When I finally got the bass, I felt like a kid at Christmas when I was unwrapping it. I almost started drooling on myself when I finally got it out of the wrapping material. The quilted maple top is amazing, but I think the tigerstripe maple and rosewood (?) laminates in the headstock are even nicer. The body is very wide but thin, so it's very light. The neck in even, thin, and narrow enough for me to easily wrap my stubby digits around. The neck is kooky, though- it seems to be exactly uniform all the way up and down. I guess this aids speedy position shifts, but feels strange to a Fender guy.

The previous owner had put in controls that looked like he had put together himself-vol/bass/treble with a 3-way pickup selector. I took those out and replaced them with an Alembic harness (vol/blend/filter). The filter takes some getting used to, but once you get your head around it, you can have some unique,sweet sounds flying out of your speaker.

How does it sound, you ask? Great, but it's an acquired taste. Very clear and defined, but it might be too much for some people. Think about ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses", but more hi-fi. VERY sweet tone. Thunderous, defined lows, sweet singing highs. Punchy and thick enough for my taste, and you CANNOT make the bass distort, the headroom is so high, even off of 9 volts. Problems? Nothing big...the odd neck, like I mentioned above; the bass has its own personality and its own rules, and you have to fit yourself in between these rules (sorta Gibson-ish); and while playing standing up, the neck points off at like a 45 degree angle from your shoulder.

Construction	100%
Size/Bulkiness	98%
Usefulness	100%
(I own 4 others. Draw your own conclusion)
Value	100%
(buy used!!!)
Sound/Tone	150%
(If that's your taste)
Customer Service	100%
Appearance	150%
overall	100%