this bass costs less than 250 euro and is easily better in finish and quality of manufacture than pretty much anything i have bought in the time since 2012.
I briefly owned the gotoh version of the jazz bass. total boat anchor, massively heavy and with a neck profile that makes no sense on a jazz bass. but HB im assuming only manufacture one neck per series to keep costs down, and for XYZ reason on a P bass it just works.
this is a pleasing weight of the not too heavy, not too light category.
the fretwork is perfect - polished tips ends, rounded to perfection all the way up the board. no raised frets, no buzzing frets. the neck is perfectly straight, plenty of action both ways on the truss rod. the finish of this weird, beguiling lavender colour is also without dint, dent or imperfection. the neck is a wonderfully smooth roasted maple with a very slight flame.
the setup out of the box was very good, requiring only a small lowering of the saddle action, no doubt to account for the pickup height. simply lowering the action, even with these HBZ custom wound pups, was fine. a little clanky but fine.
a split coil P bass pickup isnt difficult to get right. aftermarket pickups make mild to indestiguishable differences. these are no exception. it sounds like a split coil P bass should. its not particularly refined or detailed, but its not going to make much difference. its a P bass. If you feel like it, stick a dimarzio in it. its still cheaper than the competition, rolled edges gimmick or not.
the only weak points i could mention are the knobs, yucky plastic J bass copies and the afore mentioned saddle adjustment.
along with the Harley Benton PB50 SC bass, this bass is as close to perfect as you could wish for. the fact that it costs so little money is exacly the perfect answer to *other manufacturers* being so out of touch with reality for a sticker on the headstock
bravo indeed.
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