Short Scale Acoustic Bass Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

Absolutely belting and beautiful acoustic bass, lovely to play, great sound and lovely to look at. Acoustic basses are great if you’re time and space limited and just need something to pick up and play without the faff of plugging in and finding headphones etc (which i find a bit anti social for my partner and kids). I’ve tried a few acoustic basses and this is the best and it has a surprisingly good slap sound, which I hadn’t expected from an acoustic bass! All in all if you want something to play at home this is the best. I can’t comment on the electric sound (this has a preamp) as I haven’t used it yet and it’s not what I bought it for.D R. M.

This is a great bass! I've owned and played a handful of acoustic basses from different companies in my time and i like this one the best. Let me state first, I'm not a fender guy but…I've always loved the sound of an acoustic bass and I always wanted one, so i shopped around for a while and went through a few different models to arrive at this one. I've had it for a year now and i grow to love it more all the time! The pictures on GC dont do it justice…The high gloss black finish on the body and headstock is sleek and sexy and the bold block inlays coupled with the jazz bass neck and headstock give this beauty a different attitude compared to other acoustic basses and it plays smooth and sounds great! The biggest thing I noticed with this model compared to the other acoustic basses I've had is that this one really projects well and has great tone plugged or unplugged! I travel a lot and this bass has gone a lot of places with me and it's always sure to turn heads. I live in a place where i wouldn't want to crank my amps to play electric so this has become the main bass i use to practice with and i have a lot of fun with it. It looks and sounds great, it's built and finished well, it's fun and smooth to play, it holds its tuning and the electronics don't drain batteries…what more could you ask for? I would definitely recommend this bass, especially for the price point.Ray

I bought this bass to play in my 2 person folk punk band. As a small person I often have issues with acoustic guitars simply being too big for me to play comfortably so I decided on this since it's marketed as a short scale bass and wow was it a great decision!Kels(sax/bass/vocals/etc 4 Mama

This popped up on Stupid Deal of the Day and I am not in the least disappointed. It was well packaged, box in a box, from Dean. My intended use will be jamming with friends at the park, campground, or beach. But, it could see small venue use as well. It is big (it is a bass after all): 34", 24 fret scale with the neck joint at the 17th fret. The lower bout is 18" wide and just shy of 5" deep. If you really feel the need to go above the 17th fret…get the cutaway. Because of its size it has a decent acoustic tone. Set up, including intonation, was very good considering it was last touched at the factory. It is strung with D'Addario EXP 45-100 lights. The strings showed some age (string cleaner should take care of it) but still have decent tone, especially for my intended use. All the electronics work as they should. The battery box and input jack are a single unit located on the lower bout. It appears to be a sturdy unit that does not require any tools for 9V battery replacement. Using the onboard tuner silences the pickup. The top is book matched and looks better than some of my solid top guitars. The Dean Playmate EAB Gig Bag (SKU 548316 000000000) does fit. I'm so glad that neither the bass or gig bag are emblazoned with "Playmate" anymore. Seriously, if so, I would not have purchased them. Overall, I am very pleased and believe it is money well spent.Vintage Bassist

The action is easily correctable by lowering the saddle. Sadly, it is not very loud if you finger pick while in the acoustic mode. It is however loud enough to practice alone in a quiet room with soft backing track. Electrically, it is like most EA guitars and you have to watch which way you're standing in relation to your amp. The tone is pretty bright acoustically but can be dialed back in the electric mode for that bassier sound most bassists are looking for. I would consider playing out with this bass for a folk gig. I got this bass on a "stupid deal of the day" promotion and I still can't believe Musicians Friend could make any money at all with a price like that.CA$H

