jp_nyc
Kick Henry Jackassowski
A few weeks ago I bought a used Squier Affinity P-Bass. It was a mess, so I cleaned it up and put new strings on. When I tuned it up the fucker had over a centimeter of neck relief. That neck is still clamped to a cabinet and is probably going to become firewood. So I went to my local music store to buy a new one and…a Squier Affinity P-Bass isn’t worth $179. Maybe $100, but not $179.
Enter Monoprice. The Monoprice instruments can’t be too bad—after all, they’re set up by Master Luthier Roger Gresco. Worst case scenario the Monoprice bass sucks and I send it back on their dime. So I pulled the trigger on a 6th St Pub Bass. I’m pretty sure it’s named after a bar Monotype staff go to in Toronto, which is a damned shame, because Canadian beer fucking sucks like a Tijuana hooker at a petting zoo. But I swallowed my American dank IPA pride and ordered it with the 15% off code they were running last weekend.
Today the bass turned up. UPS did their usual great job of stomping holes in the box so big that I had to photograph them before opening because I was expecting a neck break. But Monoprice did a good job packing the instrument and it survived the trip. They even packed the instrument inside a mylar bag inside the gig bag, I assume to prevent rapid temperature shocks. As for the gig bag, this is the cheapest gig bag I’ve ever seen. If these gig bags are recycled into condoms there will be an epidemic of STDs and ugly, fatherless children doomed to grow into useless cunts.
Sadly, the mylar bag didn’t keep this thing set up between Master Luthier Roger Gresco signing the Certificate of Inspection (really) and the bass getting to me. The neck was starting to back bow and open notes were rattling on the first fret. But it’s January, and this thing came from Ontario to Colorado in four days, so I’m lucky none of the frets popped. I let it warm up in the gig bag for the rest of the day and pulled it back out after I got the kids to bed. A few truss rod tweaks and it plays fine.
So here’s the lowdown on the Monoprice P-Bass copy:
- The strings are passable round wounds, and a little on the heavy side. The tension isn’t a big deal because Master Luthier Roger Gresco made sure to set the action low. I’m going to swap them for light half rounds tomorrow.
- The body is almost an exact clone of the Squier P-Bass. The only notable difference is that the bottom is a little more rounded.
- The neck is almost an exact clone of the Squier P-Bass. It feels a little thinner. I think that’s because the satin finish is incredibly thin. It feels unfinished, and I had to rotate it in the light to be sure it wasn’t. Fretwork is typical for an Asian bass in the $250–$500 range. Fret ends are much better than the Squier Affinity series. The truss rod is a step up from most cheap instruments, so it’s easy to crank it too far.
- The fretboard is an attractive slab of rosewood covered in dust from fret finishing. I guess that’s one way to cut costs without sacrificing quality somewhere it matters.
- Monoprice basses come with contemporary high-mass bridges. Visible divots from the cheap mold make it clear this isn’t on par with $100+ bridges from Hipshot or Badass. But I don’t see anything comparable out there for less than $50. That’s a huge upgrade over any other bass under $200.
- The tuning machines are nice. Instead of the heavy vintage-style tuners common on cheap basses Monoprice uses light Gotoh-style tuners. These are even adjustable—Master Luthier Roger Gresco locked them down too tight and I need to loosen them up a little. These tuners are a small upgrade, but anyone who’s had a vintage tuner key that rattles will appreciate them.
- The pickups sound fine but are on the quiet side. That’s generally fine, but too quiet to be heard with the default settings in Rocksmith.