New Gear: Luna Tattoo Electric Bass (short scale)

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In my last post, I mentioned how difficult December was for my family after my father’s major surgery and 25-day hospital stay. Music was one of the main things that helped us through that time. My dad received a Gold Tone travel-sized 5-string banjo from us and I ended up with two new basses: an Ibanez Parlor A/E bass and a Luna short scale Tattoo electric bass.

Luna is primarily known for their ukuleles (or that’s always the impression I’ve had), so when I saw that they offered a short scale electric bass, I was interested to see how a primarily acoustic instrument company would produce an electric bass guitar. The Luna Tattoo bass actually comes in two options: short scale and long scale—but since I collect short scale basses, I wasn’t interested in the long scale version, although I saw several reviews for this version on Youtube.

Musician’s Friend was having a sale on the short scale version of the Luna Tattoo electric bass, so I snagged one for $175 (regular price $199) and informed my husband that I had found my Christmas present from him.

The first thing I noticed about this bass when it arrived was its weight. For a short scale, it seemed really heavy. I knew it had a mahogany body, but dang, short scales are supposed to be lighter, right? Most of my other short scales (with exception to the Fender Rascal) are much lighter than the long scale basses I own or have owned in the past.

As far as pickups go, this bass has a vintage style p-bass split-coil configuration with a volume and tone knob—nice and simple. 

The pearloid inlays are cool—shaped like the phases of the moon—a surprising detail for a $199 bass. And, the laser-etched tribal tattoo design looks great—although it’s not a design I would normally be attracted to.

The neck is comfortable and fairly fast. The sides of the frets could use a little shaping, but they aren't so bad that it's painful to play. I've had higher-end Fender basses that needed fretwork, so I can't complain too much about that subject.

Sound-wise, this bass puts out warm, fat tones (thanks to that heavy mahogany body) with just enough brightness from the round wound strings that came on it. I may change the strings to flat wounds in the future, but for now, I'm content. 

Check out the FULL SPECS of this bass on Luna’s website.

I feel like I should make a point to note that up until a year or two ago, I was a firm believer in only buying instruments that were in the mid-higher price range (anything over $500)—mostly because of the reputation cheaper instruments tend to have (“you get what you pay for” and all that).

I only started going out on a limb with these short scale basses because they’re so much harder to find than your average long scale instruments… so, I probably won’t be buying cheaper long scale basses—but I’m totally open to buying cheaper short scales—if only to collect them.

My latest acoustic/electric bass: Ibanez Parlor Bass PNB14E

December was a rough month for my family as a whole. My father became sick with a mysterious illness on November 11th and it wasn't until December 6th that he was finally diagnosed with a seriously infected gallbladder. Surgery was performed the next day and after many setbacks and complications, he finally came home on December 30th. 

That being said, it was difficult to enjoy the holiday season. But luckily, getting new instruments cheered me up as much as possible--given the circumstances. 

Sometime in early December, my family made a trip to Guitar Center in Huntsville, AL (now that my son is a musician, we frequent GC several times a month). My daughter and I wondered into the acoustic room and I noticed an Ibanez parlor bass on the wall beside the other smaller acoustic/electric basses. I had played a Taylor GS Mini bass there before and liked it, but I didn't want to spend $700 on a bass that I probably wouldn't play much. So, when I spotted the Ibanez and its $250 price tag, I immediately pulled it off the wall and tried it out. 

Normally, I wouldn't expect much from a cheaper bass (anything less than $500)--mostly because you tend to get what you pay for when it comes to musical instruments (not always, but usually). This bass, however, felt and played really well, exceeding my expectations. I've played Ibanez basses for years, mostly electric), and I've loved them...but, I owned an Ibanez full size acoustic/electric bass years ago and it was a disappointment to me--mostly because of how large it was and because you pretty much had to play it with an amp to hear anything. This parlor bass, despite its small size, really projected on its own--not enough to play with electric instruments or drums--but definitely enough to practice with in an unplugged setting. The onboard tuner was a cool feature--even though it's common enough (all my acoustic/electrics have them). 

I checked the price on Reverb for this same bass--brand new-- and found one for $212 with free shipping--so I hung the one from GC back on the wall and ordered it from Reverb on the spot. Even after tax on Reverb, I spent less than the retail price at GC (before tax). Plus, the GC model looked as though it had been through the wringer hanging on the wall--with its beat up strings and a few blemishes on the body. I'm honestly surprised they hadn't reduced the price for that fact alone--another reason I rarely buy new instruments in store from GC. 

I waited until Christmas Day to play this bass--and it sounded great right out of the box (another thing Ibanez is known for). 

The mahogany back, top, and sides give this small bass a rich, dark tone and its weight is just heavy enough to feel comfortable in your hands (my other small acoustic/electric basses don't feel weighty enough--more like a ukulele). 

Feedback through the amp is obviously an issue if I'm too close--but that's just part of the A/E thing, I guess, so I'm not going to complain about something I always expect with this type of instrument.

Overall, I'm really pleased with this bass. And, even though the strings are round wound (and I'm normally a flat wound or tape wound player), they feel good and sound fine if I keep the treble and mids down. 

So far, I've used this bass as a solo practice instrument--something I can take into the bedroom or living room and not worry about carrying an amp along. It's great for coming up with new bass lines or just messing around with when I want an instrument in my hands. 

Well done, Ibanez! You've boosted my faith in less expensive instruments.

READ FULL SPECS FROM IBANEZ HERE