The band I'm in decided that we were going to do an acoustic show for a big fundraiser called Gettysburg Rocks. Great! But one major problem I didn't have an acoustic bass, so I had to get one for this show. After doing extensive research and considering the budget I chose this model. When I got the bass there were a lot of high frets which caused major undesirable fret buzz. The strings that were on it from dean were horrible so I took the bass to my local guitar shop and had it restrung and set up. After this was done this bass played amazing and had great tone unplugged. Then I plugged it in to my di box and it sounded pretty bad through the pa. The electronics in this bass didn't sound good because The strings were not evenly voiced. In my particular case the e string was the loudest and over powered the a d and g strings. I had 4 days before the show and had to figure something out quick. My solution was to run a limiter pedal. Once I had the limiter dialed in I was able to get a very good sound out of the bass, And through eq settings I was able to make the bass sound great. Then the night of the show came around and I had all the kinks figured out . The bass sounded great and the show went beautifully. This bass is by no means a high end bass but with a little tweaking itcan be made to sound really good. I've noticed that I will grab this bass and just start playing it when I'm trying to learn new songs and licks because it sounds so good and it is nice to not always be tethered to an amp. This bass is great to practice with but in a band setting it will need to be amped if you want to be heard with more than one acoustic guitar. Overall I am very pleased with this instrument and would buy another if it broke. I was apprehensive at first thinking that this would sound like $150 bass. Looking back I'm glad I got this model. I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence about buying this bass.v1637

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

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 brought this for a signature book for our wedding, we wanted a playable momento, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. It's a great $88 guitar, we have guitars upwards of $500 so of course it would not be as good. Well built, tunes easily, buy needs frequent tuning. I think if we replace with high quality strings we would definitely take this guitar up a notch. Good for beginners and will definitely teach them tuning skills.Tasha S.

I purchase this bass being motivated by its price and rave reviews. Let me just say that when I received my bass today I was blown over at the fit and finish on this bass. It looks like a $500.00+ guitar! I've been playing it for hours and the deep bass is so sweet. The action is a tad high but I kind of like it that way. The great sound projection from this bass made me chuckle while I was playing because the bass made a silver cup I have on a wall mounted shelf rattle! Now that's impressive sound projection! I can't wait to plug in this bass to my friend's Ampeg that's a 1X15 ported bass amp. It should be wild! For the money this Best Choice acoustic had got to be the deal of a lifetime if you're in the market for an acoustic bass guitar.Jason

This is a great acoustic-electric bass. I originally purchased it to use as an alternative to plugging in my electric bass. I instantly fell in love with it. It stays in tune. The nut is of appropriate measurements and the frets are greatly positioned. I changed the factory installed strings with some acoustic bass strings and it sounded so nice! For the price, I didn't expect to get a good value, but I was surprised once I immediately opened the box. Good job Best Choice products!consumer

You hear a lot of bassist look down on ABGs for being not loud enough. This might be an entry model, but it will more than do it's job when no amp is needed. It's much louder than most of the other more expensive acoustic basses. First off, this thing is huge. If you have short arms or small hands, look elsewhere. Might be one step below a guitaron (Mariachi bass) in terms of size. This adds to the volume projection. If Dean could come up with a way to round off the corner where your arm sits, it would make it more comfortable. Had a few cases where my arm started to fall asleep when trying to play sitting down. Just have to experiment with a position that works for you. Finding a case to fit is tricky. Second, the factory strings are terrible, cheap roundwounds that make a lot of string noise. Put some good flatwounds on and it sounds 10 times better. The action is high but that's going to be the case on any acoustic guitar (bass or 6 string) compared to an electric. With flats, it feels closer to an upright bass. You probably won't be able to do many Claypool or Sheehan style licks, but it's not really designed for that. I've done some fingerstyle percussive stuff on it and gotten some cool sounds out of it. The electronics are so-so. You might get a lot of feedback if the volume is really high, but then again, that's outside of its intended use. I've played mine in smaller venues and had no issues. For a simple pick up and jam or wanting a mellow tone deal to go with an acoustic guitar, this is a great buy. Won't set you back too much and the build quality is good. Just know what you are getting and don't expect it do everything your electric bass does as easily.Corb

I've had mine for a while now so here's the long term review. I'm happy with my purchase. I don't think there is a better acoustic bass at this price point and I've tried a lot of them. Of course it's cheaply made, but the craftsmanship is excellent. Fit and finish are great. The fret work is really good. The bass stays in tune, but the tuning machines are already starting to fall apart. I'm looking at replacing them with the lightweight Gotoh's which look identical. The rest of the bass is holding up great. Out of the box it will probably need to be set up. I had to file the nut grooves down about half a mile. The bridge wasn't the same radius as the fingerboard. I belt sanded the top and bottom to get good action. After a setup it does play very well. The action is comparable to a p-bass with no buzzing and no dead frets. It sounds pretty good unplugged. There are no rattles and no buzzing. The notes are clear and well defined and there is a decent amount a deep bass. Unfortunately when plugged in the sound has no clarity and no punch. It just doesn't sound musical. I have not found a way clean it up. Minus one star for the tuning machines, minus one star for the way it sounds plugged in.Fretless J

