A lovely bass that is a little hard to classify for several reasons. Officially it’s a 5/8 size “hybrid” bass, but I would call it a very compact 3/4 size carved bass with a laminated back. Read on for a detailed explanation of why I am saying so. 

 

In 2012 when Shen made this bass their “5/8 model” was still experimental. I owned a couple of these initial basses  made around 2010 that used a 3/4 neck with a weird “e“ heel stop (basically this is what happens when you put a long neck on a short body without too much planning) and they were nice basses, if a little haphazard in specifications. 

Evidently by the time this  particular bass was made they had gotten pretty close to a D stop (standard length neck) but the bass still has a string length that is longer than the current 39-1/2” at 40-13/16”   

The body of the bass is more of a compact 3/4 size with an upper bout width  of 19.76”,  a lower bout width of 25-1/2”

 And a  body length of 42-1/2” 

 

Call it what you want, the bass sounds great, not at all ’”small” and is very responsive with a good amount of thickness in the lower register and a sweet, singing ,upper end. 

 

Another  mushy bit of terminology is what to call the bass’s construction materials. Traditionally a “carved” bass is all solid woods, beginning fabrication the way that nature supplies us in the form of boards sawn from trees. 

Then there are  mold formed plywood basses, (laminated”) and something in between; the “hybrid” bass that features a carved solid wood (typically spruce or another low mass high/stiffness softwood) but plywood back and sides. 

In 2012 when this bass was made, Shen used solid, willow wood sides for their 190 models like this one, and only the flat back was laminated. So it’s a carved bass with a laminated back, which contributes to these early 190 model’s  responsive, open sound. The current model uses laminated willow sides so, it’s a typical “hybrid.” A small point, perhaps, but I do think it makes a big difference in the responsiveness of this bass. 

 

Current set up incudes a fresh set of Pirastro “Evah Pirazzi” light gauge strings, and the bass has been throughly cleaned of rosin and sweat, and polished to a beautiful patina, with no excessive wear. 

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