Best Mini Bass Guitar (2024 Update)

The Mikro bass plays, looks and sounds great. The extra-short scale length does not compromise the traditional bass tone it produces. I have played 6-string guitar for over 40 years, including many professional gigs and teaching. I own over a dozen topnotch guitars. But this is my first bass, and I chose Mikro on the recommendation of a trustworthy friend. I have been doing my own repair work on guitars for decades, and can say the Mikro bass is impressively well made, and arrived decently set up with new, good strings. Fret work, neck, nut, tuning machines, bridge, fingerboard, finish, electronics are all virtually flawless; and the tobacco sunburst color I chose looks really nice, with a "vintage" vibe. I replaced the stock chrome dome knobs (which are nice ones) with Gibson-style knobs so I can see numbers for volume and tone settings. I really like the tone of the Mikro, especially the "Precision" style pickup–the one closer to the neck, from which it's easy to get a classic P-bass tone in conjunction with the tone control, which also works great. Ibanez chose a great capacitor value for the tone knob. The bridge position ("Jazz" style) pickup is just OK–usable, and not bad, but nothing remarkable, and it's especially lackluster when used solo, without any of the P-style pickup dialed in. That is the only part of this bass, other than the knobs, I would consider upgrading in the near future (maybe also the potentiometers, but even those feel smooth and responsive out of the box). The satin-finish neck feels great, and is a breeze to play, even for someone like me, who is coming to the bass from years on guitar. The tuning stability of the Mikro is remarkably great. So the latest versions of the Mikro basses are a phenomenal bargain! I would not hesitate to recommend a Mikro to anyone considering moving from guitar to bass, or to someone with smaller hands. From what my bassist friends tell me, the Mikro is great for any bassist PERIOD.NYC Slide Guitarist trying bass

Overall: I've been playing for years, mostly Fenders, Tobias and a heavily modified Decca short scale from the 60s. This is my first Ibanez bass and I am blown away! I chose the brown burst finish, and took a chance on the "blemished" version. Been looking at it all day and I can't find any imperfection anywhere. Definitely wanted short scale, light weight and a fast neck, this one has all 3 and then some. Set up out of the box was close, very close, with only a slight fret buzz on the E string. A very small adjustment at the saddle took care of it. The stock pickups sound good, the tone knob has useful range, everything sounds quite good through everything I've played it through so far (Fender, Orange, antique Earth head, etc.). Overall, I couldn't be happier!Bryan

An utterly great bass overall. It's perfect for someone with a low budget, or someone who's new to learning bass. Also good for children or people with small hands since it's a short-scale. This was my first bass and I still play it a lot. Not only is it cheap, but it has a really good tone, a nice feel to it, and a beautiful orange finish (if that is the finish you chose). The only bad thing I have to say about this is that it got some fret buzz to it but in all honesty, it's not that bad. I love Ibanez basses, I own several and this one is absolutly great.Logan

I bought this guitar after a long time away from playing. I was looking for a reasonably-priced, full-featured instrument that would serve as a good re-entry to my music practice, and this fits the bill. It's compact, has an onboard tuner, sounds great acoustically with the option to plug in an amp whenever I decide to go that route. I'm going to enjoy getting back up to speed with this mini bass.Stephen

Long-time guitar player, first-time buying a bass. I purchased the Cordoba after contemplating another brand with rubber strings. I never could get my hands on one to try. Guitarcenter in my area stocks the Cordoba. I like the more traditional wound strings on the Cordoba, the scale length and the overall construction. This Cordoba stays in tune really well. It sounds good acoustic but sounds great amplified. I love this little bass – a blast to play. The onboard tuner is a big plus. Cons – action was a big high, but no string buzz, a fair trade off – and I would expect the higher action with a bass with a short scale. I will adjust the truss rod with the included tool. Bridge saddles feel plastic, but at this price it isn't an issue.Matt J

Purchased the Walnut version. This is the first guitar which I had to do nothing to it out of the box except an initial tuning. All screws were tight, the nut height was correct, the relief was good, the action was good with NO fret buzz, the finish was flawless, the fret ends were perfect and the intonation was spot on! I've never seen this, especially for the price point. I love the short scale of this instrument and it can be played as fast as you can do. Wow! I'm happy and impressed. I like it even more than my Ibanez Gio Mikro. Gretsch has done something with the pickups as ther is NO hum from the pickups even though they are claimed not to be humbuckers after all.John

