Phoenix 4 Series TRAP4BRD 4-String Bass Guitar, Blood Red

I saw this guitar at The Guitar Center and fell in love with the look. I just wanted to have it just coz it looks so awesome. But the salesman was a total dick so I bought it online and love it to death. I record with it thru my Line6 Bogner combo amp on a clean setting into my Focusrite 2i2 with no processing and it sounds amazing. The best bass sound I ever got. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the feel of the neck but that's just a minor con. I've played it live and people rave about it. Total chick magnet. 8)

So, looking for a lefty bass is always challenging. But when I saw the Traben Phoenix, I thought my prayers were answered - it was a case of immediate lust. However, my lust soon turned to disgust after I received my bass. It arrived looking beautiful, but I immediately discovered that the pot that controls the blending of each pickup was non-functional. Hanser Music, the distributor of Traben, would not allow me to have the bass looked at locally (there is no dealer within several hundred miles) and required me to send it back to them. It took over six weeks for them to repair the bass and get it back to me (requiring my purchase of a back up bass to continue my instruction) - and lo and behold when I finally got it back, there was a terrible hum when I plugged it in. Deciding to eat the cost, rather than have another interminable delay, I took it to a local repair shop where I discovered that the bass was not properly grounded. It cost me $40 to have it repaired. I will note that after a lot of back and forth with Hanser, they did reimburse me the $40. Unfortunately, the story does not end there - soon thereafter, the same pickup pot stopped working. I opened up the bass and discovered a very poorly soldered wire on the pot. I resoldered it myself and since them, the bass works properly.While my Traben bass does look wonderful and sounds great, no one should have to worry about purchasing a new $600 instrument and having to deal with multiple problems necessitating the expenditure of much time and trouble. Traben manufactures the Phoenix in Korea and it appears that the quality control is very poor both in Korea and here in the US. While Hanser's customer service is very pleasant, it shouldn't have been that hard to check out the bass before both initial shipment to the dealer and before returning a defective product to the consumer. I would not recommend purchasing a Traben bass unless you have a local dealer who is prepared to stand behind the product.

You advertised a 4 string, it's a five string but nice for the money. Lightweight, looks very cool, well made.

I Bought the lefty model about a year ago and it plays as good as it did the day i got it to this day. the bigger bridge gives more body contact and sustain, and it has standard holes for the strings and notches directly on the bridge for you to choose from. The five Piece neck is Beautiful, and the body curves down to the neck so it doesn't even feel like a bolt-on. the range is unbelievable, lows, mids, and highs all sound great. All the little details are what make this bass so nice, sleek body shape, the curve down where the neck bolts on, a Brass nut, the Flame inlays, and Active pickups as well. the only downsides are that it is a little on the weighty side, playing a long set can be a real workout with this baby, and it looks so amazing that when people see you pull it out they expect to be blown away so you had better be able to deliver. i got mine for 500 and it was worth every penny and much much more.