Washburn B-4 Bass

Mahogany body with a quilted maple veneer... wow. I've seen manufacturers use the same type of wood on basses ten times this expensive. Unfortunately to make it possible to charge so little for this Korean made beauty, they cut corners in other departments. The bridge and tuning machines were both pretty mediocre, but standard for this price range. The Reverse P-Style Pick-Up, on the other hand, wasn't as good. It does a poor job of recreating the tone the wood creates. The biggest complaint I have in this category is with the control pots and dome knobs. They are very unsturdy. This might sound like a minor complaint but it can cause major problems (more on this later). While I don't want to downplay these problems, the price is so fantastic you can probably afford to put in new pick-ups and control pots. (I plan on putting in Dimarzios myself)

I was more then a little disapointed with the sound because I assumed from the wood selection the tone would be great but it wasn't. The tone control does very little. If you want some type of EQ you're going to have to use the knobs on your Amp. I got a small amount of hum but I'm planning on putting foil shielding and new pick-ups so hopefuilly that will correct the problem. The tone was somewhere in the middle between bright and mellow as expected for a prescision style bass. It sounds a lot like Duck Dunn's tone. Obviously it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as Dunn's legendary tone but if you into pop or r&b and your on a budget this tone would best suit you.

As I alluded to earlier I had problems with the control pots. The nut on my tone pot wasn't tightened fully and came loose. I had a hell of a time getting the knobs off so I could fix it. To make matters worse, while I was taking the knob off one of the wires broke so I had to fire up the soldering iron. Also, while i was playing an open note acoustically I heard a rattle coming from the headstock. I checked the tuning machines and found that one, the A string, wasn't tightened. It only took me a couple minutes to get out the pliers and tighten it however. The fretwork wasn't great. I got several fret buzzes but at this price you shouldn't expect to get a neck worthy of an expert craftsman. Just to show that I'm not all negative I will say that the finish on the bass was very beautiful and the set-up was nice and low. The neck wasn't the fastest I've ever played but it wasn't the worst either. It will appeal to players who like Prescion-style necks.

As I said earlier several of the nuts and bolts on this bass weren't tightened which will cause problems eventually. I had to tighten the nut on the output jack, tuning machines, and control pots. Luckily the screws that keep the neck in place were nice and tight. I've seen nuns looser then the neck (That's a joke folks) While the neck is sturdy, be careful not to spill anything on it. The finish on the maple/rosewood neck was super thin, borderline nonexistant.

I haven't used it.

While this may appear to be a begginer bass it's better as a back-up for an older player since it needs several adjustments which begginers might not be experienced enough to accomplish on their own. My suggestion... Feel free to buy this bass but fix the pick-up, tone controls, and shielding. Also check all the nuts and bolts before you play it at a gig.

Sunburst P-bass copy with one stock passive P-bass style pickup, which I have modified with a coil-spliter switch. All else is stock. Maple neck with fingerboard that appears to be rosewood. String through body design. One volume and one tone control. Came with crap hardshell case.

I play a variety of musical styles and this bass does the job. Sounds very good with Boss LMB-3 limiter/inhancer and Fender BXR100 amp. With the added coil spliting switch, the bass sounds very clear and defined with finger picking. With both coils it has a big bottom, and I use that for thumping. With my current set-up, I get a nice growl from the E string. The coil switch adds greatly to the variety of sounds this bass can make. The tone nob has very limited use, but is not useless; I usually leave it open all the way, but on a cheap amp I often close it all the way to get more bottom. Through a good amp this bass sounds great and the Boss LMB-3 really helps--I am getting a Pro sound out of a beginner bass.

One flaw with this bass is that the G string is too close to the edge of the neck and has been known to give a sitar-like buzz at unexpected times from slipping over the edge of the neck. I think the bass came that way when I purchased it in 1983. The neck and frets have held up great and there is no noise in the controls. I have the action set as low as it will go, but it is still pretty high.

This guitar is tough. I play it most at home, thumping it hard, but I have used it live to back a church choir over the last year with good results. I did have to resolder a wire on the 1/4 inch plug recently. The case that came with this bass is lousy--really shameful. You have to take the pickguard off to get to the truss rod, which is a pain.

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I am principally a guitar player. I bought the bass on a whim in 1983. I did not really learn to play it until 1887. I played it for a year and then put it up for about 10 years. I pulled it out again in 1998, when we needed a bass for a gospel song in church. I got a lot of praise for my playing and that has motivated me to play more. After a year of almost daily practice, I am now able to thump and fingerpick like some of the pros. It is time for me to upgrade to a pro bass.
I wish I had noticed the flaw in the G-string (mentioned above) before I bought it. I suppose that I could get this fixed, but I don't want to put any money into it at this point.
If it were stolen, I would not lose too much sleep, although I would have to add a coil spiting modification to the replacement, which is a pain. This is my favorite feature, but it is not stock and it is useless through a cheap amp (not enough bass through the single coil option in some amps, but with my Fender with 15 in. speaker it is very clear with a lot of bottom). The sound is excellent for a beginner bass and it has great sustain. I probably paid too much for it, especially since the OHS case is such trash, but I think it is of higher quality than most beginner basses on the market.