MB-5 SBK Deluxe Series : Don't believe the hype.

Use:

I primarily bought this bass to play wedding gigs since there are a couple of sets were I needed a five string and I don't really like playing 5 strings so I didn't want to spend much money.

Clarity:

The instrument really does look and feel more expensive than it is until you plug it in. The fretwork was really good, all the frets were as level as you'd expect for this bass and suprisingly no frets are sticking out which is a pleasant suprise for this price. The action was very high in my opinion but I have since found out some people like it like that. The intonation was dreadfull though. With factory strings it was almost impossible to set up the intonation properly so I bought a pack of DR PureBlues. But all of this is ok for the price. But the pickup is just horrid. The high are so prounounced and loud aswell as the hi-mids while there is no definition in the bass and low-mids frequency range. Once I plugged it in my MarkBass Little Marcus 500 and heard it I thought I got a defective bass and then I saw that people had the same problems online. I fixed this with a 13 dollar AliExpress pickup and it really is a dealbreaker for this bass. IMHO you can not use this bass in any sort of professional situation if you don't change the pickup.

Pros&Cons:

Pros - Good looking, pretty affordable and very playable after a decent setup and a new pack of strings

Cons - The pickup(whose production should be illegal), really cheap and low quality plastic nut and really bad strings

Conclusion:

If you want something to hold on to and use for a lot of years to come avoid this bass, buy the J or P style HB. If you know how to work on basses and install pickups, electronics etc. for not much more money you can build an excellent bass. The AliExpress pickup, and DR strings made the bass come to life and it sounds awesome now.