This axe looks pretty incredible. The red finish is clear and beautiful, and doesn't hide any of the maple grain below. The headstock is the "classic" Tobias look, with five black Gotoh tuners and a black plastic overlay. The fretboard is a nice piece of medium-grade rosewood, and the frets are the standard JUMBO bass frets.

Unfortunately, the frets have gradually started to work themselves loose. I don't know if it was mistreated or poorly contstructed, but it really needs to be refretted. The rosewood has a few flaws but still looks nice.

The neck has what appears to be a thin semi-gloss finish on the back, and is smooth but tends to feel sticky in hotter weather. It's nowhere near as nice as some Tung oiled necks that I've played on. The neck itself if a single slab of rock maple, with a "scarf joint" to join the neck to the headstock wood. It's a really strong joint, and holds together well.

The neck supposedly has a truss rod inside, but I've been unsuccessful in my attempts to adjust the truss rod. It seems to bow a little too forward for my taste.

The body, a 4-piece laminated slab of maple, is solid and has a very beautiful finish. The pickups are Tobias's active humbucking J-styles, and sound okay but not great. The active electronics are loud and punchy, but leave much to be desired as far as versatility or signal clarity. At high levels, the bass will "fuzz" or self-distort before it even reaches the output jack. Also, if I crank up the treble, merely brushing my finger on the treble EQ pot will cause a scratching noise, almost as if the pot itself is acting like a microphone. The electronics cavity is not shielded, and I've had to replace the jack once already.

The bridge, originally a Jazz-style cheap bridge, has been replaced with a Carvin Wilkinson 5-string bass, which practically doubled the sustain and clarity of the bass. It has two extra drill holes about 1/2" above the bridge, where I drilled incorrectly when installing the bridge.

As far as sound quality goes, it sounds quite a bit like a Fender Jazz. It's loud and bright, but not great for a full low-end sound. The frets are not the best for long playing, and the back of the neck makes my hand uncomfortable after a while. Plus, the neck is not as strongly joined to the body as I'd like it to be, and it still has a bit of "wobble".

But as far as looks goes, this thing is SHARP! I'd recommend this bass as a good beginner bass for someone who's interested in playing 5-string. It sounds good with any strings, but I've found the best ones to be DR HiBeams and D'Addario XL5's.

Construction	70%
Playability	75%
Appearance	100%
Sound	70%
Value	100%
Cust. Service	0%
Overall	75%