Alberto's Review:

Ciao Bill,

     Alberto here. Right, friday I finally received my new strings ordered for the "Beast" (Status from UK) and was able to do some proper testing of the bass with my rig. The old strings were half dead, and even extra boiling didn't help; had no spare sets and those on my other basses were pretty worn out and stretched too. Lowered a lot action to acceptable buzzing and was ready to go...

     First off, as I already said the "Beast" is definitely lighter than the Q4, and the slightly smaller and slimmer body makes it more comfortable strapped on, so I felt at home almost immediately.
Despite having a thinner neck too, it's not so "fast" as the older Q4 v1, different feel under the thumb too, but nothing brutally different anyway... It looks obvious that the bridge is instead of a
lesser quality compared to the previous all black non Zen-On jap version here; hope that not affects tone or sustain... Going into the instrument itself, well, some monster output for sure, pickups seem to have more depth and clarity than the standard EMGs, and the BTC control is a "bad mutha" for sure too. I am still playing/exploring with those frequency switches but overall is a great feature. I can tell you the bass already plays and sounds better than my three other Steinberger's and handle lower frequencies with definition and punch. Have still to re-shape my
overall eq to refine my tone, maybe trying some other gear I already own... Currently playing quite a lot with POD + headphones to understand the instrument and learn how it responds to my (weird) playing before getting into heavy amp tweaking... Sorting out best string gauges and correct saddle height too. For now, on the basis of build quality, sound quality, overall vibe, the Wilkat is simply one of the best basses I have ever played... period.

As always take care + stay cool, later, Alberto.

     P.S. I truly recommend those Status Hotwire strings for/to all your Steinberger projects/clients -- pricing is good and shipping is reasonable. The round wound are same league of LaBella's (or even better) and the black nylon half wound are great too. Link follows:

     http://www.status-graphite.com

NOTE: Steinberger is a registered trademarks of Gibson Musical Instruments and in no way affiliated with Wilkat Guitars.

Bill's Response:

Thanks Alberto! I loved this bass for it's eye candy appeal, but also for the fact that the wood, pickups and the control were a great match -- so it's not just a looker, but a player! I've also been recommending the BTC to all bass players now, and thank you again for turning me on to this great little control pot. And I'm proud to note that this bass was the first I've shipped to Italy (home of some of the finest stringed instruments ever built!), which makes me very happy!