Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Jon Best
Manufacturer	Tobias (Gibson-owned)
Model	Killer B
Price	List is about 24-2500, I paid 1600

Neck Type	Five piece (really four with a thin center laminate)
	maple/purpleheart
Fingerboard	Fretted, rosewood
Body Type	Two bookmatched pieces of ash
Finish	Hand rubbed (so they tell me) oil
Pickup(s)	Two Bartolini soapbars, closer together than usual
Controls	Master volume, Pan, Treble (2K-ish), Mids (500 Hz & 4K),
	Bass, and eq bypass switch

I bought this bass because of the way the neck feels and the versatility of the EQ. And, truth be told, because I could not quite afford a Warwick Thumb bass. With the mid knob halfway up, you can fake that Warwick growl. After a while, though, I began using less and less onboard EQ, and fell more and more in love with the balanced, present sound of the bass. It definitely has it's own voice, and could hold it's own in any band situation. The bass itself is beautiful, with a medium grain ash body and an understated finish. As I said before, the EQ is very versatile and has helped me quite a few times on muddy stage situations. However, I believe the bass is at it's best when the EQ is bypassed (any potentiometer will suck tone anyway- avoid those that you can). The bypass switch isn't a passive/active switch, though, so keep up your battery (I found out the hard way in the middle of a set one night, and spent an hour playing the opening bands' cheesy jazz copy, God bless it anyway). I love the small, light body and slim, asymmetrical neck, too. In short, everything about this bass is balanced, and screams "play me!"

Construction	100%
Playability	100%
Appearance	90%
Sound	90%
Value	80%
(still costs a lot)
Overall	95%