I wanted an acoustic bass and for me it was between the Ibanez and this one. I decided to go with this Bass and I love it, especially for the price its at!. It has a really solid and, surprisingly, punchy sound without it being plugged in. When it is plugged in, it does give off some feed back but still excellent sound. A little bit of fret buzz at the 17th fret, shouldn't be a big deal unless you play a lot in the area. Neck feels great, not to thick so its really easy to get around. Really light weight. The body looks huge from the picture but its excellent size. Overall I'd recommend it to any bass player that wants a quality sounding acoustic bass without hurting the wallet.Punkbass182

. Now let me set the scene… I am a guitar lover (I can even play a little too) and a quality professional so My expectations are somewhat higher than most looking at this product. An absolutely beautiful instrument, this is my second SA360 and although they are no longer. Made in Japan, be assured they have not lost any of the build quality or attention to detail. The guitar was really well set up, is great to play, feels good in the hand and sounds the bee’s knee’s. If you are looking to start out in guitar playing get yourself an Ibanez Gio to start as a first upgrade from that, then the SA series is where you want to be at.Timbo

After reading so many glowing reviews, I was very excited to buy my own Ibanez AEB10E. The violin finish is beautiful and the fit was outstanding, for the most part. My only complaint was the frets and how sharp they were/are…Since string height is subjective, I will only say that I liked the way mine was setup-high enough that there were no fret buzzes. I like the organic tone and wish it were louder acoustically but when amped through my Fender Rumble 25 or 200, the sound still maintains the acoustic qualities I wanted it for. I'm still in the 45 day window to decide but right now, it's a keeper!Hoss

Overall: About 30 years ago, I placed an order for a custom bass. It looked absolutely beautiful but it didn't play well at all. So I sent it back for two adjustments that I knew they wouldn't be able to correct and I ended up getting my money back. I say all this to point out I vowed to never take a chance ordering instruments via mail. So I'm cautious because I've wanted an acoustic bass for quite some time and when I saw the Ibanez AEB10E and it low price, I decided to break my VOW and order that damn bass…lol. So now I'm hopeful because their were a lot of people who wrote great reviews, which nudged me to make the purchase. Now that I've had it for more than two weeks, I'm pleasantly surprised because this plays extremely well, I have a little fret buzz but I can tell that it's not going to take much effort to adjust the truss rod!!!!Joseph

I bought this bass a little over a year ago when I found a great deal on it online. I have an electric bass, but wanted something to sit on the couch with and play along with something I could potentially use to record some cool bass licks to use for some of the music I produce. I have to say, given that I didn't play the bass beforehand and just ordered it online, I got extremely lucky and landed on the exact bass I was looking for. The first thing I noticed is how easy it is to play. I feel like even though I'm not a very experience bass player it's not too much of a challenge to play the licks I'm trying to play. Just the way it is setup by default makes it easy for me and my big hands to hit the notes I want without accidentally striking or muting a string next to what I'm going for. The second thing I noticed is how great it sounds. I'm sure it would depend on the venue and type of ensemble, but I feel like this bass produces enough volume to be viable for playing unplugged next to a nice guitar that also has a good bit of volume. The tone is pretty well balanced too, I think the spruce top gives it a little more upper harmonics than you might expect, which is nice since it seems to have a little more presence as a result. I'm sure you probably don't need to hear this but the whole bass screams quality. It's gorgeous, and yes, the wood is lighter than it looks in the pic, but that's not a bad thing. There's no real imperfections anywhere in mine, every part of it looks and feels great. There are much better acoustic basses out there of course, but if you're just looking for one that plays well, looks great and is great quality, you can't go wrong with this one.Dr. Technology Man 504

