[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]

Takamine B10 Fretless 4 String Acoustic Electric Bass (Red Stain) Review

Takamine B10 Review

"This is a 34" scale archtop the size of a cello. AAMOF I keep it in a cello case and it just barely fits. It's built to be played upright or horizontally and comes with an excellent endpin but no strap buttons. I added strap buttons in the usual places for archtops and found it can hang, balanced, on the strap, at any angle icluding near-to-upright and be easily played.



The sound is unique to true archtops. Any old f-holed ax with a curved top is not necessarily a true archtop. Most are just posers. The B10 has a an unbraced top [with 2 bass bars but no sound post] with a floating bridge midway between 2 properly located f-holes. That's so close to the fiddle design that it come thru in a very cello like bass voice. No flattop can sound like this.



The trapeze tail has the pivot relocated in a unique manner, with adjusters that tweak the final tone.



The onboard electronics that runs on "AA" cells does have amazing and useful features, incl built-in reverb, chromatic tuning, and easily retrieved multiple EQ settings. There's also an access hatch on the back in case one needs to service the wiring, etc.



This bass is in the price and size range of the discontinued Taylor-Klein flattop, and I feel it is more up to the job than the T-K. It's a very good looker 'in person'. Its appearance sets up an audience expectation for a special sound, which it DELIVERS.



I have 3 complaints, one of which [batteries] can be fixed for about $50:



1. The pair of "AA" batteries last about 8 to 12 hrs playing time. Not expensive but annoyingly short life. It should have a bigger battery box, located on the back of the body, for a pair of "C" cells instead. This is a do-able modification.



2. It is prone to feedback. Just looking at it, you know it's likely, and your eyes are not deceiving you. But that's life with this genre of instrument. The onboard notch filter is not very effective against feedback.



3. This type of ax is more work to play. It has lower action and a thinner neck than an URB, but compared to a bass guitar, the neck is huge and the action is higher [even when properly set up]. Again, that's life with this type of ax."