Bought earlier today and have been playing it since getting it home. I prefer flatwound strings so put some on as soon as I could. Lowered the action to just under 2 mm at the 12th fret on the bass side. Intonation is just about spot on. Didn’t need to tweak the truss rod at all but will check it in a day or two. I’m over 70 and bought my first bass around 1965. This little bass is quite amazing for its price. There does seem to be some quality control issues reading online reviews but mine is very good. Gloss finish immaculate with no pooling or dull patches. Tone and volume are very smooth and work as they should. It’s very easy to replace with CTS or similar but at present there’s no need. Jack socket holds the jack securely. Frets beautifully finished. The flattish neck is great to play on and it’s gloss finish feels really smooth. Not sticky. Walnut fingerboard looked in nice condition but I put a little lemon oil on it when changing the strings. There has been some uproar that Gretsch were advertising these as having mini humbuckers when in fact they are single coils. I have no problem with single coils being a Fender fan. These single coils do not exhibit any background hiss through my amplifier. Some have complained that they do but mine is silent. The only gripe which has cost the review one star is concerning the machineheads. They have a little play in them which I hate. The only thing I will change will be these in due course when I find some with the correct 14 mm hole diameter. Plenty of space on the headstock so might go down the vintage style rout. Not sure. The main thing is to get good quality and ensure the existing holes are covered. All in all I’m very happy with this bass. It weighs in at 8.2lbs. Not too heavy. The bass sounds really nice with lots of tonal variance available using the pickup selector and tone control.Brian

Just took delivery of a used Hofner shorty bass in black. Lovely instrument. Fit and finish was fine. I had to do a little bit of intonation setting which took no time. The neck is better than expected. Frets are finished properly and the neck has a nice satin finish. Its not to wide, not too thick and feels great. The pickup delivers and even sound across the strings. There are no dead spots. Volume and tone controls work great and the knurled knobs feel very good. I was able to dial in some of my preferred sounds using the VPF control on my Markbass Blackline 250 going through a Markbass NY604 cabinet. I was also liking the sounds going through an Eden World Tour preamp. Im looking forward to rehearsal tomorrow using the Eden directly into an EV ZLX 12 powered cabinet. The bass came professionally packed and really appeared to be new. Love the padded Hofner gig bad with the logo on it. All in all a great small, inexpensive (but not cheap) bass for practice, performance and especially travel.Miguel404

First of all, this bass is just what I wanted for practicing when traveling. Compact, 24 frets, decent electronics and comes with a gig bag. Intonation was pretty good too. I did adjust the intonation, but that's really only because I'm kind of fussy about intonation. One thing I will say is I had never experienced "neck dive" until I owned this bass like. in the resting position, the bass headstock will point right down to 5 o'clock. Since this is a practice instrument, I made some modifications. I put weight in the body cavity, but the body cavity is not huge, so with extra weight, I could get the neck to hang in the resting position at about 3 o'clock. I next removed the front strap pin and drilled a 3/8" in diameter hole 2" into the body at the same angle as the strap pin screw. I purchased 3/8" aluminum round stock and cut it to 7.5". 2" would insert into the body and 5.5" would remain outside to mount the strap button while extending out to nearly the 12th fret. I painted the round stock black (primer and paint). I mounted (drilled and epoxied) the strap button on the end of the round stock. I think epoxied the extender into the body. It looks pretty darned good and now the bass balances perfectly.Kevin1014

Took this out of the box last week and immediately started practicing for a gig the same week. I have a Hofner , but wanted a solid body for some of the heavier tunes but still a small scale neck. Action and set-up were fine out of the box with no fret buzz. I may put flat-wounds on, but not sure yet. Tone and pick up were good. Mine was a blemish-so I got a discount. Anyway, I used it at the gig with no problems and never switched to the Hofner. Nice bass for the price. Whether it becomes my go to remains to be seen.Mike V

After playing this bass guitar I don't want to play my 30" scale Beatle bass anymore much less a 34" scale bass! Lol. It is so easy to play that it makes me wonder why Fender introduced their first bass guitar with a 34" scale. This bass runs circles around any long scale bass guitar. Add to that the super fast neck, low action, P/J pickups, great tone and Ibanez quality construction is just amazing. This is now my main bass guitar after 40 years of longnecks. Ibanez hit it out of the ball park on this one. No doubt other brands will follow. This bass has no flaws of any kind. I tried to find one but couldn't. Great job, great bass!CodSackJackson

