I purchased this bass second hand, but it looked brand new and is an '08 model. The neck feels great (It's not too skinny nor too fat). It stays in tune pretty well, although, as with most other basses, the B string is usually a hassle. The neck-through makes the bass feel particularly solid, and the string-through body definitely adds a nice thump to your sound. Where the bass falls flat would be in EQ. Since it's only a 2-band EQ, you cannot modify your mids to get that desirable(in my opinion) growl in your tone, but you can achieve something similar by favouring your bridge pickup. The treble frequency boost seems a bit weak as well, so if you favour a trebly tone, perhaps this bass is not for you. All in all a very solid bass, but a change in pre-amp (and perhaps pickups) would really beef up your sound.

Washburn Force 5, imported from Vietnam Put new strings on it and it'll play real good. The setup was very playable. The fit and finish are real nice. It takes a screw driver to change the battery and it won't play if the battery dies. Be sure to unplug the cable when you're not using it and the battery will last a while. I have been playing it in church w/Behringer 1800 & the house sound. Plays good and sounds good.

I have used this bass in a few gigs, and I ought to say that it's not a bad one but there are better basses within its price range. The neck is smooth and plays fast, both slapping and fingering sound equally good. Its electronics aren't bad and it sustains its tuning quite well but as I said there are better basses out there. The B string doesn't sound very clear compared to other basses. All in all as I said you could try some Ibanez basses in the price range, in fact you will find out that cheaper Ibanez basses might nearly as well, also try Peavy basses they are amazing for playing fast and smoothly. Rockbasses are also a good choice. However you should note that for its price this bass is good. It's just that it doesn't suit me compared to other ones!