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Traben Neo Limited Reviews 5 / 5 based on 2 reviews4 string transparent red spalt maple with string through body. Active electronics, two soap bars, one volume and 4 blend knobs. Plan on putting a set of DR's on it.
In a church band now, playing 3 years in this band. Played in high school and college.
Bought at Music GO Round new old stock. Bought to replace my 4 string or outdoor gig bass. Also played a fender Squire.
I based my review on Traben guitar site, their youtube videos, Listening to John Copper of Skilet talk about Traben bass's
then trying the bass for myself in the store (I wasn't dissapointed)
So I heard the full sound first, watched others play the instrument, then played it for myself.
My other bass is a Peavey Cirus 5 String (I don't take it outside).
I use an Eden EN300 amp with an 4 om 4 X 10 Eden Cabinet
very fast neck, rosewood fretboard, with abolone dot inlays. Frets are nice size/// smaller than my ole washburn but larger than my peavey. Great fit and finish on the bass.. no gaps around the soap bars, extremely deep finish. Set up great from music Go Round. Low finger action and with no buzz. Chrome hardware, active electronics and 4 blend knobs (they really work well) with plenty of different sounds without a pedal.
a touch heavey, but I've got a great strap so who cares.
the quality and fit and finish seems to be that of a higher end bass. I know there is no way it could have been hand made, but the fit is really good. Traben really threw some nice quality touches in on this bass. Spalt maple is gorgeous, and the transparent red gloss out of this world.
The electronics are almost as good as my peavey's.
This is a great intermediate bass. There are better basses out there, but you pay hundreds more for them. You won't be dissatisfied with it (how could you for this price, quality and sound?) joel rated this unit on 2011-05-09. I have been playing guitar for about 8 years, and started playing bass about a year ago. I play bass in church now all the time, and just got hired as the new bassist for a local band. I have a very broad interest in music, from rock to gospel and everything in between. Give it to me, I'll play it.
I found this bass at Firehouse Guitars in Holland Michigan. Paid $349. Found out after I bought it, that Traben only made 12 of the Neo Limited 4 string that I got. It has a birdseye birch top on it, which is absolutely beautiful. Traben apparently made these by mistake, and Firehouse (a/k/a Geartree.com) bought all 12. I lucked out and got one. I constantly get positive comments on the looks of this bass.
I like everything about this bass. The active electronics could not be set up any better. Separate bass, mid, treble, and pickup blend controls have center detents for a reference point. You have so much control at your fingertips, which is great if you need to make adjustments "on the fly" in front of an audience. Great, thundering low end with the neck pickup by itself, you can blend the 2 pickups to a middle of the road sound, or go completely with the bridge pickup for a brighter sound, and everything in between. The neck and rosewood fretboard have a great feel. The 5 piece maple/walnut neck is great, the neck has yet to move or twist The finish is outstanding. I ditched the stock strings for some D'Addarios, a big improvement.
Maybe a little on the heavy side, but a good strap takes care of that. My Squier P-bass special that I started out on is actually heavier. I do get some buzz around fluorescent lighting, but I think that's standard with most equipment. The standard chrome plated brass nut was too tall - too much buzz on the last fret. Changing that to a bone nut (or you could use graphite) made a world of difference.
I have used this for about 6 months now, I play and/or practice almost every day. Absolutely no problems mechanically, keep the fluorescent lights shut off and it's dead quiet. I have been looking for a second bass for backup since I'm now in a band (and the Squier is gathering dust). I think I'll go with another Traben, maybe an Array this time.
I notice the price has gone up on the Traben basses since I got mine, but they are still well worth their price. I was recently at a Guitar Center, really looking for a larger amp, but decided to try out other basses while I was there too. I'm way too spoiled by this Neo - the only other brand I felt was even close was a high end Peavey, but I still think the Traben is a better buy. You can also get the Neo Custom, which should be even better than my Limited, comes out of the factory with Seymour Duncan pickups. Traben's customer service has also been excellent, they are very helpful (thanks Todd!!). luckykrieg rated this unit on 2007-12-01.
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