The strings and sound of this bass are great, when it stays in tune. It turns out, the holes drilled for the tuning pegs are too big, so the pegs slip and cause the bass to fall out of tune with almost no use. We only found this out because we thought the pegs were bad, but upon taking them off to install new ones, we realized this fault. If you want a good bass for practice, this one will do fine. I would not recommend it for professionals, unless you want to spend the extra money to drill the holes out further to put in fittings for the pegs.Ryan

Being that there arent any very popular (or effective) battery operated bass amps out there, an Acoustic Bass is really the only option for someone who doesn't have access to a wall outlet, or doesn't want to carry a heavy amp with them. I was hoping to pick one up, but very few were in a price range that I, as a college student, could afford. That is when I found this little gem. The general rule I have found when buying a bass, at least as far as my experiences go, that anything under 300 that you buy will have to have something taken out of it; you can only make an instrument so cheap before it becomes more of a hassle than your time is worth. However, Ibanez has found a way to break this rule time and time again. Starting with the downsides: Do not get this bass expecting it to stand up against the drums and electric guitar unamplified. There isn't an acoustic bass on earth that can pull that off, and if there is, it is way to big to bother with. The pre-amp is OK, but only OK. The output jack is in an odd place. and the wiring would be a pain to deal with as you would have to reach down into the body to get to it. And now for the many, many upsides: It is a bit fat in size, but is very light weight. I usually play an 11 1/2 lb jazz bass, and this thing is such a literal weight off my back (at least a whole 4 lbs). It has an amazing, earthy tone that you just cant get out of a solid body bass. the body is very study, braced very heavily on the inside. As far as Acoustic basses go, this is one of the loudest I have played. The tuner is surprisingly accurate, and very useful. It is also very comfortable to play standing up, and won't strain your back. And the Icing on the cake is that it allow you to practice anywhere, any time, without the need for power. In short, It is very nice, and should be part of your arsenal today. Do not hesitate on this purchase ^_^Koren Rain

This bass exceeded expectations by a country mile. I've had acoustic basses before, and this one plays and projects far better than others I've had that cost a lot more. The Ibanez name tells me that the unit will remain stable and that the company will stand behind it. The factory set-up is fine. Ibanez supplies a higher bridge and hex wrench for neck adjustment, but neither were necessary. Other reviews point to action, "buzz" and low volume. In some cases, these reports may be accurate, but I suspect a lot of folks buy these instruments with unrealistic expectations. Simply stated, acoustic instruments slap, squeak and generally misbehave. This goes for Martins, Ibanez, Guilds…you name it. It is part of the charm of playing acoustic music. Bass strings move more across a long scale length, so you are going to get this in spades. Raising string height to stratospheric levels to overcome these natural traits seems to be something like training a wolf to herd sheep. To me, random tonal excursions are part of the package. Frankly its why I bought the thing and even at that, this bass is pretty well behaved. If you want perfect tones, perhaps a Fender Precision or even a MIDI synthesizer is a better choice for you. As for volume, well, lower tones need far more amplification to carry than their higher pitched cousins. 100 watts out of your Strat needs to be matched by some 400 watts from the accompanying bass. That's simple physics. This bass projects amazingly well, but if you are going to jam in a large group or hall, consider adding a small combo amp. That would go both for this bass or a $2000 custom instrument. Overall, I love the thing. I would buy it again, and I would recommend it without reservation.Ankeny Picker

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

The Fender CB-60SCE Black Solid Spruce Top Acoustic/Electric Bass Guitar is an excellent buy. Mine's a demo, which cut another $100 off the price! The built-in tuner is what every guitar needs. the 12-volt battery compartment is easily successible at the plug-input port — no more cramping your hand to reach past the strings inside the tone-hole. The intonation is perfect, with no fret buzz all the way up the neck. Most impressive is the volume! This acoustic bass holds its own even without amplification. Add an amp and the built-in tone controls and you have a great electric bass as well. The black lacquer throughout gives the Fender CB-60SCE a classic look. It is light and powerful, a high-quality instrument. It's a worthy bearer of the Fender name!joeltucker

