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Pros:
- Single Coil Pickups
- Nuanced Sound
- Incredibly Affordable
Cons:
- Pine Body
- Tuning Stability Issues
- String Noise
- Cheap Nut
There is a whole lot of wonder in the world, with a whole lot of intriguing things happening. Things such as the beautifully designed electric guitars that are sold for so little, or the well-constructed quality 5 string bass guitars that are affordable to all. It is a delight for me to know that such instruments exist, and it’s even more of a happy moment to be able to share one with you. The Epiphone “Toby” Standard-IV 5 String Electric Bass is a great instrument with a lot of positive qualities, uncharacteristic for such an affordable guitar. Let’s take a closer look.
Body Quality
The design of the guitar is very basic and understated, with some referring to it as possibly uninspired, while others find it interesting and minimalistic. To be honest, after reviewing so many instruments, I have no choice but to tell any person browsing the website that to find a guitar beautiful or not is entirely up to their taste. While I find this guitar to be a little too basic for my taste, if you find it attractive, appealing or even beautiful, then the guitar was made for you and I encourage you to pick it up. The full body single coloring is a basic choice of a paint style.
The body of the guitar is made out of pine, which is a tonewood choice you do not see too often in the modern guitar manufacturing world. The reason for this is not simple, since pine does have some qualities to make people excited about it. The pine has a great resonance with high tones and mid-tones, as well as a nice level of reverberation of sound. The lightness of the hardwood also makes it rather well known among guitar players, though the softness of the guitar is also something that the hardwood is notorious for. It does not make the best bass guitar tonewood but works to cover the basics.
The neck of the guitar is made out of hard maple, which is a rather traditional choice providing the musician with a nice level durability. You see maple is popular for the simple reason that it is so sturdy and warp-resistant, extending the life of a guitar by a whole lot when it is present in the neck of the guitar. The neck is bolted onto the body of the guitar, which is not the best choice since the body of the guitar is soft. This might result in stability issues in the future. The fretboard of the guitar is made out of rosewood.
Hardware
The guitar comes with a flash mouth, low profile, fully adjustable bridge. This means the guitar has a greatly customizable level of action, as well as a great level of string stability.
The nut of the guitar is made out of a cheapish, low quality plastic material. This results in the instrument having some noise leak into the overall sound of the guitar.
The tuning machine of the guitar is designed to look well, and does this aspect of its job rather well. The problem comes when we consider the tuning stability of the guitar, which leaves more to be desired.
Electronics
The instrument comes with a dual pickup configuration, one pickup located at the neck of the bass guitar and the other located at the bridge. The two single-coil pickups are TBR manufactured and are honestly a rather great choice of single coil. They have a clear sound, with a whole lot of nuance in the tonality of the guitar, though unfortunately, the pickups struggle with filtering the fret noise resulting from the low quality nut.
The guitar comes with a detailed control system, allowing the player to control the individual volumes of the pickups, as well as Pickup blend with specific controls for Bass and Treble.
Tobias Toby Bass Sound
The guitar sounds surprisingly good for an instrument this cheap. The two single-coil TBR pickups provide the instrument with a nuanced and detailed sound, created for the funky tones that are often encountered in disco or even jazz. The fret buzz is present and tends to be annoying, though is easy enough to get around if you replace the nut. The lower tones of the guitar leave more to be desired, but it is not the end, as the guitar performs well in the rest of the tonal ranges.
Conclusion
This is definitely not the best bass guitar you will ever encounter in your life. Though the presence of 5 strings for a price this low might make you consider it. Combine with a nice, nuanced sound and you have yourself an interesting guitar.
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