Brice Review: HXB 406

History:

Purchase: I surfed the web for a year or more gathering pictures and prices of all models of basses. I have played bass 30+/- years and spent from $80.00 for Paul Revere and the Raiders Phantom style Domino, to over $3k for a Warwick Thumbbass. With many Gibson, Fender's, Peavy's, Hyundai's,and a night with a Conklin 7 string inbetween. I saw the Brice 6 Quilted Maple blonde/black on Ebay and started to read the reviews, they were all passionately enthusiastic. The six string bass sells for $279.00 plus case and shipping and I figured if the bass was a dog I could turn around and sell it again on Ebay.

What I Like About This Brice HXB 406: Rondo Music www.rondomusic.com filled my order and I had the bass at my door 7 days from placing the order. I have been playing my black maple quilt top straight out of the box, no bridge adjustment, no neck adjustment, no nothin' for several months now. It's intonation is perfect. The string height across all frets is fast with no buzz anywhere. The tonal quality spans a range as wide as the Warwick did, from fat round Jamerson, to tight slapping funk. And with the money I saved I bought a van to get the Mrs. and me to the gig.

What I Do NOT Like About The Brice HXB 406: All of you might buy up the other models before I can get enough money to expand my line up.

Brice HXB 406 Quality Rating: The construction is the strongest point. Everything is right on. At least on mine. The neck is flat as an aircraft carrier deck, humidity does'nt effect it. The bridge has a wide range of adjusment if needed and I especially like the through the body design. Having played many bridge setups this one delivers the best continuous string tension while playing. Which translates into the bass stays in tune longer, and if you get really physical the string is less likly to be pulled off the saddle. I.e. see my '67 Gibson EB3, or any on the deck bridge with plastic or metal saddles.

Review Summary: The "feel" is great. The neck is not so wide that I have to grope for the bottom B string. Maple necks I always thought felt the best in my hand, even better than the 6 ply Warwick. The bass is light, unlike the Warwick. And those few extra low notes are really shaking the rafters. If you have always been a 4 stringer like me spend a few dollars and play this sexy six.

Rating of this Brice product: 5

This Brice HXB 406 Bass Guitars Review Submitted By: Peter Zabriskie

Review Date: 2005-01-18