I wanted something to use for dipping my toes into 5-string playing, and as a mod platform for figuring out what works for me and what doesn't. I don't like Sire very much - so in this price range there weren't that many left handed options.
While this is the much maligned "RSD" version of Chinese MetroExpress, after playing with it for a few days, I find very little to complain about, especially considering that compared to the more recent version, this is much less than half the price. In fact, I like it so much that i find it difficult to put it down, once i pick it up.
Pros:
- fretwork is excellent, fretboard is smooth and dense pau ferro, neck profile is very nice
- hardware is of excellent quality
- there is copper shielding paint, and the preamp is very low-noise (at least on mine)
- it's both lighter and more well balanced than my 4-string Fender Precision
- comes with a decent gigbag
- setup was very good out of the box
- it sounds good!
Cons:
- there are very slight finish imperfections on the back of the neck. i don't feel these when i'm actually playing, though.
- there was a minor scratch in the paint on the lower bout
- some potentiometer knobs are slightly off-axis. i think this can be fixed by adjusting the set screws, however.
- No VTC, no hum-cancelling J pickup. Of course - it's up to you if this is a negative or not, as the stack also probably sounds a bit different.. Then again, the >1k€ one doesn't have VTC either.
Overall, for me, the pros far outweigh the cons - especially as most issues are things that I can fix myself. For this price, to me, this is a very good proposition. Of course, each of these basses is probably slightly different, so YMMV.
