Tone-wise, I was surpised that the sound was not that bad. The best setting I found has been with both pickups wide open. This is the only way to get as much beef a possible out of the bass. I did notice quite a signal level drop with only the neck or bridge PU selected. With the bridge PU selected, as you might have guessed, you can acheive the twang of the lower range of a guitar. Overall, I found that this bass sounded alot like the basses I've heard on my old 60's records - that's pretty much what this bass is, retro. What do you expect from lipstick pickups, eh?

Construction is passible, the one thing I hate is the strip of vinyl all along the sides and the plastic strap locks. Tuners are OK (supposedly they are "upgraded" says Dano), the low E string tuner is a little wiggy. The bridge is.....well, it's BASIC. You can definitely adjust your action height, but that's about all you can do.

It took me a while to get used to the scale and string spacing (I'm still getting used to it). Forget about fingering, picking is about all I can muster. I developed a nice cramp in my arm getting used to picking with enough force over the relatively cramped/spaced strings. So, I plan to use this bass as a kind of lead/piccolo/higher chord-type bass.

The last thing I need is another bass, but at around $250-300, it's definitely a fun little bargain bass.

Construction	70%
Playability	80%
Appearance	90%
Sound	80%
Value	95%
Cust. Service	0%
I don't plan on whining
Overall	75%