US Masters EP-52 Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsBass Northwest. [Barely] Used $700 USD.
BassNW has been an excellent souce for me
so I was really just browsing their site
with nothing special in mind, looking at
the pictures, etc., and I saw this bass.
I read some reviews before ordering it,
and they all ranged from very positive to
very-very positive.
It's passive. It's shop-built [not custom
but not factory]. Got kickbutt humbuckers.
Neck is wide but easy with 19mm spacing at
the bridge. Looks a bit special without
looking flashy or exotic. Bolt-on neck
with super comfy neck joint. Allows very
low action and minimal relief without any
buzz or rattle. Medium weight, doesn't
feel heavy, doesn't float like a feather.
Sperzel Locking tuners. Strange tone
controls [not bad, just strange]. Can't
ever shim neck joint due to interlocked
design [personal thing]. Top horn is a
bit short [balance is OK but a long top
horn will shift a bass more toward the
player's right side, which I prefer].
Many woods are offered. Mine is solid
maple with clear gloss. Great finish.
Neck is very figured, looks cool. Fret
work is great. No annoying fret ends,
no buzzing. Bridge has the side walls
that keep the saddles packed together.
Controls are smooth and quiet, and very
effective [but weird, see their website]
and the dual humbuckers are loud and
deep but with a good upper end too. Jack
is on a heavy oval plate.
Really cool, unique but not too weird.
Passive tone, somewhere between G&L and
Spector. A mix of proven traditional
bass building with some new ideas that
very clearly work [the comfort ideas are comfy and you can hear the tone voicing
for yourself].
I'd rate it at '5' if the top horn were
longer, tuners were not Sperzels, and a
series-parallel switch were added. YMMV.
Golem rated this unit
on
2005-07-14.