I love this little guitar. I bought mine from the GC store. I have Taylor GS mini for my RV, but it's still too big and too loud in a small rv with others. I saw the Traveller guitars and thought I'd go to a GC and try it out. I'm too new at this so got the GC sales person to play so I could hear the difference using a big amp. The ones with the pickups were hot and a little bitey for me as I only really play acoustic. The Piezo pickup acoustic sounded mellow and it was on the guitarathon sale for 100 dollars off. That tipped it for me. It's small, extremely light and when unplugged, extremely quite quiet. It's so small, I'm finding that I pick up this one more than the regular guitars. Bear in mind, it's not acoustic or electric, so it's not going to sound like anything else. I bought a headphone amp and also use a regular amp when I can be loud. When practicing unplugged at night, it's loud enough for me, but nobody else can hear it. Also, I've found that if I press it tightly to my side, the lower notes reverberate in my chest. With the acoustic pickup there is no tone or volume controls, so everything has to be done through the amp. I'm getting used to that. With no body and only the wire bottom, it takes a little time before it begins to feel normal. The only negative is if I don't hit the notes perfect, I can get some fret buzz. All in all, it's so different from any other guitar, I would suggest trying it in person first. You will either love it or hate it. And remember it's a small travel guitar you can also use regularly. Play it both amplified and unplugged and see if you think it will work for you.Mike

Overall: I bought this without playing it, but was very pleased right out of the box. My fingers were black after a few minutes of playing due to the dirty strings, but that didn't dampen my opinion by any means (but good idea to purchase a new set of strings along with the bass). Bought the Walnut Finish (looks more expensive) for use with my SC-300 Boss Looper (also purchased from zZounds). It sounds great! I'm not onstage playing head banger metal, so don't need that rumbling low end anyway. But the pickup configuration def gives you a lot of low end. Even though I've been playing guitar and bass for over 30 years, I would use this bass onstage, AND more importantly, if you are introducing anyone to playing bass – this will be a much easier learning bass due to the size. It still feels like a 'bass' and it's not tiny or anything, but it doesn't feel clunky like a bigger bass does. I'm looking forward to using this for a long while, and assuming it holds up over the next few months I'll likely grab another one just to have a backup. Don't hesitate if you need for a recording bass, or onstage. And def great for a beginner to keep them from losing interest due to most basses being too large for them.Jason

This is my second Mikro. I gave my first to my nephew, and moved onto full scale bass guitars, some fairly expensive. However, I missed that Mikro. Even though it?s the cheapest bass I own, it is by far the most fun to play and sits next to my desk as the ?go-to? guitar to pick up and play when the mood hits. Love this thing.RICHARD

I'm recently retired and a beginner with the base. The Ibanez miKro Series GSRM20 was just what I needed to get started. The short scale is better for stiff fingers, and I found it quite easy to play. The quality is very good for this lower priced guitar, and it came mostly set up, needing only a few tweeks. I recommend this product to others, especially older folks with arthritis.MARK

The Squier Bronco Bass delivers exactly what I expected. It's a 30" scale bass with a body shaped like the Fender Mustang bass; it has a single pickup (I believe it's a strat pickup), is fairly light weight (mine weighs in a 7 pounds 10 ounces), and it's a fun little axe. It's also the lowest-priced bass by an actual musical instrument company. How do they keep the price down? One way is that this is the only bass I've owned that has no fingerboard. It doesn't affect anything, but the front of the neck IS the fingerboard. The hardware is okay quality. But here's the thing – it sounds decent, feels great, plays well. There's going to be a little luck of the draw in a lower priced instrument, but my tuners stay in tune, intonation was on, everything is good. There was a little too much neck relief, but that was easy to adjust. If you're realistic about your expectations, the Squier Bronco Bass is an awesome value, looks good, and it gets you playing. It's not going to sound like a Stingray or a Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, but it doesn't sound bad, either – I would do a show with one without worrying about it. I have other basses, but wanted to add an inexpensive short scale to my stable, and this bass was exactly what I wanted. I may upgrade the pickup later – I may not. For now, it falls between my 34" scale and 28.6" scale basses, and it's fun to play. I'm very happy with it.Pcake

