Michael Kelly 5 custom collection element 5

[happychicken]

I bought one of these basses recently and brought it to church to play for the first time and was very underwhelmed. The active passive switched made such a loud pop when I turned it to active I got scared. The active switch also hummed quite a bit much more then when in passive mode. A look from the sound guy and passive I went also some notable hum that was quite distracting.
So the preamp in this thing I aweful in my opinion and rather unusable. Has anyone modded these basses with a new preamp and pickups? I am wondering if it’s worth it

 

[WMaurice]

Wow, I wish I saw your review before I bought mine. I am selling mine ASAP. I bought the same bass last month and it was underwhelming to begin with. I called the company about the poor workmanship/quality control issues I noticed immediately. I got high promises and no delivery. Then I took it to a guitar builder to be fixed. And he had nothing flattering to say about the bass. In fact, he said it needed a lot of work and called it a "low end" bass. He complained that it needed a lot of work and that he did his best to make it playable. Most of what it needed related to fretwork. Bad quality and poor service makes me feel like I was robbed. So much for buying a bass on looks! Never again and I would not recommend it to anyone.

 

[Jason Guthartz]

I'm the person who bought this bass from @WMaurice. After I adjusted the truss rod & action, it plays great! Not sure what the problem was; no fret buzz, good intonation. It may not have the quality or playability of my old Ken Smith 5-string, but I don't see what would cause someone to describe it as "low end".
(note: The pre-amp had been upgraded to a John East J Retro Deluxe, so I can't comment on the electronics that come with this model from the factory.)

 

[Perderder]

I bought one of these basses recently and brought it to church to play for the first time and was very underwhelmed. The active passive switched made such a loud pop when I turned it to active I got scared. The active switch also hummed quite a bit much more then when in passive mode. A look from the sound guy and passive I went also some notable hum that was quite distracting.
So the preamp in this thing I aweful in my opinion and rather unusable. Has anyone modded these basses with a new preamp and pickups? I am wondering if it’s worth it

My parents went to a Victor Wooten concert and on a whim, my mother put her name in a raffle. She won, and now I have one of these signed by the Wooten himself! I doubt I would have bought one of these, but with the story, the signature, and the price (free), I think I got a great deal!

 

[happychicken]

Keep it on your wall!
Just don’t play it
POS of the finest kind
I need to avoid marketing buzz. But the sire had great buzz also and it was decent. I mean not a professional instrument like people claim but worth more the sticker in my opinion.

 

[gerrywarwick]

I walked into Sam Ash for strings and this quilt top caught my eye. I want expecting much but was very impressed. I thought it w.c the Aguilar rig I played through. I walked out with it for $379 and thought I would mod it at some point but it still sounded good at home. It's lighter than my Fender American Standard V, both Watwick RBs and my Sire V7. The B string is really good too. The only down side is the fret work. Yikes, it's a real chainsaw but that can be dealt with. Maybe it's the overwound pickups but this alder bass sound like the ash bass I've always wanted.
It's set up perfectly now and plays better than I do, since I'm coming off of a 1 year finger injury. Just thought I'd leave some info here for those on the fence or at the store, lol.
Oh, I put up a quick sound test today on YT.

 

[jd56hawk]

I tried out the 4-string version at Sam Ash...beautiful burl finish looked great with the black hardware, nice neck, etc.
Tone was probably the worst I'd ever heard, bad enough to hang it back up and never look at another one.
Could it have simply been the strings?
I doubt it. Played countless other basses that sounded good enough even with factory strings that I could imagine what they'd sound like with better strings.

 

[gerrywarwick]

Admittedly, all of the others I tried that day sounded pretty average to bad. The ebony tops and what not, looked great but again, sounded bad. The one I took was way better than the identical ones next to it. It's like getting that one MIM jazz that blows the others away. I like the top and it's my first 35 scale bass. I can see mods in its future though.