Fender BG31 Acoustic-Electric Bass User Reviews at zZounds

"Head turning beauty!" submitted March 8, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Health Care Provider by Day / Hobbyist by night

Music Style: You name it, I've done it. Play all styles but currently Church/Praise Team

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: This bass plays very nicely and has a decent tonal quality. Initially I was a bit concerned while playing it through a small combo amp because the pickup seemed to have a distinct drop off and lose the lower frequencies (E string). However, I have since begun plugging it into a D-box and playing it straight through our sound system which includes a sub-woofer. This has solved all of my initial concerns and it sounds great. Quality: I've been very satisfied overall with this bass. I primarily use it to play in church to accompany select vocalist and contemporary style choir pieces. It's the perfect mix between acoustic and electric sounds. The only thing that I'm just beginning to experience is a little noise coming from the volume pot. Not sure how this could have gotten dirty already or if it's going bad -- but think I'm just starting to develop some issues with it. Value: There are a lot of other acoustic basses out there that sell for a lot more money -- you can't beat the price tag on this guy. Manufacturer Support: Soon after getting it, I sent it back to Fender to evaluate the pickup positioning and function. Fender was great at getting this thing checked and back to me in a timely manner. The Wow Factor: The biggest reason I bought this bass was because of the way it jumped out at me as soon as I walked into the music store and saw it. That and the fact that the salesman didn't want me to buy it cause he liked playing it so much. It is a beautiful Metallic Cherry finish that will get everyone's head to turn and check it out! Overall: Love it -- beats hefting my old Fender Tele bass and the flight case that it's in.

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"My favorite Guitar" submitted December 6, 2005

By a customer from msn.com

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Musical Background: Professional/military musician

Music Style: Rock, Big Band Jazz

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Sound: I bought this to use in acoustical, un-amped settings, and the sound and balance (with my wife's guitar) are perfect. Solid low-end with enough overtone to not sound mushy. When I amp I play through a 1969 Ampeg v2 (eat your heart out :) ) and it still sounds great. Amped it is very touchy, and the Fishman picks up everything, even my sloppy changes and thupms on the body. Feature: Mine did not include accessories at all, I had to purchase everything else separately. (polish, case, cords, battery) Also, it came strung with heavy gague round wounds, which are absolutely abysmal and transmit all kinds of string noise. I changed them to light gague nylon flat wounds, and the action improved greatly. I also wish I had gotten one with the cutaway. The symmetrical body is pretty, but I do a fair bit of soloing, and have had to re-finger a number of songs because I couldn't reach the upper 8 frets. AND I had to add my own upper strap button. Quality: So far, I have been pleased with the quality of the instrument. The battery runs down quickly (I have to unplug between sets, and a battery rarely lasts more than one gig). The only cosmetic issue I have is that it looks like the head was drilled for a 6-string then filled and re-drilled for a 4. Value: This is my 4th bass, and my favorite. I also have a Hondo II, a Yamaha long-scale and a Guild fretless. I also got a better deal on it than on the others.

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"Blargie har har.. the bass for a pirate! left behind." submitted December 9, 2008

By a customer from gmail.com

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Musical Background: 6 year music super hero

Music Style: Ska/punk/happy punk!

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Sound: I would say that even though this bass has such a small body in width and depth, if played well, it can blow any of the other 500 dollar and more basses out of the water. I'm left handed and play southpaw, have owned this thing for four years now. I play punk, metal, ska, I play fast, loud, slow and steady. Everything but slap because I don't have a taste for it. This thing can take a beating! I switched out the nut, drilled deeper holes to switch the strings, basically i play upside down and I haven't been very nice to her. My bass has gone everywhere, its been in the sun for hours and hasn't warped, been in rain and hasn't molded, been dropped and smacked into walls, last year I broke the head off the neck and thought she was done, but I glue it back together and compressed the neck back in line and she was all better. It didn't affect anything. My bass is loud enough to keep up with two or three other acoustics, depending on how heavy you pick or slap or play with your fingers. In my experience i have no choice but to play with a pick when playing with others. the pre amp is standard but easy to adjust to a liking. I use Elixir, Ernie ball, de' addario, all of them have their own sound on this thing, in my opinion di addario is nice, almost nicer than Elixir. I've got backward strings, an upside down nut, scratches and chips but the sound is strong, smooth, great to the ear. Now the Victor Bailey bass is the bass to get when it comes to fender acoustic basses. No one can match that but it's easily a grand more to buy. This bass comes second in my opinion, and can get flat but new strings always fix that! Over all this thing is made of steel, sounds silver, neck is long, cut out would be nice, but still if you like the body size, it's better than most, it's Fender.

