RBX374 4-String Bass
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| Price: $299.99 at Guitar Center | |||||||||||||||||||
User Reviews
Review by Cap Alone
Overall
Great for starters, pro's or anyone. Pretty easy to play, and generally gives a good sound. Only minus is that it's pretty big, and the very untrained neck and back (such as mine) may hurt a few days after purchasing the guitar.
Sound
Tha bass makes a variety of good sounds, but also provides a few horrible sounds, if used right. Uncut nails (I personally play with my fingers) and an attempt to play in forte fortissimo will rarely turn out good.
Look
I have spent loads of time just staring at the beauty.
Feel
Adjustable stringheight is great, as they are placed pretty far from the griptable in the higher octaves. The bass needs to get into the fingers if quick playing in the height is wanted.
Reliability
Don't know exactly what lies in "reliability," but it needs batteries to make any sound - and batteries isn't always reliable.
Review by Simon
Overall
I've had mine for about 4 months and have had very few problems with it. Very good instrument, well worth what I paid for it, but could've been better.
Sound
Due to the active pickups, there's just LOTS of room for expressiveness and there's an impressive range of sounds that thing's been known to produce. The sound is slightly harsh (maybe due to the original steel strings it was shipped with) the action is a little high and the strings often hit the exposed metal surface of the pickups producing a really annoying clackey sound (with a little refinement of my playing style, this was killed somewhat but very annoying when someone else picks it up and plays it). Has a VERY VERY AWESOME slap sound though, although I've yet to be skilled enough to make good use of it...
As a bonus, it's quite loud unplugged so if the neighbours are sleeping and your fingers start itching, go knock yourself out...
Look
Very nice two-tone design (I got the silver one) and very funky... makes me wanna pick up and play it... The head looked very small when I got it but that's due to the black on the head. Doesn't look like a 34" scale bass... Some things look slightly cheap when close up and the finish scratches very easily but other than that, no complaints...
Feel
feels great on the frets and the pickups don't get in the way when picking (I rest my wrist on the bridge). a very light bass, it just sits there perfectly without toppling over when I let it go with both hands and (awesome feature) has a funky little rest in the pickup to rest a thumb in when fingering (and jumping/moving around)... base of neck is nice and fat for the high notes and the strings are quite far apart at the bridge end (ideal for slapping). So far, no complaints.
Reliability
I don't know what everyone's complaining about... the battery I have in my thing is still the originals from the day I bought it and I've been known to leave it plugged in for so long and it's still fine. The jack where the cable thing plugs into sometimes comes loose and it goes really krazy but if you're careful and fix it up, it's always fine. NOTE: ALWAYS ALWAYS pull out active basses after playing as leaving them plugged in DRAINS THE BATTERIES!!!
Value
Sounds like a A$900 bass and it's also an active. that alone is enuf for me...
Other Comments
VERY good starter bass for beginners if you can hack out the A$200 more for it compared to most beginner basses and it should last you until it either breaks or you're so awesome you deserve a $3000 fender... I won't be at that stage for a few decades yet so yeh... good bass...
Review by Mike C
Overall
Great sound and comfortable feel, never had any issues with this bass at all.
Sound
Great sound for rock, funk, blues and country, can adjust from deep lows to sharp high tones.
Look
Great look, I have the metallic red version, always getting compliments.
Feel
After a slight intonation adjustment, feel is superb. No strain at all playing, no matter where on fretboard.
Reliability
I have done over 75 shows with it and have never had a problem, of course, I change battery before every show!!
Value
Well worth the money, I have had more expensive basses that didn't play as well.
Review by Keith
Overall
The bass looks great, has a wide range of possible sounds and is quite adjustable for different action preferences. This instrument is great for it's price range but has characteristics of a cheaper bass including poor finish on the neck and roughness on upper frets amongst others.
Sound
From my experience, this bass has a great variety of sounds. The two EQ pots give a wide range of variable to choose from. You can get anything from right up in your face skank to extreme mellow tone. The pick-up blend is great for fine-tuning the tone even more. Great job here.
Look
Really easy to please here. The bass has a nice slick look with some sculpted edges and a very unique headstock. My bass is all black hardware and I have had many people tell me how nice it looks. I really have no complaint on style.
Feel
From the factory the feel was not that great. However, I took the instrument home, did some modifications on intonation and action and I was able to rig it up just as I like it. The neck is what I would call medium profile, it is not a big boat neck but it is not the sleekest I have played either. Access to the upper frets is quite easy with the cut-away. The weight has never bothered me, but I am not a really light person. I do have a complaint on the plastic cover to the truss rod. When I started popping on the bass I found that I often caught my finger on the plastic cover to the truss rod. This was easily remedied by taking it off. Maybe they could just paint up the hole nice and leave the cover off.
Reliability
This is where I have to complain. I had this bass completely quit on me at a gig. I did not have time to check right then, but after the gig (I borrowed another players axe) I found that the battery line had come loose. I have also had to completely remove and replace the input jack because it was so loose that if the cable was twisted horrible crackle noises would ensue. I have at least 4 frets that are separating from the fretboard (I have always oiled the fret board) which lead to some really bad buzzy sounds and intonation issues. Also some of the frets were not finished well and always have been harsh on the sides of my hands. The paint on the neck has been flacking away ever since I got the bass and I can see in 5 years there being mostly natural wood in the back.
Value
I got this bass at Guitar Center on sale. If I would have payed full price for it I probably would be a little more annoyed than I am now. At $250 it was a decent buy. I don't have many other bass's to compare it to in that price range, but I am assuming that there are others out there that won't have all the issues that I have had. Of course others seem to not have had as much trouble so maybe mine was a bad apple of sorts.
