Product: Taylor Guitars AB-4 Bass
Price Paid: US $1850
Submitted
10/17/2003
at
03:09pm
by
adam olenn
Email: aolenn at berklee<dot>edu
Features
:
10
4-string solid-top acoustic bass, made in 2001. Active Fishman pickups w/ treble/bass/volume pots. Sunburst finish, gold-plated tuners, ebony neck.
Sound
:
10
It almost sounds like an upright. There's a little bit of guitarry-ness to it, where you can hear frets 'n' such, but it's got a big round buttery sound like a country mama with a huge booty. A sound you wanna roll around in. I play it with flats, which accentuates this. I looked at a lot of acoustic bass guitars, and didn't buy a one (including martin, gibson, guild, tacoma). The Taylor cost twice as much, and I knew as soon as I played it that it was the way to go. Everybody that hears it has the same reaction: "Wow, that sounds beautiful."
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
The action is a delight. I'm not much for slapping, but you can get the effect with an absolute minimum of force. The action is low enough that the first day I started playing some Bach - I never did that before. The pickups sound, again, like an upright. I couldn't get it to feed back in the store, but I need to try it on my rig. I've had the axe for a week and haven't plugged in yet because it simply sounds so gorgeous acoustic. The finish...well, it looks every bit as good as it sounds. It's a tobacco sunburst over big-leaf maple.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
Too early to tell, but it better be durable for $1850!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
I've gotten lots of good info off the Taylor website, but haven't needed any support as of yet.
Overall Rating
:
9
Been doing music for 'bout 15 years. MM composition. In terms of bass gear, I also have an Epiphone EB3 (sg copy), ampeg b2r head, and a David Eden 115XLT cab. If something happened to my Taylor, I would *definitely* buy it again, but I'd need to save up a long time. I love everything about it except one thing - the battery compartment is guarded by six tiny screws that require a (not supplied) allen key. Why can't they just have one of those little pop-out doors? If you want an acoustic bass guitar, I would say this is really the only option. Everything else was a pale imitation of this.
