I chose this bass... because im a HUGE fan of MTD and alot of the bass players that use MTD. For the price i paid... this bass is truly amazing. If this bass were lost or stolen.. id beat the guy who took it down to a bloody pulp.. and if i couldnt find him or the bass.. id definitely get this bass.. or even a higher MTD model like the heir. really the only way this bass can be better is to have an active pickup rather then the passive pickup. favorite aspect: perfect playability worst aspect: Passive over active. a great great product at a great great price.
Model Year: 2003
Price: $280.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Marshall Music
Koerean made.
Tobacco Burst w/o the pick guard(hate them)
34" scale 4 string
24 medium jumbo frets
Zero fret 1 1/2" wide, 4 string
MTD bridge, 3/4" (19mm) spacing
One-piece neck w/satin polyester finish
Carved basswood body w/figured maple top
MTD exposed pole alnico MM pickup
Buzz Feiten tuning system
Its a great sounding bass for its price.. amazing slap tone and great playability... for being a passive bass it was actually very nice and punchy.. but would be ALOT better with an active setup.
This bass is a dream to play. The slap on this bass is very easy and very clean.. PERFECT for slap. The neck is super quick.. and its very easy to perform everything from jazz runs to punk runs. I had the toby4 before this one... and its a HUGE difference in playability and overall just a better design.
I run the bass str8 through a Dave Eden 2x10 cab and a 4x10 extension. The bass has tremendous bite due to the humbucker style pickup in the "sweet" spot.. The sound is very good on the bass. again, my only flaw is that the pickup woulda been much better in ACTIVE. I play this bass for styles ranging from funk to hardcore and punk.. and it suites me VERY well. The bass is a punchy toned bass.. nice lows.. but mainly excellent in the mids and highs.. crisp highs and powerful mid area.
I soon plan to take the pickup out and put an active music man pickup in it.
Havent taken the bass out of the house too much.. cept for the studio.. its worked very well. i got it 2 motnsh ago.. and still no adjustments on the truss... its still as crisp as it was out of the box.
Overall Rating:
If you need a larger string spacing, buy an American fender V.......if not, then go for a Ibanez or Dean! Since i don't own it, and for having it to file down the "ALL" frets edges, i don't think if i did own it, that i would buy another!
This bass really needs more attention to detail!!!!!
My favorite aspect is the finger style and tapping abilities. The worst is the left "SHARP" fret edges on both sides of the neck!
This really wouldn't be a bad bass if they had a better cost effective way to make things come together, like they do on other, same, and lower priced basses!
Model Year: 2002
Where Obtained: Borrowed
This is a Koren made bass with a Basswood body, 24 med frets, Volume & tone knobs, 1 MM style p/u, Passive electronics, MTD tuners and bridge, and the Buzz Feiten tuning system.
Playability:
Playability is decent. Although if you have bigger hands, this may not be the "slap & pop" bass for you! The pick guards odd shape interferes with a rolling pop on the G string! (Makes it a very awkward feeling!)Although string spacing is good and plentiful, the fret ends were rough cut! Fit to finish is to be expected for this bass!.......for the money, a Dean or an Ibanez would have been better!
Played through a TE 7210H and a Aguilar DB 359 head with an Epifani T-212D.
Sound is well suited for this bass being passive. Just by adjusting the tone, you are able to get desired sounds, weather it be finger funk, slap, or R&B!
Although it doesn't have the versitility of an Ibanez or Dean, it's good for a student.
Well, for borrowing it.....it seems pretty durable! Haven't had to adjust anything yet! But the paint is already wearing off at the strap botton on the top horn!
Student has had it for 1 month.
Note: this is the "cut/paste" version of my Harmony Central review of this bass - if you've already read it there, there's nothing new here.
When you hear people raving about the K5 Kingston playing like a bass two or three times its price, believe them. The stock sound of the K5 Kingston is great, but you can add active electronics and even install another pot and still come out ahead. I plan on leaving it stock and purchasing a Digitech BP-200, which has all the sound shaping I'll ever need. If it were lost or stolen, I'd replace it with another K5 Kingston (perhaps the blue pearl paint job - the black gloss finish is hard to keep clean). All things considered, the features of the K5 Kingston are first-rate products: the Hipshot bridge and Straplock compatible buttons aren't found as stock on basses costing much more. I ordered the K5 Kingston in October 2001 and the salesman gave me a great discount because I had to wait so long at the counter to order it while somebody was trying to unload a Fender Strat--I saved 80 US dollars over Musician's Friend. He also threw in a set of strings for "all my troubles". My e-mails to Matthews and Ryan (the sole North American distributor of MTD overseas products) were answered to my satisfaction and in a timely manner.
Model Year: 2001
Price: $400.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Marshall Music, Lansing, MI
The K5 Kingston is made in Korea. Here's a brief tour of the bass: 35" scale, 25 fret 2-octave maple neck with maple fretboard, carved basswood body, swoosh-type pearloid pickguard, conventional volume and tone controls, single Music Man style pickup "in the sweet spot", Hipshot bridge, Buzz Feiten tuning system, and Straplock compatible buttons (a nice touch!). The headstock has Gotoh-style tuners in a 4+1 configuration. It's also tilted back so the strings rest across the zero fret instead of the nut. The bass body has that "Tobias" look. The electronics cavity is shielded and large enough to add an active preamp or even another pot--I've seen this done on a Kingston fretless, and it looked like original equipment.
The K5 Kingston came with absolutely no discernible flaws. The action was set properly--low enough for just a bit of fret buzz. No nut shavings, which I've seen on other Korean-made basses. The finish is gloss black and I suppose it will develop the used look over time. The only modification I've made to the bass was to raise the pickup somewhat by inserting some foam in the cavity, and then using ball-point pen springs around the pickup screws to stabilize the height (I got this idea from another K5 reviewer). The string spacing might tax your fingering ability, but it's great for slapping!
The sound of the K5 Kingston is limited due to its basic electronics (one volume, one tone), but is quite good--full and punchy. This is good, considering my Kingston didn't have a capacitor wired on the tone pot when I acquired it. A local guitar tech solved that problem and now the bass sounds like it should--plenty of tonal sweep, even for passive electronics. The original MTD strings sound great on this bass. It's presently strung with Ken Smith custom balanced round-wounds; nothing wrong with them, but the original MTD's are my personal preference for this bass.
I've only had the bass since November 2001, so I don't know how reliable the K5 Kingston will be in the long run. I really don't anticipate having any problems (other than perhaps string breakage), but I have a backup just in case.
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