Univox Electric Bass Guitar Reviews 
4 / 5 based on 1 reviewsI got from the Bass Palace because I like
my fretless Ovation Typhoon very much and
this looked like a fretted knock-off of it.
I cost $375, in an oversized case, and then
I spent another $50 for decent tuners.
It a hollow f-hole dual humbucker bass.
What's not to like ? Actually, I wish
it were long scale, but my Typhoon is
also 30" and they make a good pair of
matched fretted and fretless basses.
Tone with flatwounds is "thunKKee".
Light gage roundwounds make it scream.
I've not tried 1/2rounds, but obviously
this is a chameleon bass, sensitive to
string choice more than solid bodies.
I like that it has a trapeze tailpiece
so I don't get too much of the E-string main windings on the tuning peg. The
30" scale has some advantages, in tone
it's percussive, and in size at least I
can find a gig bag for it. Short scale
is also very fast to play, and solves
the usual problem of hollow bodies with
long scales: neck heaviness is minimal.
I like the vintage look and sound.
String choice is more limited than with
long scale basses, but not severely.
It's plainly more fragile than a solid
body bass. String heights are not set
individually. The original tuners were
very awful. It's not particulary loud.
It has no interior purfling. The plastic
binding is the only reinforcement of the
joining of the top and back to the sides.
So far so good, and it IS 30yrs old now.
Original tuners are the old stamped-cover
hidden-gear cheapo type. The "chromed"
PU covers are plastic. It's hard to fit
the string balls into the tailpiece with
the wood insert in place [removed that].
That's about it for negative comments.
The sunburst finish is attractive, the
neck is nicely bound [no fret-ends to
annoy me]. I like the thumbwheels that
allow quick easy resetting of string
height at the bridge if the climate has
affected the action [hollow bodies are
susceptible to that]. The humbuckers
are the "staple-pole" style, sound like
humbuckers should, and adjust easily
for height.
The bridge has thumbwheels to allow easy
side-to-side leveling as well as overall
height setting. It has "tunomatic" type
intonation plus major changes are made
by just re-angleing the whole bridge on
the arched top.
The neck is adjustable at the head. 2+2
tuners on a tilt-back headstock. Mine
has Schaller tuners, which I recommend
because 30" basses are picky about very
accurate tuning. 18:1 or 24:1 Gotohs
would be very good too.
I think if you can find an Ovation or
Guild at a bit more money, that would be
a better buy and better machine, but for
economy's sake, the Univox is a very fine
choice and is not exactly chopped liver.
Mine is near mint, so I expect you could
get a good example even cheaper if it has
a few ugly spots.
I'm rating it a "4". It's a 4 or 5 for
tone and general playability, convenience
etc [subjective obviously] but it's only
a 3 or 4 for build quality, materials and
hardware. Just to explain the "4" rating.
It seems to be priced as what it is.
Golem rated this unit
on
2003-10-30.
