NBD

[RGM]

My grand-daughter has taken over my old entry level Yamaha bass, (with my blessing, she's an angel!) so I needed something to record with. Wouldn't you know it, Dave's has a great deal going on gently used PRS SE basses. I debated between this and another brand with a burled top. Settled on the PRS Kestrel. Man, am I glad I did! It just arrived today, and the pictures honestly can't do it justice. What an absolutely tastefully designed instrument. Brushed Hipshot tuners and Hipshot bridge. The black pickguard against the three tone sunburst is exquisite! Got home late today so I haven't had a chance to play it yet. But it's one of those "chemistry" moments, when you see the instrument and instantly think "Bingo! That's the one!"

The "wings" are actually darker than how they appear in the photos; gives it a more subdued, classy look.

 

[dmatthews]

Wise choice! Love it!

 

[CoreyT]

Very nice, the SE basses are great.

 

[veinbuster]

Very nice.
Enjoy.

 

[markintime]

That's pure class. Love the color!

 

[shinksma]

Gah. Like I didn't already have enough GAS, you've rekindled my BAS for a bass!

That's a really nice looking Kestrel! How does it play compared to your old Yamaha? I have a couple of beater cheap Fender Jazz/P-Bass knockoffs, but I played my bandmate's Yamaha bass for our recent album. I yearn for a nicer bass of my own, and the Yamaha was good, but I know the PRS SEs will be better...

My fiancee has hinted I'm getting something guitar-ish for my birthday, coming up sooner or later. So no acquisitions for a while. Gah!

 

[toothace]

Congrats! When is the jam session with your Grand-daughter?

 

[László]

Sweet!

 

[bodia]

Congrats!

 

[Alan Manning]

Very Nice. Enjoy

 

[RGM]

Okay, so I got to play it today. Extremely satisfied! It's very comfortable. Well balanced and solid, but not too heavy. The set up is just right. It has a more professional feel than the entry level Yamaha I had before, and understandably as it is a bit more expensive.

Tone wise, it is perfect for a guy like me, because it gives me exactly the tones that I hear in my head when I think of what a bass should sound like, from a warm deep syrupy sound, to a bit more aggressive, rocky mid level, and punchy slap, without having to tweak. Everything I need is right there. The other bass I looked at had more bells and whistles for tweaking (pickup split switch, separate boost/cut knobs for bass, mid, treble, fade knob, volume knob) and would probably be great for tinkerers. But that's not really me. I want the bread and butter tones without a lot of fuss so I can focus on playing, and this delivers the goods wonderfully.

It is a passive bass, but that was a plus for me, as I already give Duracell enough business with my P24. I can simply hit the EP clean boost for now to give it a bit more punch, or look for that in the bass amp I'm hoping to eventually buy. The new Fender Rumble 100 has a vintage switch that boosts the bass with out having to buy batteries, and I'm thinking heavily about going with that. I LOVE the Markbass sound, but it's way beyond my current budget. Besides, I'm primarily a guitarist and this is just a hobby bass for home recording and casual jams. So I want to get the best bang for the buck.

So all in all, great bread and butter sounds, in a comfortable instrument, with a very polished, professional look.

Oh - and the middle section of the body has two accent lines running through it which I initially thought were shadows of the strings, but are actually thin dark wood inlays, that divide the center gold section into three gold bands. Tres' cool!

 

[shinksma]

Cool! Thanks for the tone/playability report. Yeah, I like that center line neck-through-body look!