I ended up using this bass for songs where long scale can be a bit difficult. My main bass is an imported '54 P Bass copy, Alder body and maple neck/fingerboard. It had to go into a local shop for some major nut repair, and I needed something to play around with. Off the rack, it was a pretty great bass for the price. The neck is very well crafted, no sharp fret edges like some imported instruments. It's an agathis body, so the tone can be kind of bland, but compared to older Squier Broncos, it seems that all of the bridge and neck contact one piece of wood on the multi-piece construction, so sustain isn't too bad. The bad: The tuners are pretty sorry and are an oddball size, which makes replacement with good tuners very difficult. My E and A tuners rattle some, but all four do hold tune pretty well for cheap tuners. Also, the stock pickup is a six-pole ceramic Strat pickup, so it can sound…odd when bending strings. The other bad is the bridge: although it intonates pretty well, two saddles can make proper intonation difficult to achieve along with proper radius. Also, the bridge mounting pattern is almost impossible to replace with another bridge–four hole lock-down and quick-release style bridges DO work, but the bridge is mounted a little too far forward, and intonation is almost always sharp on the upper end of the fingerboard. Gotoh 201's are also very difficult to adapt to fit. But for its price point, some of these cons are easily fixed. I have a Mojotone Alnico V lipstick Strat pickup in mine with CTS 500K pots. It sounds excellent–it fools some of my buddies about how cheap it is. This bass could probably also benefit from a bar retainer near the nut. It went from an around the house beater to a mainstay for certain songs.Isher

my dad, a professional and extremely experienced bass guitarist, bought me this for christmas last year, and i love it. this is the first bass i've ever picked up and it's easy to play, is well built, has a nice feel to it, etc. i highly recommend it for beginners. i play it in my school band class and it fits in very well with the rest of the instruments. however it can fall out of tune easily and the pickup isn't the best, but ultimately it's the most perfect beginner bassout there, especially for the low price, it's high qualityace

I went from a new yamaha with active pickups to this jackson with passive pickups. I don't play much bass, so Literally I was looking for a cheap guitar to record with. It has a solid low end grunt but still maintains the mid bang "slap" as you might call it. No its not spotless, the wood is not colored along some of the seems and its not the prettiest style wise, but for someone who just wants an easy playing, solid sounding bass track, this is a great weapon.Jeremy

I give this bass 5 stars, not because it's comparable to a high end instrument, but because of the quality at this unbelievable price point. I was looking for a passive P-style bass that wouldn't break the bank; my expectations were that I would have to do some work to it (fret level, polish, sharp ends, etc.) However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that none of those issues existed when it arrived, and it was even actually in tune! I lowered the action to my preference, as should be done with every instrument. The neck is extremely comfortable and fast. The plastic nut is cut quite well, bridge is more than adequate, tuners are sufficient and hold tune even with heavy handed attack. The real surprise though, was the strong sustained growling punch of the pickup! This bass actually sounds quite good! I wouldn't hesitate to gig with it: and it's an excellent backup or first bass, that you won't soon outgrow. For reference – I have been playing guitar for 32 years, bass for 25 years and have a MIM Fender Jazz V, and several Ibanez basses (mid grade – professional grade, 4, 5, & 6 string variations). This Jackson isn't in the same class as my others, but that doesn't really mean anything, because it still delivers exceptional quality and value. It is very fun to play, and the tonality is quite useable and shapeable. Bottom line is – this bass is a huge bang for buck!Shasal

This was the first bass I bought myself and im very glad I did. I bought this bass around last December and have been in love ever since. I bought this bass mainly cause of the price tag but also because I was wanting a bass with humbuckers. The epiphone thunderbird had my eye but wasn't exactly in my budget at the time but then I came across this bass. Great price tag and a familiar (body) P bass shape. Fast forward to today and this bass still rocks. The body was put together nicely along with it's finish but you can tell where quality was sacrificed which was the neck. Not terrible or unplayable but you can tell it's a fairly cheap neck. Otherwise the tone, playability, and feel is amazing.Brandon F

Purchased the Walnut version. This is the first guitar which I had to do nothing to it out of the box except an initial tuning. All screws were tight, the nut height was correct, the relief was good, the action was good with NO fret buzz, the finish was flawless, the fret ends were perfect and the intonation was spot on! I've never seen this, especially for the price point. I love the short scale of this instrument and it can be played as fast as you can do. Wow! I'm happy and impressed. I like it even more than my Ibanez Gio Mikro. Gretsch has done something with the pickups as ther is NO hum from the pickups even though they are claimed not to be humbuckers after all.John

