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(More customer reviews)Bass: Lightwave Saber Bass, VL 5 string, Transparent Amber
First off, the finish. Simply gorgeous. The back of the neck I would describe as a satin finish, very smooth. The color is not quite as yellow as pictured, but rather a richer, mellow, sun shining on fields of golden wheat, or what a posh interior decorator might call burnt umber, hints of orange are very strong. Visually, I get comments all the time when I'm gigging about what a beautiful bass it is, and they're correct. Plus, if you missed it, that little half moon towards the top of the body is actually a sound hole of sorts. It's what I describe as a semi hollow body, which I think just adds to it's intrigue.
When I ordered the bass, since it was a fretless, I also ordered some Thomastik-Infeld flatwound bass strings, to really accentuate that smooth fretless sound. The range of tone I'm still learning to master, it's not your typical tone setup with knobs, so it takes a little playing around with to really dial in your tone, but it's there.
(One thing that intrigues me about using light sensors to pick up string vibration rather than magnetic, is that I don't believe I'm confined to using strictly metallic strings. And I love the Thomastik-Infeld flatwound bass strings, but I was toying around with the idea of maybe putting on some real cat gut or synthetic strings.)
Playability is great. Occasionally while out on a gig, I'll let one of my friends get up and play, not even warning them they are stepping into a fretless. Since it's a lined fretless, it's very easy to see exactly where you are at, and I've even heard from a few friends after they didn't even realize it was a fretless until I pointed it out. The action came from the factory nice and low, I haven't had to adjust anything there, and the weight of the instrument, since it is this "semi hollow body" type of construction, it's very light, especially when compared to my 5 string Music Man Sting Ray.
The down side - if you like to pop and slap, I'd say stick with a fretted version of this instrument, since I have yet to really see a fretless popped and slapped well. I think you need that fretted connection to really get the tone from that style of playing. Also, this bass has a built in rechargeable battery, which lasts surprisingly long on a charge. The down side there is you always make sure you have the charger with you (just in case) it starts to run out during a gig. You can't swap batteries, but you can charge it while you are playing with it. The charging cord is very long, so you can move around on stage a little while it is charging back up, and charge times are pretty quick, 15-30 minutes will give you enough charge for the rest of the gig.
Changing strings - probably the biggest learning curve for me was figuring out this process. And don't misunderstand me, the physical act of changing the string is the same as on any other bass. The caveat here, is that since you've put on a new string, the optical sensor now has to be adjusted for optimal signal output. The bass comes with instructions that explain the process, the back panel must be removed to allow access to the trim pots, and you'll probably spend an hour with it the first time you change your strings trying to figure out how it works, it's not something you'll be doing in between songs at a gig. At least, not the first time. But since I don't play hard, I never break my strings, so this confronts me very seldom.
Over all, the looks are fantastic, has great playability, lots of room to craft the tone you want, light weight means hours of playing at a gig without back fatigue, and the analog signal from the light sensors maybe the truest sound replication you'll ever get from your electric. I love this bass...
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LightWave Saber Bass VL 5-String Fretless, Transparent Amber
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