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Most instruments are designed for everyone – not the Daisy Rock Candy Bass. This sub-$300 bass guitar is designed specifically for girls. However, don't be fooled by the playful image – this bass is here to make some noise! Ladies, let’s check it out.
First things first – it's not a completely different instrument just because it's made for girls. There is no difference in talent or ability between female and male bassists (imagine telling Tal Wilkenfeld that she isn’t comparable to men!). However, the Daisy Rock Candy features very slight adjustments to make it physically easier to play for women with smaller frames.
For example, it features a ‘slim and narrow’ neck with a C shape, catering for smaller hands, while the P Bass style double-cutaway body is made from a lightweight sycamore, which sits somewhere between maple and mahogany in terms of density.
The neck is made from rock maple, with a bolt-on construction and a 34” scale length. It features a rosewood fretboard with 22 medium sized frets – again suited to smaller hands – along with star inlays which add some extra bling.
The Candy is about conquering typical physical differences and Daisy Rock are making bass guitars more accessible for younger girls to learn. We are absolutely all for that.
When reading the introduction to this review, you'd be forgiven if you didn’t expect much from the hardware. What you get is a pair of Select by EMG pickups with active EQ. While still quite basic, they give this bass quite a high-output for an entry-level instrument and a nice, smooth top end.
Along with a master volume knob you get two 12db cut/boost knobs for bass and treble, as well as a pickup blend control for added versatility. It is also fitted with a fixed, hardtail bridge with four adjustable saddles. The tuning machines are made by Grover and provide rock solid tuning. Finally, adding to the sparkle factor, the hardware on this bass is all chrome.
As mentioned, the Select pickups give this bass a nice, smooth top end. It does, however, lack a little on the low end and can sound a bit thin because of this. You can boost the bass by 12db which does make a notable difference, but it’s still slightly lacking.
However, this bass will do just fine for practice and even your first band jamming sessions. Despite the quality of tone not reaching the standard of some similarly priced guitars, it offers more versatility than many.
The key thing here is to keep in mind what this bass is setting out to do. It's a starting point for girls who wouldn’t otherwise have played bass or who may have struggled with other bass guitars. To this end, the bass sounds very good. It has a nice clean and clear tone; nothing is too muddy. Perfect for learning to play.
This bass isn't about competing with the best sounding bass guitars in the same price range – it's about encouraging young girls to pick up a bass, and that is a worthy pursuit.
Of course, you can imagine a dedicated student outgrowing this bass quicker than some other beginner instruments. But what is more important to ask is, ‘did this bass get them to that level faster?’ and ‘would they have even progressed at all on another bass?’.
For more info about the Daisy Rock Candy Bass, click here.
For more bass guitar under $300, click here.
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