To start, I have particularly small hands for an adult lady. I started playing bass about 6 months ago – I have been playing guitar for about 2 years now and am comfortable with different scale lengths and string gauges. I started playing bass with a standard scale instrument and struggled for the first time to reach across four frets, and felt like my progress was stalling because of the instrument I was trying to use. Decided to try a short scale and it instantly made a world of difference in my playing; this bass just feels good while holding and playing for extended periods of time. The bass is also beautiful! I love the retro vibe, between the shell pink body and the vertical text on the headstock. The walnut fingerboard has the most beautiful markings on it; it's my favorite fingerboard on any instrument I own, which includes much more expensive instruments that sport rosewood, ebony, pau ferro, purpleheart, and maple fingerboards. I was worried the tone would suffer from the shorter scale but I actually much prefer the sound of this baby compared to the standard scale I had previously, and have had no trouble tweaking the knobs to dial in just the sound I'm looking for. This is my first Gretsch purchase but I am definitely sold on the quality of their products, especially for such a budget friendly price! At the end of the day, I've more than doubled my weekly bass practice time since getting this sucker, which is all anyone can really ask for in an instrument! The only negative I've come across for short scale basses in general is you'll have fewer options when it comes to string choices compared to standard scale, and especially compared to guitars. PS – shout out to my gear advisor Ryan T. – he rocks! Despite my being a relative n00b to guitar and bass, he treats me with so much respect and seems genuinely interested in my musical journey. I never feel pressured to buy something I'm not interested in and he even helped me track down a great set of short scale strings that also accommodate my nickel allergy! 🤘Leesah

I bought this base in December. It was advertised as having to humbucking pick ups. That is untrue there single coil pick ups and they've hum very loud. I put GHS Bright Flats on it. I can't get the intonation set correctly. I am not an expert but this is the only bass I couldn't get close. The bridge is very cheaply made. The tuners are also cheap and loos. You never know how far you will have to turn one to tighten or loosen the string. The bass sounds good. I have had cheaper basses that was better made and sounded better. If GC doesn't give me back my money or in store credit I will sell it. I did by the extended warranty. If I have to sell it I would not go back to GC. This is the second Jet I got from there. The jack kept falling out of the first one. I am not driving two hours each way just to talk to them.William

I've bought three of these so far. The first one I gave to my bass player. When I decided I wanted one for myself, I ordered another one. Like the first one, it was attractive, with no obvious manufacturing defects. However, the D string had a bad buzz. It wasn't fret buzz or sympathetic vibration, because it happened wherever I fretted the D string, but would not buzz when I played D on the A string. I determined it must be a problem in or under the bridges. I loosened and reset the bridge pin for the D string and it didn't help. I called Ibanez, and they told me to try the things I'd already tried, then told me to send it back. The MF customer service fellow was EXTREMELY helpful, so no complaints there. But the one I ordered in it's place had the EXACT same problem. Since nobody else makes a bass in this class, I'll keep this one and troubleshoot it myself. Just saying, if you buy one of these be sure and check it out immediately.Paul

Instrument was ordered and delivered very quickly. Only took about 4 or 5 days to arrive. Pros: The bass feels pretty good right out of the box. Only thing is that the washers on the tuning machines were loose which just needed to be tightened. The smaller size makes for more of a guitar feel to the frets which is great for jamming out. The intonation of the instrument seems good. All notes across seem well in tune and ring well. The harmonic at the 12th fret is in tune to the open string. The frets don't protrude off the neck and seem to be sanded down well. The pickups sound fine. All the frequencies come through the amp very well. The built in tuner works well. Sometimes it has to think about the low E but that's understandable. Cons: The strings are extremely flexible and slinky which causes the string to go under the frets. If you strike very heavily and are digging into the strings when playing on the first three strings then some buzz occurs. My guess is that the harsh vibration of the strings touches the other frets which might occur because they are long scale bass strings. A friend mentioned that the GS Mini strings from taylor might fix that up which makes sense though I am doubtful. Good luck finding a bag for this instrument. The size is close to a guitar in length, however, the body is just a bit thicker than an acoustic guitar. I think a dreadnought body is similar though might not be thick enough. Maybe the acoustic guitar roadrunner bags might work but I haven't had a chance to try it. TL,DR: it's aight.Vic the Butcher

