. I used it recording on a couple tracks and found it to be very good, although the bass boost can easily overload the inputs on my compressor or PA. I run it through a powered PA mixer and a Behringer rack compressor. I would have no reason to take a back up with me, although I'm really just using it for programming and play guitar live. The finish seems very good, but time will tell.

Not needed so far. I can tell you that the guys at Axe music are 100% and really responded when I was dissatisfied with the first one of these I bought (see above, not the basses fault).

For the buck - what more could you ask for? I spent a lot of time trying out other basses anywhere from a bit less than this to 5 times the price and didn't find anything better. There are some othe good ones - Fernandez, Ibanez, Yamaha, and Peavey all have decent ones for a similar dollar, but obviously I went for the Schecter. It's mostly in the feel, and this is a player's bass.