Washburn RB4500

Made in Korea, purchased 2001 from World of Music, Denmark Street, London for #400 including softcase. 5 strings, 24 frets, through neck, active pickups Washburn 951 and Washburn 953. Wood finish, hardware has a nice sandblasted finish and the pickups are black. The neck is fairly narrow which was good for me as a beginner as it made playing fast finger plucking style easier, but it makes slap/pop style slightly harder.

I've played the bass for almost 4 years, I play a variety of styles from metal/rock to slap/pop. I've used it with a Trace Eliott SM 7 300W 15" combo amp and my recently purchased 4 x 10 Peavey Cab + 400 W Peavey Nitrobass head. For a long time I was unhappy with the sound, it being sligthly weak and unbalanced, the low strings were much louder than the top strings. Just recently I raised the pickups and tilted them towards the G string, now the sound is rich and resonants and the active tone controls are much more effective for giving a large variety of sounds. Finally it sounds as great as it looks. I'm only giving it a 7 as an "average" value - before I raised the pickups the sound was only 4, but after I adjusted it couldn't be happier. It has plenty of sustain.

The factory action set-up was good, one of the major reasons I purchased it was how good it felt in my hands. The neck is fairly narrow and thin, so it's easy to play. There was a problem with the active sound circuit which made the thing cut out at random, it was replaced at no extra cost. The pickups were poorly adjusted, see above item. The hardware seems very solid, it stays in tune really well. If it wasn't for the defective sound circuit and poorly adjusted pickups, it would get a 10 straight away. Tone controls are v good, smooth operation, not too easy to turn and small notches for neutral settings.

The hardware seems like it will last forever, the resistance of the tuners is adjustable, the controls are solid yet smooth and produce no artificial crackles when turned. I would feel confident using this without a backup. It doesn't get a 10 because I haven't owned enough basses to have a lot to compare with.

Didn't get an instruction booklet with the bass, I could really have used one from time to time. World of Music on Denmark Street were very helpful, but it took Washburn almost two months to produce a flawless active sound circuit. WoM replaced it for no extra cost.
Don't know how long the warranty is. WoM - top marks, Washburn 6 for being slow.

I've been playing for 4 years. Other than my bass, I own an RG570 Ibanez electric guitar and a Samick acoustic guitar. I play the bass through a Peavey Nitrobass head with a Peavey 4 x 10 cab. If it was stolen, I would confidently buy another similar Washburn bass as I've been very happy with it overall. I love the way it looks, the action and now that the pickups are adjusted, it's tone. I compared it to Ibanez basses, Aria basses and a Yamaha BBN5A before buying it. For me, my Washburn had an action that suited me best.