Eastwood Classic 4 Bass, Miles of Styles

The Eastwood Classic 4 Bass is an instrument to bring you that old timey-look and tone perfectly suited for outlaw country, rockabilly, and rock at a reasonable price. It’s a semi-hollow bass reminiscent of Gretch or Epiphone guitars and has a round, punchy tone that will cut through the mix. It sounds great clean or overdriven.

For me the most interesting thing is that it is a short scale bass that doesn’t feel short scale. When I think about short scale basses the first thing that comes to mind are Fender Mustangs, Broncos, and Musicmasters. The next thing I think about is that, while they are very cool, they are for short men and women and I’m definitely a tall dude. The Classic 4 is barely taller than my bandmate’s Epiphone Sheraton guitar, so small for a bass, but wears like a full size bass. I didn’t even feel like no short tort man!

The next thing I noticed is how many frets you have access to. Twice during practice I started playing songs on the wrong note because the top cutaway allows access all the way up to the 19th fret versus 15th fret on my P Bass. This is something you would easily get used to and would eventually be an advantage.

I got my Eastwood Classic 4 used and when I received it, it was virtually unplayed and in better shape than most guitars you pick up at Guitar Center. I really didn’t see any scratches, dust, or  wear on the back and some of the protective plastic was even intact (and still is). 10 out of 10!

If you buy new, it probably needs a set up…

When I plugged it in and played it, I quickly realized why the previous owner had neglected this thing, it needed a set up! Nothing too serious, but it sounded like crap. The neck was in the ballpark as far as action and intonation but the pickups were adjusted reverse of what they should have been so that the bottom end of the pickup was close to the high G and the top end was far from the low E. This lead to the bass sounding really low in volume and thin on the E string, too loud on the G string, and D string just sounded honky. Once I dialed in the action and intonation and re-leveled the pickups the bass started to shine…in sound…it was already real shiny.

I took it to band practice the first day I had it. It sounded freaking great on my Ampeg SVT-VR and 6×10 Ampeg cabinet…but what doesn’t sound great on those? 😀 My guitarist and drummer both dug the tone and vibe. The neck is thin and fast and I had no trouble playing any of our stuff, but I also don’t play anything overly complicated. Straight forward rock.

Make sure to check out my video above where I demo some of the tones and features of the Eastwood Classic 4 bass. And my video below where I show my initial unboxing of the bass.

Buy my bass on Reverb

Eastwood say all these cool dudes use Eastwood Classic 4 Basses:

• 

  Dallon Weekes (Panic! at the Disco)

• Anton Newcombe (The Brian Jonestown Massacre)
• Dusty Jermier (Wooden Shjips)
• Lee Mann (The Moonlandingz)

Eastwood Classic 4 Bass Features and Specs:

Body: Bound Laminated Maple, Maple Top, Bound F-Holes
Pickups: Two EW-Retro Humbuckers
Switching: 3-Way
Controls: 2 Volume 1 Tone
Bridge: Wood Floating, Trapeze Tail
Neck: Bound Maple, SET neck
Finger Board: Rosewood, Sharks Teeth Inlays
Scale Length: 30 1/2″
Width at the Nut: 1 1/2″
Hardware: Gotoh style Style Nickel/Chrome
Strings: #50-#105 Long Scale
Unique Features: Unique Sharks Teeth Inlays

Check out Eastwood’s page for more info, pictures, and videos about this bass:

Classic 4 Bass

Eastwood Classic 4 Bass Unboxing