Truth be told, I didn't know what to expect when we first received this bass. I've played a few 8- bangers in my life and most of them were heavy, hulkish, thick- necked beasts but when I got my hands on this bass, the first thing that struck me was the "normalness" of the neck. It's quite easy on the hands and feels very much like a regular Sonus 4 neck. With that first feel done, my next step was to actually play the thing and see what it sounded like. I'm familiar with Bartolini J pickups and knew that they can easily cover the bass spectrum, but with four extra strings in the mix, I just wasn't sure about what I was going to get. Simply put, this bass is a complete and utter beast! If you dial up the bass and blend towards the neck pickup, it's a bottom- end monster with clear and full lows. Dial back some of the treble, blend toward the bridge pickup and you'll immediately notice the punch and mid- rangy bark this bass emits. The octave tones sound as if there's a second bassist in the room, matching you note for note and here's something really interesting: if you go to the bridge pickup only and add all the treble while setting the bass in the middle, it sounds like a harpsichord! No kidding- I found that one all by myself and soon, I'd been sitting with this bass for over a half hour, enjoying myself greatly. To order this bass new from Zon, you'll be set back around $6000.00, so why not check yourself into the bass department here at the 'Elk and get one for less than half price? Quality assured and tone guaranteed- that's what you'll find every day here in 'Elkland.