Classic Ibanez body shape, neck, tuners and lightweight, like a scaled down Soundgear (SGR) series only sans the unnecessary active bass junk. Knobs are solid metal, not cheap plastic ones found on other low end Ibanez basses. Only thing bass needed out of box was intonation set. No neck adjustments needed and no significant buzz. Strings are round wound (my pref). Would not recommend this bass if you think you need (tone killing) flat wound. I'm not aware of anyone making flatwound strings for a 28.6" scale bass. Note: scale length of this bass (28.6") is shorter than typical short scale (30"). The strings on it are proprietary (Ibanez). You might be able to make some cut down long scale strings work (pain, wouldn't recommend) but the proprietary Ibanez strings are the way to go. MF doesn't sell them for some reason. You can find them online for a very reasonable price online. Buy a couple of extra sets. Pickups are jazz bass style and config (two volumes + one tone) which is my pref. I had zero issues with tone or volume controls. Pickups are all passive. Yah! And tone sounds great, classic jazz bass tones available including a nice Jaco-ish tone with 100% bridge pickup and tone rolled way down. Be wary of review comments from guitar players that don't play bass and buy this bass and suddenly have a lot of opinions about what this bass should and shouldn't be. This bass does not need the bridge, pickups, tuners or electronics replaced to make it a "pro" instrument. All this bass needs to be a "pro" instrument, is a "pro" player playing it. Tone is in your fingers. I highly recommend for beginners and I think experienced players will dig it as well, especially those that appreciate shorter scale instruments.mark5211

My 75 year-old fingers are becoming very arthritic and my two Fender Jazz basses were causing too much pain so I tried the Mikro bass. Its short scale makes playing much easier and less string tension has provided painless fretting. The sound is amazing – from really punchy vintage bass sound to jazz bass to great slapping and with changing pluck position, it mimics a fretless bass beautifully. I am now playing daily and am very happy with this bass. The low cost belies the great sound and quality of the instrument.Paul J

I play short scale & wanted a 5-string but didn't want to spend too much. Having played Ibanez full scale basses I know their quality so figured I'd risk the $200. No risk at all. Greatly exceeded expectations. Solid, a flawless finish & smooth neck. First thing I checked were the frets, as I've seen some inexpensive basses with fret issues. The frets were level with not a sharp edge to be found. This bass is a joy to play. Has good tone & is fast due to the 28.6" scale. Two minor quibbles: 1) wish it had color options like the 4-string Mikro (the transparent red is killer); 2) I'm not a big fan of round wounds & these may be the 'clangiest' I've heard. However, this little bass is so good I see a set of La Bella SS flat wounds in the very near future.John

I'm an experienced guitar player and builder, but a dabbler in bass. My current instrument is a 6 string Ibanez with active pickups and 3 band EQ, but I wanted something simpler with a short scale. I originally looked at the Music Man version of this instrument, but as a hobbyist, $2000+ seemed a bit much. The Sterling version made more financial sense, and Musician's Friend's Memorial Day Sale sealed the deal for me. This is a good, workable instrument with decent action and great tone. (Disclaimer: I've only played this bass through a set of modellers – A bass amp is in my near future.) The single pickup is fine – And all of the positions on the 3 knobs are musical. The quality dropped copper finish and hardware belong on a much more expensive instrument.Mark V

I bought this mostly just for fun and noodling around. I hadn't had a short scale in a long (ha!) time. Solid instrument SUPER HOT output! This thing is loud. Somehow. It's passive which surprised me. When I tried this out in-store, nobody knew what the controls were. So, now I know. The electronics are completely different from (oh no do we need a new retronym now?) a … "regular?" … StingRay: 1. Volume with push/ push boost 2. 3-way switch in the middle on the plate allows you to run the pickup in series/ parallel/ single coil. 3. Passive tone control. In the looks department, it compares favorably to its Big Cousin, the StingRay. A case that fits just about perfectly: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Road-Runner/RRDWE-Deluxe-Wood-Electric-Guitar-Case.gc … I asked the staff at GC Atlantic City their opinion of the fit and they were like "Oh wow that really is a great fit!" This exact case is shown in the photos with the bass in it. Might want like an extra 1/2" of padding for top-to-bottom security maybe. We'll see. The bad: fret ends were not well finished. I had to get some putty to fill them in a bit. Not sure if this is a "sat in a box across the ocean for a while" kind of problem or a fit/ finish build problem.Mike

