Bass on a budget - a rather tricky proposition. More often than not, a very affordable bass manifests too many compromises, it affects playability & tone. Bottom line - why bother. The Aria STB-PB/M is indeed a budget bass ($299) but it's worthy of your considerations.
Likes
- good playability, no fret sprouts
- smooth pots
- responsive tuners
- well-slotted nut
Dislikes
- tone taper could have been better
- heavy
This is one of those no frills bass on a budget, no doubt about it. Hardly any oversight in terms of build, impressive in this price range. If you are a tone connoisseur (wondering why you are looking up basses in this price bracket), chances are, you'll be bothered by the tone control sweep; a marked brightness / bottom end boom is virtually absent here. Some electronics upgrade should do the trick but adding on components which eventually exceed the instrument's price is not a prudent move, yes? Also, be mindful of the substantial neck profile, a complete opposite from a Yamaha Attitude / Ibanez SR. I see this being favoured by home-recording enthusiasts & those in need of an above-average bass to get things done disregarding its lack of flash; it's plain looking indeed but it's not awful. Recommended 👍
Final rating: 85%
Aria: STB-PB/M ($299) - available @ Davis GMC
No comments:
Post a Comment