Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Jeff Triola
Manufacturer	Tobias(Gibson)
Model	Growler 5
Price	1300.00

Neck Type	bolt-on, 3 piece, maple & purple heart
Fingerboard	fretted,rosewood
Body Type	swamp ash
Finish	satin oil finish
Pickup(s)	single Bartolini, soapbar("quad coil")18v preamp
Controls	two toggles, master volume, pick-up balance, 2 high & 2 lows

The bass is beautiful to look and play,smooth inviting neck and is actually on the light side(under 10 lbs). When playing you can develope almost any sound desired. The problem with this bass is the B string is very very muddy(especially at high volumes)The answer to this I beleive is, something Sheldon Dingwall is way ahead of his time of developing, is the 34" scale. Also the first year these were made the neck has a single truss rod, which offers little adjustment and has been corrected in later models,and Tobias/Gibson is willing to replace(as long as its under warrenty)free of charge. At least that is what happened to my friend and I'm currently in the process of having it replaced, no final word just yet. Also I found that you must really baby the finish on the natural ash body and that the treble controls spew lots of hiss.(which is also being corrected by the manufacturer,hopfully)

Construction	55%
Playability	100%
Appearance	100%
Sound	80%
Value	80%
Cust. Service	100%
Overall	75%