Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This AXL Badwater Electric Bass is the best bass that I have ever played in this price range. It sounds wonderful, plays well, and looks fantastic. The build quality is very good on this bass. The tuners stay put and are very secure. The control knobs are very tight, turn easily, and feel very secure. On many P Basses, I have had the problem of not being able to rest my thumb on it well. That is not a very big problem with this bass. The precision style pickup is very comfortable and is easy to rest your thumb on. I had a problem with the bridge, however, one of the screws that adjusts the action was stripped out. I could not change the action on the E string, and it was much to high for my liking. Luckily, when I took it back to the shop, it was covered by the warranty, and repaired instantly and for free. As an added bonus, the shopkeeper adjusted the truss rod, and it plays even better now, and the action adjusts perfectly.
Soundwise, this bass is excellent. It can sound either very round and full (perfect for slap), or it can sound hollow and light, and anything in between is just a turn of the tone knob away. Harmonics are difficult to play. They do not seem to want to come off of the strings. However, with a little practice, harmonics are possible to play, just a little difficult. The 14th fret on the A string buzzes, but it is the only fret that does. Still, it buzzes very much and can sometimes be very annoying.
Before I was able to lower the action and the truss rod got adjusted, the playability of the AXL was about average. Thankfully, after the action was lowered and the truss rod adjusted, the AXL now plays very well. All of the frets can be comfortably reached, and all of the strings can be comfortably plucked. One final minor complaint that I have, is that the neck is rather heavy. I used to play with a cheap, very slippery, nylon strap, and the neck would always slide away from me. However, as soon as I bought a high quality leather strap, with excellent traction, the neck no longer slid.
Do the looks really need a review? This bass looks amazing. The beaten up body and distressed hardware give it that wise old look of worn out music gear. Be warned however, that this bass is not really made of red wood as it appears. The lovely read color is just painted , or stained, onto it. I have accidentally chipped some of the paint off only to reveal just plain old wood underneath. Since that issue is only cosmetic, I would not let it turn you away from this bass. The biggest benefit of the worn out look, is that if you dent or scratch it, the damage will blend right in. I have put several dings into the body of this bass, and guess what, no one can tell that they were accidents.
If money is a factor in your bass buying decision, then the AXL Badwater Electric Bass is one of the best that you can get. If money is not a factor, but you just want a good bass to use a backup, then this is a very good bass. While it may not play like a 1 or 2 thousand dollar bass, it certainly plays better than every other 200 dollar bass I have ever played. No one will regret looking into this excellent bass.
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