Build Quality: | |
Hardware: | |
Electronics: | |
Sound: | |
Value: | |
Average: |
Pros:
- Comfortable
- Classic Look
- Jazzy Sound
Cons:
- Not long lived pickups
- Blue coloring looks boring
When I see a bass guitar that looks comfortable to play and is very cheap, I get a little overexcited. I mean who wouldn’t, especially when they see some of the greatest virtues combined in a single instrument? On the other hand, it is more than a little dangerous to get excited about a single instrument like this, since not everything that shines is gold. This is why we are going to take a close look a the Peavey MILESTONE VINTAGE Milestone - one of the best cheap bass guitars.
Body Quality
The design of the guitar takes after the many that came before and with it. Made to look like its cousins, all of them more popular than this one, the guitar loses its shine a little in the crowd of similarity. Yet still the well-refined design aspects of the guitar culminate in a rather handsome-looking instrument, one with slim wings for its double cutaway. The coloring options for the guitar are mostly rather interesting, with the red sunburst option being my favorite. Though the multiple options available to the buyer make this a guitar for everyone.
The body of the guitar is built out of maple, which is not seen too often in solid-body bass guitars. Still, this seems like an interesting choice for the bass guitar. Maple has a lot of qualities that could make the instrument unique in terms of sound. The most important of these qualities is the resonance with the higher tones. The presence of maple results in the guitar having a brighter tone, with well-expressed high and mid-tones. The sturdy nature of the maple results in a very sturdy body. The tonewood is known to be on the heavy side though, so watch out!
The neck of the guitar is built out of maple as well. This is a much more traditional choice among all guitars. Maple is often encountered among guitar necks since it able to provide the instrument with a lot of sturdiness. The resulting neck is resistant to warping and most types of impact damage. Really good stuff for the guitar’s longevity. The neck is bolted onto the body of the guitar, which in this case works decently well. The fretboard of the guitar is made out of rosewood, which is always a good choice.
Hardware
The guitar comes with a four-saddle vintage-style bridge. This system allows the guitar some really nice string stability, as well as some enjoyable string action to play with.
The nut of the guitar is a mid-range quality synthetic material. This means that the guitar has a decent enough nut to keep the sound clean and the harmony intact.
The tuning machine of the guitar is designed in the vintage style, so as to look good with the rest of the guitar’s design. The tuning stability of the guitar is decent so you won’t be getting annoyed with your instrument too much.
Electronics
The guitar comes with a two-pickup setup, one located in the middle of the guitar and the other located at the bridge of the guitar. The pickup at the middle of the instrument is a Peavey brand split coil. This means flexibility between a clear, bright sound and a lower, warmer sound. The bridge pickup is a single coil, which results in a stable clearness in the sound of the guitar. The two pickups are decent quality, though I am not entirely convinced of their longevity.
The controls of the bass guitar are rather simplistic, for the sake of ease of use. The guitar comes with two individual volume knobs and a single master tone knob.
Peavey Milestone Bass Sound
The guitar’s sound is rather lovely. It provides the player with a flexible, versatile tone so that the musician can perform both a funky, bright tone and a low, heavy, and warm tone. The presence of a single coil keeps the guitar sounding bright even when the humbucker setting is on for the second pickup. The maple body of the guitar means that the instrument definitely has a bias toward sounding bright. A bass guitar is destined to work well in the jazz world, especially during those fun solo performances.
Conclusion
The Peavey MILESTONE VINTAGE Milestone Bass Guitar is not a one-of-a-kind instrument, but it definitely is one to get if you are looking for cheap, but well-performing bass guitars. It is comfortable to play and handsome enough to be proud of. Definitely Recommended.