6 of 7 people (85.71%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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Fender BG31 Acoustic Bass Customer Review submitted January 5, 2012

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: The Fender Bass I bought was surprisingly well-made. The sound is rich and resonant. We started playing with the metal strings provided with the guitar. We did not use an amplifier and found a richer sound without an an amplifier is created with nylon strings. Feature: Awesome electronics! Ease of Use: Pick it up, plug it in and start playing Quality: Unbeleivable, Ours is the Fender BG-31, black, accustic. Value: It is a higher quality instrument than any other comparably priced guitar I've looked at. Manufacturer Support: So far, so good.

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"The Tale of two Ampegs." submitted October 12, 2004

By a customer from aol.com

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Musical Background: Band guitarist and Bass player.

Music Style: Love any Good Rock and good music.

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Sound: Hi, My Model is a BG-29 Fender Acoustic Electric Bass with a Mirror-Black finish and it has a single cutaway with a 9 v Fishman active Elecs. Has volume I run at about 3 the Max., Mids at 3-4 (gotta "scoop the mids for thumb slapping and finger popping") treb. and Bass around 7-8. I play the Bass thru a vintage 1966 Ampeg B-15-N Flip-top amplifier with the vol. set for 4-5 and the Bass all up and the Treble at about 5 . I play them like that and what a sound with all of the power and clarity and tonality that you will ever NEED! Just recently I purchased a Fender princeton 65 DSP FX amp and kept the vlo. at 2 and with the Ampeg B-15-N as the extension second amp. it was very awesome....with all of those FX tricks like Reverb, Tremolo,Delay,Flange,Chorus with a total of 16 positions in FX. I never thought that bass could be this awesome and beautiful and Kickin' depending on what I play. Hey thanks: Rich (Ol'BassGuy) PerkyDan@aol.com Feature: See above...I'll try to be more careful the next time...this was my first comment. Rich Quality: I would play and take these instruments to any moderate sized gig. Active Control on the BG-29 Fender Bass Took time to get used to as you can practice sans power on your "ROC & SOC" drummers throne which I have, but if you plug it in and you use the Fishman Active Elex., then you HAVE to disconnect the cable from the Bass as often as you can to save on the 9v Battery time. I burned out one battery in a few days after 1-1/2 hours practice. Very Pissin'off,it is. Or you can leave the cable into the Amp jack and unplug the bass to save presious power and money. These 2-packs of batteries cost $5.00+, ya know?...: The Ol' Bass Guy, Rich aka :perkyDan@aol.com Value: My Fender Bg-29 Acoustic Mfg. Rec Price was $800 and I took it home for half the price. Manufacturer Support: My Fender techs were there when I needed them and they were good and understood their products and got me a new set of tubes from Sovtek for a song. The Wow Factor: I want MORE!!!Especially in the Amp/Cab. dept. as I said my ideal would be a nice Ampeg B-15-N or a B-18-N to make a sensual piece of equiptment. Overall: I am exceedingly happy with what I now have, but I would like to pull the Fender Princeton 65 DSP first amp and use some Ampeg power cabinet. I would put an FX head into the Jack for the bass cable and attach on some or just one Ampeg B-18-N extension and I would play this forever, but before I did anything else I would go shopping for some GOOD Bass accessories.

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