Best Choice Products Acoustic Electric Bass Guitar, Full Size 4 String, Fretted Bass Guitar w/Padded Gig Bag - Blue

As a player since the early 90s...I was stupefied by how good this cheap pos sounds. Seriously. I f'n love it! Aggressive tone. Takes a beating.I'm a musician/engineer/guitar tech (former Gibson guitar tech). I had all my tools out, prepared to set this thing up when I got it. F me...it was perfect out of the box. Hahaha. Even had good strings on it! WTF!?!

First off, let me note that this is a $70 AE bass (the lowest price I've ever seen for an acoustic-electric), so I'm not going to compare it to the $500 Michael Kelly Club Custom sitting next to me or the $600+ Kelly Dragonfly basses I've played recently. Instead, I'm going to compare it to my realistic expectations. You don't buy a $2,000 used econobox at the car lot and then expect to drive off of the lot in a new $70,000 Mercedes. You just hope that it will reliably get you from Point A to Point B.Shipping/Packaging: I ordered it on a Thursday; it arrived Tuesday morning. The packaging was well-done with no damage.Color and Finish: The color (which some have complained about) is exactly as it appears in the picture, and I love it! Much to my surprise, the finish is flawless, even in bright, outdoor sunlight. Not a single chip, ding, or scratch. The details and the bridge are pretty cheap-looking, but what do you expect at this price? For the bridge (which was pretty rough in spots), I lightly sanded it and applied some walnut stain - after protecting the body with blue painter's tape. It was a minor detail perhaps, but the bridge went from looking cheap to looking pretty sharp. I also polished the fretboard with lemon oil (it seemed a bit dry), and that added a gorgeous luster.Size and Shape: Be aware that this is a short scale (30") bass - most likely just mass-produced and also used as a guitar body. That's probably why it has an annoying pickguard, something not typically found on an acoustic bass. However, it blends in with the color well, and I don't dare to try removing it. The bass is very, very light in weight compared to most AE basses, almost feeling like it's made from balsa wood. In fact, this "bass" is actually much more like a guitar than a true acoustic bass.Setup and Strings: You don't absolutely have to, but it's a good idea to replace the strings if you want a better sound. I put a $20 set of D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings (long-scale) on it, and they make a world of difference. When I changed the strings, I also went through a pretty standard setup/checkout on it, and it did need some work, some of which I described above, but it's just a bit of detailing and fine-tuning anyone can do with a little bit of study. [See the comment section of this review for some additional advice.]There was no fret buzz, however, I did make a minor adjustment to the truss rod. adding 1/4 turn clockwise to lower the strings slightly, improving the "playability", but this is simply a matter of preference, not necessity.You may not have to deal with this, but one problem I did have is that the intonation was noticeably off - sharp at the 12th fret. After pulling the strings off, I noticed that the saddle sits in its notch with a little bit of slop. As the strings are tightened, it angles just a bit forward (toward the top).What I did to fix this problem was to fill the front with a thin strip of metal (I used an extra 0.55mm feeler gauge that was perfect when cut down), and between pushing the saddle backwards and more vertical, I gained about 1.0mm at the top of the saddle which was enough to correct the minor intonation problem. I could have just as easily used a strip from a soup can lid.To check the intonation, you can use an inexpensive tuner like the Snark SN-8, or if you have a good "ear", you can simply tune the 12th fret pressed down to the same pitch as the 12th fret harmonic. Another option which would probably improve the tone somewhat is to replace the plastic saddle with a bone saddle. It's not very expensive or difficult to do that, but it seemed a bit like overkill for this bass, so I didn't bother.Hardware and Electronics: The frets were good (no roughness), the tuning machines/pegs and electronics/EQ work fine (although they are cheap - the E string is underamped, and you tend to get feedback easily). All of the various screws/bolts/nuts were tight. Some people pull them and then reinstall them with Loctite, but I didn't see the need for that at this time. I've seen a few complaints here that this bass goes out of tune, but that's probably just due to the strings stretching, something that is normal for any bass and new strings, regardless of price. For a strap nut at the headstock, I just added an inexpensive separate wrap-around headstock strap with a strap button.To sum up, it exceeded my expectations (which were admittedly low), and I added these five items to complete the package:- D'Addario EPBB170 Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Bass Strings, Long Scale, 45-100- Ernie Ball 4037 Black Polypro Strap- Acoustic Guitar Strap Button (Black)- World Tour BG20D Deluxe 20mm Bass Guitar Gig Bag- Snark SN-8 Super Tight All Instrument TunerI certainly wouldn't recommend it as a professional/gigging axe or for serious study, but for a beginner, a child, or a bass to take camping, it's a great bargain. Also, it looks nice hanging on the wall next to my other basses, and I'll admit that one of the reasons I went through the "detailing" that I did was so that I could say to my musical friends, "You are not going to *believe* what I paid for this!".For what it purports to be, I'm more than satisfied, and I absolutely give it five stars.-TJ

