Silvertone SSFB-15S/BK

4 string, 19 frets (i'm pretty sure), wierd broken pup style (only one really, just in two pieces), 1 volume and 1 tone knob (both chrome), passive, thumb rest, Cobalt Blue finish (purple) and it can take a beating (i threw it across the room, and it only had one paint chip on it, and it was on the side where u couldnt see it), it came with the standard amp, strap, video and book, picks, and gig bag if you buy the package.

It fits the Christian style ok in the low end. I use a Zoom 506II, but only for the tuner and the Amp modler b/c i hate the tone of it. It has no high end. I guess you have to EQ it on the board, bc when u need that crucial fill, its not there one the D and G strings, espececially around the 12 fret. I tried moving the tone knob, but it just picked up more of the sound u get when u slid ur hand down the neck. U know that screechin sound. No probs with buzzing.

The set up was pretty good, very very minor flaws that are almost unnoticable. The finish is great, despite the color. It is very "drop resistant" and doesnt get knicks in it real easily. but there is nothing under the pick guard. just thought u'd want to konw.

The finish will stay as long as you keep it. Strap buttons are solid. You can depend on it to play decent, but never play without a back up if you can afford one. The wires that are connected to the input worked itself out. 1 hr before i was supposed to hit the stage, it went dead. luckily i knew someone and he fixed it really quik. That was a year ago, and just this month, the wire came loose, and it was WHILE I WAS PLAYING. It was awful. I had to go in and solder the same wire. It works fine now, but still with no highs.

However, the afore mentioned acciddent with me throwing it across the room in warmups didnt affect it at all. No tuners were screwed up, no pup came loose, no wires came loose and the strings stayed in perfect tune. However, i was nervous when i first plugged in that it woulndt work. It was fine, then the acoustic guy plugged up (its just bass, acoustic, and vocals, sumtimes drums) and we started playing, and it was awful. I thought it was my bass and the set up was destroyed. Later, i found out that it was just him out of tune. (he played by himself for a awhile, so he just does his tuning by ear, but we forgot to check. lol. Dumb rookies. lol)

the reason it gets a seven is just for that story.

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been playing for jsut over 1 1/2 years, but we are working on a demo with my band. if 2 ppl can be a real band. if you wont bass with no highs, then you should get this one bc its cheap, and has a decent tone if you get an amp modeler. I wish it had active pups, and a fifth string.

This is a very new model, made in the Samick factory in Korea. It is very similar to the Rouge basses that Musician's Freind is selling for $89.99 (currently). It has 20 frets, and 4 strings. It does not have any pickguard but has the P-bass split pickups common to many basses. It has one volume and one tone. The neck is maple, and I don't know what the body is made of, but I took off the back plate and it is sealed fantastically, yet there is enough rough grain to make me believe that it is solid wood, probably alder. It has a rosewood fretboard with platic nut. it is liquid black, leading me to believe that the last 2 letters in the model number, BK indicate a black instrument. It has a Precision style body, yet it is more ergonomic with better access to the higher frets, and better balance for the sling attach point, though it tends to be ever so slightly neck heavy. The tuners are no name crap but have held tune well enough. They are not the P-base style, they are more like wingnuts and can be adjusted for tension. It is a 34" scale with a plastic nut. It doidn't come with anything, I bought it for $72.90 at Superpawn, used.

I bought it for my son who wants to slap strings instead of learn to play traditional style. I guess everyone wants to beat on the strings with their thumb nowadays! He has a Rouge Hofner copy and it is not conducive to string slapping. We use a Rosac base amp, (ever heard of one of those?) but I just bought an Ashdown 180watt 15" combo amp and we shall see how that works out. In the Rosac, it has a little hum over 60% settings, but overall sounds pretty good. Not a P-bass, but pretty damn good. The tone has a wide band, widre than I would have thought with deep rich tones and bright metallic treble. Between this and the Rosac, I can get enough sounds to play any gig adequately, I am not saying that it is suitable for everything, I am just saying that it is good enough for any style. I have never played it on stage, but with my experieicne, I would say that it probably would be average. My one dislike is that it doesn't have a thumb rest, but my son wants to play like Bootsey Collins playing AC/DC, so I guess that is OK.

I bought this used and the intonation was way off. I have an electric guitar tuner, so I just tweaked it till it was right. The neck has a slight warp to it, so there is a gentle rise at around the 8th fret. I will use a mill file and take the tops off of all the frets to get them level and polish them to get the action low and eliminate buzzes. I had to do the same thing on every guitar that I have ever bought so I am not upset over it. The action is about right for the average player, but I like it as low as can be. I hate guitars that would give Frankenstien sore fingers and ones you need Kung-Fu grip to play beyond the 9th fret! Finish looks great, and it has one major chip where it looks like ti got whacked with a machete, but I doubt that it left the Samick factory like that! Finish on the neck is satin and looks good, but thin. Fit is very nice, better than you would expect for something under a c-note.

This base will withstand live playing easy enough. It is very solid. A lump of hardwood is a lump of hardwood! The hardware is descent and is durable enough to last 30 years of average use. As with anything, it is the electronics that make the difference, and my own experience with Korean electronics is that they obey the second law of thermodynamics better than American stuff, but 5 years on the pots is reasonable, and 2 months on the jack. Korean jacks suck, and must be replaced! I am thinking that since this doesn't have a toggle switch it will last longer than most Korean instruments. Truss rod hasn't needed to be adjusted, but on other Korean stuff from Samick that I have adjusted, (Epiphone, Rouge) it worked perfectly. I would depend on it because it is a really simple instrument. It is a battle axe! But I would never play without a back up, strings break, and pooh pooh happens. Without a back up, you are setting yourself up for failure!

N/A

I have been playing since 1967. Most of my stuff is custom made, I like to build my own stuff. I bought this because it was cheap and could do the job adequately enough. If it were stolen, I would buy another or a used Squire P-bass. Once my son gets locked on for a gig at Carnegie Hall, I will buy him a Fender. Let's face it, quality musical instruments are expensive. I can spend 6 hours on this, and $13 in electronics and make it 90% as good as a Fender. That is certainly good enough for a 12 year old. And when he grows tired of it, he can certainly sell it for $75 or give it to a future musician.