I recently started playing bass guitar. My 12 yr old daughter plays the acoustic guitar, and my wife plays the harp. I chose an acoustic electric bass as my starter so we could all play together and have better cohesion and continuity in our sound in addition to the simplicity and flexibility an acoustic electric bass gives for playing/practicing. I am able to practice quietly, and it is extremely portable and very playable just about anywhere. I did some research and chose this one as "the one" to start on and very glad I did. The quality is outstanding, the sound is beautiful, and i just outright enjoy playing it. Plus I got it in black and love the look of it. I am very happy with this bass. I do intend to also buy an electric bass (or two) but have found this acoustic bass to be a high quality instrument and a great purchase.Phillip

This bass is perfect for just grabbing off the stand and playing whenever the mood strikes me, practicing while everyone else is sleeping (without need of sweaty headphones), or sitting out in the yard playing. I ordered it on a Sunday and it arrived that Thursday set up with about a millimeter of neck relief and about a 5 mm action, tuned down one step from standard. The onboard Fishman tuner is super handy and it agrees perfectly with my Snark Super Tight. It has a nice, rich tone across the spectrum both plugged in and unplugged. A word of caution if you do plug it in, though: have plenty of cable and make sure your muting technique is on point; it is LOUD! (In a good way!) I've only had it about 3 weeks at this point but I can foresee a long, lovely relationship with this beautiful bass!Vic B.

Simply put, this bass is a lot of bang for your buck. Whether your plugging it in or just noodling around with friends the clarity of each note fills the area around you. The upgraded presys plus system is incredibly versatile and extremely user friendly when trying to dial in any tone. Right our of the box between the looks and how rich and full it sounded, it blew me away. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good, playable acoustic bass that plays as good as it looks.Nick

Great looking 5 string acoustic bass. Setup was playable out of the box, no truss rod adjustment needed. Only thing that I feel is definitely needed is upgraded tuning keys as there is too much play in the stock ones. I replaced with Gotoh GB707 which are much sturdier and 20:1 ratio which is much improved. Stock holes need a tiny sanding out to accommodate these tuners but only takes a couple minutes and then an easy drop-in replacement. Since I am playing primarily through an amp, I inserted one of those rubber feedback eliminator discs in the soundhole and changed strings to La Bella white tape wound to eliminated lots of finger noise when amplified. Now plays great, maintains tune and sounds wonderful. With a little tweaking this bass is a welcome addition to my gear.JL

I am so happy with my new Michael Kelly 5 String Fretless bass. Grandon your Luther at our local Sam Ash store here in Indy, did an amazing job. Grandon replaced the strings and completed the set up on this bass and now it is my favorite bass. Grandon has this guitar sounding amazing, with no string buzz. Thank you Grandon! and Thank you Sam Ash.KEN

Despite the neck being described as a slim c it is thicker than my Taylor, Yamaha and fender. It's a little difficult to wrap my hand around but I am a woman. A man probably won't have that problem. I bought it to be a beater, something lightweight I can take around with me that I don't care about getting damaged. I actually wish I got the Taylor GS now because the neck will probably be what I am used to but I already have two Taylor's and wanted a different guitar, I like having different brands. The pick guard looks surprisingly cheap in person. Idk maybe other people like that look. I like a tortoise shell pick guard but this guild one just looks kinda faded out or something and the tortoise colors aren't blended well. It doesn't come with a gig bag anymore I guess, some people got one, maybe that is in other countries outside the US idk. The sound is what you would expect from a small guitar. The action is ok, a tad bit high which I might get lowered in the future. Doesn't bother me actually. The guitar is VERY lightweight.Jayjay L