I was looking for a good short scale bass to ease my shoulder stress during long sets. I also didn't want to spend too much as I already have several basses. The cutaways, low weight, and thin neck make it very comfortable to play so I think I chose right. The pickup is also right up my alley as I have never really liked active basses. The three way switch has some good variance and haven't really disliked any of the tones I've gotten from the bass. If you're looking for a short scale you should definitely look into this one. My only gripe was I noticed some neck dive while playing. I bought the dropped copper version which is made of a different wood than the other colors so maybe the nyatoh wood is lighter than the mahogany versions. I plan on switching out the stock tuners soon to lighter tuners to correct that issue, but even as it stands currently I wouldn't say it's a deal breaker.Josh L

Way over priced at $450 for the left handed model, does not stay in tune long, and its virtually impossible to lower string height and you will need to do with all but the nylon spaghetti like stock strings. Thin wood veneer over what appears to be plywood though I could be wrong. Cheap tuners, cheap bridge and cheap standard piezo pickup. Basically a triumph of style over substance in my opinion. At $300 give or take for this Asian acoustic bass it would be a decent deal but not for $450, no way. To its credit it is ultra lightweight so good for travel and those with certain physical problems. Keep in mind distributor in the US does not stock replacement parts, a big minus. Same review applies to the 25 in. scale model. Fretted and unfretted.kraigster414

I was looking for a bass to complement recording in a home studio and small venues. I wanted to come as close as possible to a standup but acoustic basses were not doing it for me. Then I found this. I run it through a Roland AC-60 acoustic amp patched through to a Roland KC-100 subwoofer. The deep bass sound is incredible! The fretless model has fret markers to help guys like me who are guitarists by nature. The strings do take a little getting used to for tuning. They stay in tune during playing but will loosen a bit if they sit in the bag for a while. All in all, I'm very pleased. P.S. – Make sure you read the instructions. When you plug it in the preamp automatically defaults to the tuner and mutes the output. You simply have to push the button and switch off the tuner. Says so right in the instructions!Robert

I've owned a couple MM basses in the past and IMHO , this is the best sounding MM bass I have ever played . I bought this bass because of the amazing tone ……I like it so much , I'm thinking about buying the white one with the rosewood neck .JAMES

I love how this bass sounds. Has a nice growl. The pickup is hot for a passive. My hands hurt from manual labor so the short scale bass is much more comfortable to play on the weekends with my jam band. I like the 3 way switch for the variety of tones. I like the parallel the best. Has a fat bottom with a bite. Ive played several ernie ball music man basses and this sterling sounds just as good as the music man.Josh

I’ve been playing a Taylor 310 for 25 years and was looking for something smaller and lighter to transport. Having read a lot of reviews and listened to the videos I thought I would try the GS Mini Koa and see what all the fuzz was about. This guitar sounds amazing! The Koa gives it a depth AND sparkle that you don’t expect from a small guitar. I keep asking myself does it lack depth compared to my dreadnought, technically it does but actually I don’t miss it because the sound is so full. The volume too is quite exceptional, I tend to strum a lot with a pick and don’t mind digging in hard….. this guitar just sings under those circumstances. It get’s louder and louder without noticeably going out of tune. At the other end there is such clarity and sustain that quiet finger picking also sounds great. You can easily hear a single note melody within a chord. Are there any downsides? Well if you have big hands then the reduced neck length may feel too cramped…. For me this is actually more comfortable than a full size neck but you wouldn’t want it any smaller. In summary I’m blown away, just amazing.David

Wow… what a stunner! Opening the case for the first time was quite an experience. This is a seriously beautiful guitar with beautiful craftsmanship. As a beginner with small hands (even for a lady) I have found acoustic guitars in the past to be very uncomfortable to play, the size of the body, the width of the neck, the high action, and after struggling with a Lorenzo Flame Series for the past year I decided enough was enough, electrics aren't almost impossible to play so why should I have to struggle with acoustic? I did some research and everything was pointing me towards the Taylor GS Mini-E series. Holding this guitar in my hands for the first time felt like a revelation. It felt like Taylor had made a guitar specifically for me – wearing a strap the body fits easily under my arm and my fingers just know exactly where they're meant to go. The sound of the guitar is rich and vibrant with a bright top tone – quite a feat in a parlour size guitar. After watching reviews it seems that this is due to the Koa body. The guitar also comes with soft, well-padded case that feels like it'll protect well from bumps and bruises whilst travelling. It has some nice shoulder straps so it feels like you're wearing a large (but light!) backpack. The best thing about this guitar though is that it's such a joy to hold and play that I can't put it down; my playing ability has increased so much in the past few weeks since buying it. As a beginner I absolutely recommend this guitar as an introduction to acoustic guitars. If you're a beginner and you've been playing an electric for while but want to get into playing acoustic, try out a Taylor GS Mini-e – it might be the one for you.Laura K.

