It took two months to build the damn thing... they underestimated how long it would take to build the 5-piece neck. But it was certainly worth the wait.

The finish is clean and smooth, not too dull and not too glossy. I don't know how it will stand up to heavy gigging wear (since I don't gig) but it seems to be very well-done.

The bass is about as solid as a rock. The neck is straight as an arrow, even with all 5 strings off. The fingerboard is a smooth ebony with a few brown blemishes, but nothing too terribly ugly. The white inlaid lines are my "training wheels" for fretless, and they are very cleanly done.

The body is abso-f*ckin-lutely beautiful! None of the KOA basses in their catalog looked this good. The grain is wavy and dynamic, and the wood ranges from a nice dark brown to a medium, almost-maple-like blonde. I was expecting it to be a little darker, but I was not disappointed.

The neck, by the way, is a 5-piece beauty that looks a little something like MMMMMKKKMMMKKKMMMMM, if you can picture M for maple and K for koa wood. It is very cleanly constructed and runs the entire length of the bass, although the strings and pickups obscure the beautiful laminate from the front.

As far as electronics goes, Carvin's active EQ system is not perfect, but still manages to produce a wide range of tone. The bass itself has what appears to be two Jazz-style pickups (possibly EMG?), and five pots on the bottom. I ordered it with the optional gold hardware (beautiful choice) and the optional Midrange EQ control, which gives it a real fat sound when cranked all the way up.

The bass plays like a charm, and it arrived from the factory just about ready to play. I took Carvin's stock strings off before I even adjusted it, as they sounded pretty bad. I have used DR Sunbeams (Nickel-roundwounds) and D'Addario XL6 strings (basic 4 with High C), and they both sound bright, warm and clean on this bass, unplugged or amp'ed. The action was set up nearly perfect, although I had to adjust the intonation a bit.

A few minor nitpicks though... the gold-plated knobs seem to be very poorly gold-plated... I've had to replace the Volume and Pickup knobs once so far, 'cause the gold keeps wearing off and leaving an ugly half-chrome below.

Another thing I didn't like was the overall body shape. It seemed almost too small for a bass of this stature. The bottom end was just too symmetrical, and the upper strap horn wasn't as long as I would have liked. It just seemed too basic or too plain for a bass that sounds this good.

The stock Wilkinson bridge is one of the best bridges I have ever played on... in fact, I ordered a replacement bridge from Carvin and put it on my Tobias 5-string and it has twice the sustain it did before.

One more complaint... with a bass this good, why didn't they use pickups equally good, for example, EMG DC-series pickups or something that would capture the worm semi-acoustic tone that the Koa gives it? I'd love to put piezo pickups on this thing and see just how close to an upright it would sound.

Aside from that, everything seems perfect! I've already worn grooves in the ebony, because I haven't stopped playing it since!

Here's the list of options that I got:

Basic LB75F bass $700 Koa body sides $90 5-piece M/K neck $150 Gold Hardware $40 Midrange Control $30 Inlayed Fretlines $20

Construction	95%
Playability	95%
Appearance	110%
Sound	75%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	0%
Overall	95%