The extra time at home during the pandemic has found me exploring short scale guitars and working on my finger-picking. I've acquired a Martin 000 Jr, and an all-mahogany Martin Dreadnought Jr. When I came across Guild's Jumbo Jr., I said, well, of course. How could I not? I thought a maple guitar would be a good addition to the Junior arsenal, and I wasn't disappointed. These Jumbo Juniors are beautiful, well made little instruments, fit and finish are superb. Mine has a couple bear claw inclusions on a very nicely book-matched solid Sitka spruce top, figured maple sides, and a bookmatched arched back of gorgeous, flamey, figured maple. The back and sides are laminates, but are very well chosen for their figuring. I thought the factory 13s were a bit too stiff, and the action a smidge high, so I had some nut and saddle work done, put a set of Martin Flexible Core 12s on, and just love this thing now. I think the factory idea behind the heavier strings is two-fold; to tighten up string tension that's inherently light due to the scale length, and to give it more low end. I think they just made it difficult to play. I haven't noticed any difference in tone switching to 12s, and the flexible core Martin strings have lighter string tension, enhancing playability. Given it's size, and that maple as a tone wood is on the bright side, you're not going to get a booming low end from this guitar – you might be better served in that regard by one of the mahogany bodied versions, but that's not what I was looking for. This guitar does have a fairly full and well balanced sound, nicely articulate with sparkling upper end resonance and great sustain. It plays well with the Martin Juniors, and has plenty of projection to keep up with the full-size boys, too. Great guitar!Rex K.

Was looking for a good value entry level instrument to start learning the bass after 15 years playing guitar. I'm sure I have found it.David C.

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

After reading so many glowing reviews, I was very excited to buy my own Ibanez AEB10E. The violin finish is beautiful and the fit was outstanding, for the most part. My only complaint was the frets and how sharp they were/are…Since string height is subjective, I will only say that I liked the way mine was setup-high enough that there were no fret buzzes. I like the organic tone and wish it were louder acoustically but when amped through my Fender Rumble 25 or 200, the sound still maintains the acoustic qualities I wanted it for. I'm still in the 45 day window to decide but right now, it's a keeper!Hoss

Overall: About 30 years ago, I placed an order for a custom bass. It looked absolutely beautiful but it didn't play well at all. So I sent it back for two adjustments that I knew they wouldn't be able to correct and I ended up getting my money back. I say all this to point out I vowed to never take a chance ordering instruments via mail. So I'm cautious because I've wanted an acoustic bass for quite some time and when I saw the Ibanez AEB10E and it low price, I decided to break my VOW and order that damn bass…lol. So now I'm hopeful because their were a lot of people who wrote great reviews, which nudged me to make the purchase. Now that I've had it for more than two weeks, I'm pleasantly surprised because this plays extremely well, I have a little fret buzz but I can tell that it's not going to take much effort to adjust the truss rod!!!!Joseph

I bought this bass a little over a year ago when I found a great deal on it online. I have an electric bass, but wanted something to sit on the couch with and play along with something I could potentially use to record some cool bass licks to use for some of the music I produce. I have to say, given that I didn't play the bass beforehand and just ordered it online, I got extremely lucky and landed on the exact bass I was looking for. The first thing I noticed is how easy it is to play. I feel like even though I'm not a very experience bass player it's not too much of a challenge to play the licks I'm trying to play. Just the way it is setup by default makes it easy for me and my big hands to hit the notes I want without accidentally striking or muting a string next to what I'm going for. The second thing I noticed is how great it sounds. I'm sure it would depend on the venue and type of ensemble, but I feel like this bass produces enough volume to be viable for playing unplugged next to a nice guitar that also has a good bit of volume. The tone is pretty well balanced too, I think the spruce top gives it a little more upper harmonics than you might expect, which is nice since it seems to have a little more presence as a result. I'm sure you probably don't need to hear this but the whole bass screams quality. It's gorgeous, and yes, the wood is lighter than it looks in the pic, but that's not a bad thing. There's no real imperfections anywhere in mine, every part of it looks and feels great. There are much better acoustic basses out there of course, but if you're just looking for one that plays well, looks great and is great quality, you can't go wrong with this one.Dr. Technology Man 504

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

I am Amazed at the construction, playability and looks of this affordable acoustic bass guitar. The action and feel of this bass allows me to play every style and technique that I'm able to play on electric bass.Kerry

Superb bass. Acoustic so don't expect huge volume but the tone is wonderful with botht he supplied roundwounds and D'Addario Chrome XL flatwounds. Setup was perfect and the neck is a joy to play – think Fender Precision and you're pretty much there 🙂Mr I. P.

Forget what you've heard about Acoustic Basses. This thing has a great feel and a great sound. I love the big traditional tuners. The only drawback is that its kinda hard to find a case that it will fit properly in. I bought a roadrunner case and had to modify it to accommodate the keys.David