A friend of mine hand-makes fine quality instruments and explained that nearly everything these days is modeled and shaped automatically, such that even inexpensive instruments are as good on most levels as the more expensive styles. The fingerboard is fake wood, but that just means its engineered to perfection for something to play around with.

Sometimes, you can buy an inexpensive instrument and it will sound great. This is one of those instruments. I hope my post helps others, I’ve been playing acoustic guitar, bass guitar and other instruments for more than 30 years.Here is the breakdown on this acoustic electric bass guitar.What came in the box:1) On the box, the guitar was made by Sky Enterprise, the model of this bass is 427 for the one that is natural color.2) The box came with pick guard that has a Self Adhesive sticker on the back. I am glad that the manufacturer is giving the owner the option. To me, I like the way the bass looks without it, but end game... it depends if the player heavily uses a pick or not.. some do.3) There was no hex wench for the truss rod, however I have ones that fit already.. so no big deal on that.4) The guitar did have foam wrapping inside, and then just the thin outside box. I think that there should have been another external box for more protection.Physical condition / Fit and Finish:1) Unlike others that have posted, on the one I got... “no” scratches or other damage. The body is perfect! There is abalone for the rosette, and the front top wood may be spruce, the sides and back very much do look like mahogany.2) The fretboard is supposedly rosewood, and it was “very dry”, I put 3 dime sized drops of Old English lemon oil (not polish) to condition the fretboard. The strings were not tight (as they should) so it was easy to rub in the oil.3) The “BC” that is on the head stock was very faded, and not to noticeable unless you get in close to the guitar. I don't think that was intentional by the manufacturer, however I very much like the way the logo looks. It's not pronounced. more faded with the wood itself.4) There is a strap bottom on the very bottom of the guitar and another one of the side of the “neck” toward the body, not sure if that was added as an after thought as I read some posts here on Amazon that there was no 2nd strap button.5) The built in equalizer is a model: EQ-7545R which you can find by itself on Amazon. The volume knob does not seem too solid, so be careful about that when your turning that volume knob, the other sliders on the EQ, seem good. The battery check light works. Also note that the 9-volt battery is installed and has plastic wrap on it, so you have to pull the battery compartment out and then take that plastic wrap off..don’t forget about that.Sound / Playability:1) All the frets are fine, they seem to be all the right height.. no dead spots.. nothing. The ends of the frets are "dressed", no need to file them.2) I did have to tighten the truss rod, that that helped bring down the string height. The white saddle the the strings goes over on the bridge, that piece does come out, and I took down “half” of the material using a dermel rotary tool, then a flat metal file and that also helped get the strings height lowered for better playability. Don’t forget to look on YouTube for instructions on adjusting the truss rod and saddle, "you can" do the basic set up yourself. It's more of a feel, see and play "thing"... more than anything else.3) Some people in the comments has said that the biggest string, the “E” string does not sound loud enough when the guitar is plugged into an amplifier. Try adjusting the equalizer settings, take down “higher end” on the right of the guitar equalizer and then turn up the “mid” or “high” on your amplifier, that may balance out the sound more.4) The bridge looks more like a classical style bridge. It has no bridge pins, only holes that go thru the bridge itself. I went with light gauge D'Addario Strings, which I may return for some phosphor acoustic ones, not 100% on that. Another idea, is Nylon strings. Also to note, buy bass guitar strings that are short scale. Also to add, that light strings tend to be brighter, but the upside of that, they are easier to press down and \ fret and also less tension on the neck and bridge.5) The strings that comes with the guitar, are “ok” for the short term, but I can see physical imperfections of the strings themselves, like the wounds are mushed up in some areas of each string. There is plenty of new ones to choose from on Amazon.Final Conclusion:This electric acoustic bass guitar is a Christmas present but I needed to check out that there was not any outstanding issues with it. From what I can see, this is perfect. I have not seen any acoustic electric bass guitars, that the body has that cutaway shape in this low price range.. anywhere. It’s definitely worth buying 100%… Have a great holiday season! - Tom

Very nice been wanting one for a while