I’ve been after a good quality acoustic/electric bass for some time, I finally opted for the hybrid thin line alien.
It was delivered in good time and excellent condition.
First impression was the fine satin woods selected for this build, there are no marks and the grain is pure free of blemishes.
I opted for the thin line to accommodate my sixty year old stomach and keep the access to the neck and body as I would prefer.
So plugging in was the next move, at this time I have just used the bass into my bass amp and not the PA so the tone may be a little unnatural however this has:-
A piezo under saddle bridge pickup
A magnetic under fretboard pickup
The output can be dual or split via a second jack socket. The preamp is very simple and effective, both pickups have volume and tone controls and then this is controlled by a common volume control. These work fine offering a good level of control there is also a tuner that does the job well.
Both pickups deliver a great tone and unique sound, unplugged is a decent quality sound with good bass end and enough volume to practice without having to dig your amps out etc however it won’t really hold up against a decent acoustic guitar.
I really am impressed with the tones and the usability of the same, I’ve bought this for some acoustic blues sessions and it will undoubtedly deliver perfectly.
The delivered setup is pretty much spot on with no/little change required.
Pros
This is quality that is hard to match at this point
China has been working wood for millennia and these skills are still shown today
The tones are brilliantly useable
The hardware is very good for the price point
It comes with the essential tool kit
Cons
Two niggles
Please give us a better case option as the gig bag is really poor and I will need to replace it before taking it out of the house.
Please pre drill the neck strap lock hole if you are not going to fit the strap lock. If you can get the build so spot on please don’t put a risk on the player to drill the body, you can still leave the strap lock in the goodies bag as currently shipped to avoid damage.
Summary
I think this will perform as intended ok it not match my Streamette but then there is a three thousand pound difference.
Superb bass, well made, great tones, great looks, comfy to play.
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