After Rob’s MB2 (34”), then Mouse 30 (30”) , I’m lucky enough to try out this flagship model he offers.  Where Rob says the Deep4/5 has the most convincing acoustic tone if cost is not an issue.  And man ..    I just can’t agree more. 

Background:
Rob made his name in semi-hollow body basses since the mid 90s and making the finest and the most organic sounding electric/plug-in instruments.   His basses are both visually and sonically remarkable and simple(sexy) in design.

Specs:

• semi-hollow alder body with a curly koa top(50+ years old) 
• 35” scale walnut neck with ebony strips
• ebony fingerboard
• ebony piezo bridge
• bass/treble cut and boost in a stacked knob and volume. 

Playbility:
This the first 35” neck I enjoy playing.   The extra length makes intonation more forgiving, there’s more room for the fingers to adjust to each notes, trade off is I get slower attack to the right note, and that works extremely well for sloppy fretless player like me, lol .   Light weight but very solid build and effortless to play.  It’s hard to put down. 

Sound:
Just like how Rob described, this one has the most convincing acoustic tone among his entire product line.    MB2 was overall bright, and Mouse was overall dark .  They are both great, but both require setting in particular way for me to like it.   This deep5 sits in between, and sounded just how things should be (to my ear at least) straight out from the case with settings flat.  I play it with slight treble roll off for smoother finger sounds.   Very responsive to both hands, can growl like no tomorrow with proper strike , this bass is very articulated to different touch / techniques .   MB2 and Mouse 30 I played had similar character, but deep5 does it better, in an obvious and good way.   The low B string is huge and well balance sounding .     

Thoughts:
I think the MSRP of this model went up few years ago.   The package is not a lot more compare to his other models, but I guess the efforts and challenges building a semi-hollow body instrument with an f hole is just way more.   This is probably my favourite after trying them all .    Only thing that I miss is the extended fingerboard / thumb rest ..   that’s also the other signature of Rob’s that makes things extra sexy. 

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