Just right. Our 11 year old has had 3 lessons. We didn't want to spend huge money in case he didn't enjoy music lessons. He loves his lessons because of his new bass. It sounds good & is the right size. We're very happy with itJanine

This thing arrived with a bubble wrap full length sleeve and a stursy box. What impressed me was the wax paper that enclosed the entire exposed strings. The bass looked great after unpacking and a close inspection of the neck revealed it to be true and strait. A little work needed with action as it was set quite low and had a lot of fret buzz in the upper middle. This might not be so easily fixed for newbies as I am a seasoned player and bought this for my daughter. Yet to plug in and test this thing and give an understanding of tone and electronics, but so far so good as what could be good playable axe. Physical quality is outstanding for a bass in this price range.machinima_777

This is a really good starter bass, IMO. It came well set up and ready to play right after I tuned it up. Intonation was good. Neck was straight and the fretwork did not need any repairs. Pickups seem to be decent. Fun to play. Short scale was the right choice for me. The extra 4" for a full scale would have really been an uncomfortable stretch for me.Clay

Right out of the box, was amazed at the quality of the finishes. Great balance. The neck was a terrific surprise as it came with no sharp frets and so comfortable. The electronics are not the highest of quality but they do work. The set up was amazing and initially had fret buzz on low E at 7th fret. Tuned it and has lessoned, I may need to tweak a bit. But for price who could go wrong! I should have ordered another one and will continue to check to see if they go back on sale again. Even at regular price if the deliver what I received then it is great value for the money. I happened to get mine when they were 1/2 off regular price so am super pleased.carol2m

Completely unusable out of the box. Neck was bowed like a half pipe. Various high frets had to be filed down, and it was impossible to intonate. E string nut was cut so deep it is almost even with the fretboard. Theres no wood on the tuner side to replace the nut like a Fender where there would be a wooden slot to fit a nut into. I'm trying to build it back up w/ some epoxy and filings off a bone my dog was chewing on & will refile. Otherwise, I'll use it for firewood. I had some higher end parts and the experience to make this a decent little bass but if you dont, save your money or go w/ an Ibanez or Jackson in a budget short scale. Or spend more on a Fender.Matty G

Ordered one of these (In Pearl White) because of a good experience with another one. Of course I had to do some set up to alleviate fret buzz, adjust neck, string height etc. Once it was set up to my liking and a fresh set of my gauge strings, this bass was ready for just about anything! I have used it for a couple of outdoor shows with medium and very large P.A support and the sound was very good overall. Through my stage amp, I was able to dial in a very usable sound quickly. The bass is very light weight .(Which helps those of us with back issues.) Yet is still able to get a decent tone. The bass I received was a newer model with a poplar body and a Jatoba fret board which still has the characteristics of rosewood (slightly lighter in color) with a hint of a maple type bite. Personally, I liked the overall sound with this particular fret board. Speaking of which, the fret board is very easy to play (when properly set up) with a smooth, fast neck. The electronics are decent enough although the "bass boost" knob should be used sparingly and judiciously just to add some deep flavor on occasion for certain styles. All in all, a pretty decent machine that can easily be used by beginners and seasoned pro's (ok, it won't match up with a "boutique bass" by any means but still a very usable product!) Very good value for the price!Heard the Bass

This bass is really amazing for the price of it. The neck is so smooth and a bit thinner than other regular bass, perfect for my small hands and the weight wow it is really light. the built quality is top notch. The sound is really good and you've got plenty of sound you can experiment with it. Overall it's an all rounder bass from beginners to pronelson c.

The Ibanez GSR 200 is one of the best "bang for your buck" basses on the market. They are made with excellent quality, lightweight wood, agathis, maple, rosewood. The onboard P/J pickups and electronics sound good. They play good out of the box but they play excellently if set up by a guitar tech. These were choice basses for many of the bass players supporting MWR tours. Musicians would take Ibanez GRS 200 basses on tour and raffle them off to service members on the last gig.matt4717