Artist Vintage Hybrid Fretless 4 string Bass - Passive/Active Preamp

Quality for the price is insane

By: Neil Lindsay on 18 May 2021

When I found the price of this guitar, it really did seem too good to be true. But the quality of the bass, and the sound it produces, really is rather good and will do a great job for anything below professional level. Would highly recommend it.
(5)

By: Artist Guitars

Thanks for your awesome review and we're glad to know that you're happy with your order. Cheers!

Post lockdown review update

By: Andrew on 26 May 2020

I found the bass was pretty quiet with the factory strings. Fitting a set of regular gauge flats (GHS Precision) has really brought the pickups to life and made it an absolute pleasure to play.
(5)

Wow!

By: Anonymous on 12 May 2020

Wow! i'm blown away by the quality and finish of this bass. The fingerboard is better finished than my $1500 'Made in Mexico' Fender P Bass! Amazing to play and looks stunning. I've put on Flatwoud strings (for playing in my Jazz Ensemble) and again Wow! the sound of this thing is awesome. My Heavy Rock Band is going back in the Studio i'll be using 'The Artist' and my Fender. Awesome Product + Awesome Price + Awesome Service = Awesome Trade and i'm not getting paid to say so.
(5)

Excellent Product

By: Mike Mullane on 12 May 2020

Lovely tones on this guitar, perfect feel if fitted with flatwound strings
(5)

Pleasant bass at a good price

By: Andrew on 28 April 2020

Despite its macho looking appearance and size, this bass has a soft melodic voice to it. Its pleasant to play and the P pickup especially has an authentic sound when played against tracks recorded with a P Bass. The J can provide a good horn type sound and has a bright thin nature, being quite close to the bridge. There are plenty of tone options but overall the bass is quiet particularly in passive mode. The neck is a P-Bass style, meaning that it is quite wide around the 12th fret area. On the artist blurb, the nut is described as bone, but it is plastic as per the specs. My bass needed a good set up - the intonation was 50 cents out at the 12th fret. If you aren't confident to adjust neck relief, intonation, pickup height and action, consider a visit to your local guitar tech. The fretboard is pretty even and accurate, but fretless bass does depend on being setup right. The factory strings seem very light and bend out of tone rather easily, but must wait for end of lockdown to try something different. This bass is built well enough and although the hardware is designed to a budget, I wouldn't hesitate to play it in public. There aren't too many options for a budget fretless and this one does a solid job. If there is a re-design, I would vote for a slimmer J-style neck.
(4)

impressed for the price

By: Derek on 5 December 2019

When I purchased this puppy it was on sale so I only paid 249NZD for it. For the price I am shocked at the quality, it should be a complete pile of garbage but in fact it is pretty awesome. Plays great right out of the box, the action is set up pretty well and the intonation throughout the neck is spot on. Crazy value. I love it thanks.
(5)

Smooth!

By: Jonathan Joukhadar on 28 August 2019

Beautiful feel! sound is great. great range in tone.
(5)

Hybrid fretless bass

By: william w voight on 28 June 2018

I was absolutely blown away by the quality of this instrument in relation to the price, the build quality is beyond fault . the preamp does produce a pop through the amplifier when switching from active to passive but that is not a major issue. for the price of this bass I can afford to up grade the preamp. this is not a criticism as the bass is perfectly fine as it is . This is something I choose to do. As with all the items I have purchased from Artist guitars, the service is excellent . I have also purchases two sets of Xvive wireless systems for my basses and am thrilled with those as well. Highly recommended.
(5)