Yamaha BEX-4 Hollow-Body 4 String Reviews 5

I went to buy strings and kill time at the local music store (The Arts), wandered around a bit, and tried it out. Love at first note! I bought it for $499 (Canadian, reduced from $849), including a hard case.

The BEX-4 has an alder body with a maple veneer finish, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. It has a humbucker & a piezo pickup, and 3 band active EQ. The range of sounds you can get from it is astounding - from growly, nothing-but-bottom-end to Rickenbacker-esque punchy top end, and absolutely loaded with tone. The sustain is measured in days. The neck is slim, with 20 generously-sized frets. It plays light and fast, and requires next to no effort. The action is kinda high right out of the box. The easiest bass to play that I've come across.

It would be nice is the inside of this was black, as the f-holes kind of jump out, showing the unfinished wood inside the body. It's just a hair on the big side, and practising sitting down it can kind of dig into your chest. Also, I wish that I'd found this years ago.

Top notch. Of the three that were for sale, I couldn't find a single flaw on any of them - I wound up with the one that had the . It's a solidly built piece of work. Heck even the case is awesome.

Heck of a bass, no two ways about it. If you don't mind something that looks pretty jazz-blues like, it's a great bass for the price. Plays great, sounds great, looks great.

Mister Fear rated this unit 5 on 2002-06-02.

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