First of all I will say for the price point this is a nice looking bass and certainly useable ,but my experience was it really needs attention to get it set up right ,the bass arrived with the nut loose and hanging off the fret board ,not a good start ,but a quick fix with super glue sorted that ,next it became apparent some of the frets were not level , luckily I have the tools to do that so I sorted that out within a few hours ,but for most that would be a trip to a luthier and some money spent ,plugging it in gave some good results ,the passive emgs sound good ,the preamp is usable but doesn't sound well matched to the pickups ,the bass EQ is woolly sounding and not focused and is best backed off to not over come other frequencys ,the mid EQ is ok but best left around the centre detent, the treble EQ is also best left round the centre detent as it can sound harsh when boosted ,the blend pot on my bass is very scratchy sounding even after cleaning with contact spray ,I don't believe the eq is emg and it shows with use ,so my thoughts are either fit a emg 3 band EQ ,I have used these in other basses and they work well ,or replace the whole pickup system with active emg ,job done .once you've dialed the sound in ,a decent preamp will help alot ,you can get some great sounds out of this bass and is a good mixable sound with other instruments ,rock and metal is particularly where this instrument shines ,and getting a Dave ellefson sound is easily found .I also found the tuning a bit tricky as either the nut or the tuners need some work ,judging by the clicky sounds id say the nut needs cutting a bit better to allow smooth tuning ,but that's a job for later ,also the binding on my bass was sharp against the palm of my hand so some shaving and rolling on the edge was required ,the paint finish was perfect and looks very good ,one of the best Matt finishes I've seen ,the inlays are great and look well done ,I conditioned the fretboard as it seemed quite dry out of the box now it looks alot better and the inlays pop more ,no complaints about the bridge it adjusts as it should and has no undue sharpness against the back of you hand like so many bridges do ,the strap buttons are also sturdy if basic ,neck feels good with a satin smoothness and is thin and comfortable. So despite all the issues I've had to sort I think it's a good bass for the money ,but be prepared to spend some money if you want to get it really dialled In ,I think it's worth the effort