Conklin Groove Tools GT-4

Playing rock based music, mostly progressive rock in a studio band.

Purchased used for $350 on ebay. Had heard very good things in terms of playability and sound.

The GT4 (4 string) is a very player friendly bass, with a slim neck, 2 soapbar pickups, and four controls (bass, mid, neck & bridge pickup volumes). The tone of the pickups, electronics and the wood structure lend itself well to versatile tones useful for many styles of play: fingered, picked, slap, etc. The neck is fast as well as string action. The extra long horn on top makes the bass look unusual. Back of the neck is a natural satin finish which is vastly superior in my book to glossy finishes which tend to hinder hand movement on the neck due to it's "stickiness" on the hand in hotter or more humid environments. The locking output jack is handy preventing the cable from disconnecting during gigs and the like. This ax is well balanced for standing.

There isn't all that much to dislike. A few minor complaints...the strap button on the horn is actually on the back of the horn...not my favorite location when strapping it on. I prefer a single pickup blend control vs. two volume controls.

This bass is about 5 years old and has shown some wear. The tuners were loose and one of the tuners quite hard to turn. Recently, the electronics were outputting about 6db too low. The pickups needed to be raised to increase their output. Construction quality is fine but this year/model does suffer some from preamp noise.

An absolutely great playing and sounding basic bass which could benefit with better electronics, shielding, grounding. Worth a serious look at, particularly if you upgrade aforementioned.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com