Peavey Zodiac BXP

Made in Korea
34" scale with 21 frets
Bolt on maple neck with 8" Radius maple fingerboard
Solid alder body with sculpted front and back contours
Articulating bridge with machined steel saddles
1-1/2" nut width
All chrome-plated hardware
3-layer pickguard
One alnico staggered single-coil pickup and one alnico straight single-coil pickup
2 volume master controls and one master tone control
Butterfly tuners
1/4" output jack

UTILIZATION

The Zodiac BXP from Peavey is nothing fancy - no exotic woods, no piezo systems, no super-ergonomic countours, no space age magnets in the pickups. No, this is a bass built with old school features in mind, yet with a distinctive shape, so as not to be mistaken for any of the classics. This is a new, no frills axe, which is very similar to a Jazz Bass crossed with a Precision Bass, and plays and sounds like a cross between the two. The hardware seems good for the price, as does the wood. The fit and finish are really nice as well, and the setup was good right out of the box.

SOUNDS

This is a nice-sounding bass! It does the growl thing very well, like a P-Bass, but can also get smooth yet articulate fingerstyle lines like a Jazz. Slapping felt good on this, and the pickups made the notes fairly balanced. This bass could cover all the tonal, ahem, basses, for most genres. I found that it really liked anything with a bit of dirt, like old Led Zeppelin lines, or the Meters - anything just a little bit nasty.

OVERALL OPINION

At this price level, the Zodiac BXP is not a bad choice at all. It'd recommend it for musicians with more traditional music tastes, yet with a desire to set themselves apart from the pack in their musical ambitions. Anyone who fits that mold that needs an affordable axe would do well to check this bass out.