Electric Upright Bass Database

BSX Bass - Allegro Acoustic

• Vintage: 2003
• Number of Strings: 4
  • Double bass strings compatible
• Bowable: Yes
• Thumb Reference: D
• Playable Seated: Yes
• Balance While Playing: (8/10)

Aesthetics:
1) Beautiful piece of ebony for fingerboard was used. Very thick, very smooth and nice and dark.
2) Neck feels perfect and the maple with walnut strip looks great.
3) I love the look of the headstock and the body. Very classy. String holder matching contour of end of ebony board is a nice touch.
4) Finish done very well. Virtually no flaws that I could notice without looking really hard.
All features that I asked for that Dino and I agreed to were done to my satisfaction (at no extra charge!) (color, shading on neck)
5) Nice straight pine was used for the top, and the plywood for the back is incredibly strong (seven ply!!)

Electronics superb:
1) Incredibly quiet and well shielded.
2) Center detents for tone controls nice feature
3) Individual volume controls per string on hidden pots very nice feature
4) Bridge transducer well made: Obvious that a lot of attention was paid to make look and sound good (slots cut between strings presumably to reduce string-to-string coupling). Removable bridge on dowels nice touch for portability.
5) Placement of electronics well thought out. They are easy to get to and don't get in the way.

Portability:
1) New neck connection system is great! Easiest system I've seen for removing neck and changing action
2) Small and light (compared to the acoustic counterpart)

Action/Playability/Hardware:
1) I like the focus on neck angle rather than bridge height for adjustment of action. My understanding is that most bridge height adjusters alter the tone of an instrument (and not always for the better)
2) I like the tummy rest quite a bit. Although it would be nice if the angle could be adjusted (maybe it can, but I don't know how).
3) I'm glad a SOLID bar of aluminum was used for the peg stand. Much more reliable than the hollow ones I usually see.
4) Battery compartment well thought out and easy to use.

Tone:
1) Spirocores sound great on this bass. Tone very even, no "dead spots" that I can find. Bowing is nice but I really need to practice more before I can comment further.
2) I set the bass flat and go into a poweramp and I have the sound I want and it is very responsive to my technique (where I pluck for example)
3) I told Dino the sound I was trying to get and let him choose the woods. Pine for the top was used and it gets a very warm/woody tone.

Overall, I LOVE this instrument and look forward to reaching my full potential on it.