Ratings
Pros:
Well made. Impressive tones. Loads of value.
Cons:
Minor fretwork issue. Input jack in need of a reset.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$469
Allen Eden Guitars Disciple 5
allenedenguitars.com
Discipline Is Key
Pairing the Disciple 5 with an Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 and a single 1x10 cab, I was able to dial it in pretty easily. The bass houses an onboard active Artec pre, which gives added tonal flexibility to the Jazz-style, passive pickups from Artec. The control set consists of knobs for volume, pickup blend, and a pair of boost/cut dials for the treble and bass.
Starting with the controls in their center positions (no cut or boost on the EQ), the tone was decent, but in need of the EQ from the onboard pre. Once I rolled both the treble and bass dials up to about 75 percent, the Disciple really came alive. Pushing the bass to the max with both pickups engaged and keeping the treble at 75 percent gave me a bright, lively tone with plenty of great slap feel—perfect for really punchy fingerstyle runs. And the 5th string felt nice and tight when I pushed the bass in a different direction with a fat 1.0 mm pick. So far, the Disciple’s modern tones sounded respectable, solid, and applicable for a number of musical styles.
The bridge pickup on its own was a little thin and definitely needed the assistance of the preamp EQ. Again diming the bass control and setting the treble at about 75 percent, a nice, precise tone popped out, and my quick runs, double stops, and chords all sang. When I rolled the blend to solo the neck pickup and kept the EQ settings the same, the sound got much bigger. This was a setting I could use all night, as it lent itself to a firm rock tone. My slap tone was also more robust and favorable here—especially with the 5th string. Considering the instrument’s impressive amount of punchiness and presence as well, the Disciple lines up very nicely with the many other J-style instruments I’ve had my hands on.
The Verdict
At a time when we all want our gear dollars to stretch a little further, the Allen Eden Disciple comes calling to help the working player get into a well-designed bass guitar for a reasonable price. Given that the wage for a bar gig has seemed to hover around the $100-per-player rate for decades, yet the price of gear continues to go up, the Disciple’s wallet-friendly price south of $500 should put some smiles on faces. I appreciated the solid feel of the instrument, which goes way beyond the sticker price. Yes, there were a couple of minor QC issues, but nothing that an experienced tech couldn’t easily tweak. Even with that sort of added expense, the Disciple is still a fine bass and a bargain, and certainly deserving of a solid look-see.
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I tested the 1987 with a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV amp and some pedals including a Pro Co Rat and MI Audio Tube Zone Overdrive. With the amp clean, the neck pickups sounds like the richer of the two Wilkinson humbuckers offered, tone-wise. The bridge pickup sounds a bit thinner and congested. In isolation, both pickups exhibited a lack of sparkle and pop that doesn’t quite match the guitar’s outward personality. Their relative neutrality isn’t all-bad, though. In a band mix they were often a blank slate that made them a better fit than pickups with a more dominant personality might be.
The 1987 was clearly born to rock, so I wasn’t shy about using it with the many sources of dirt, distortion, and overdrive I have at my disposal. With the Mark IV’s lead channel engaged, the neck pickup has a sweet singing quality that sounded especially nice on upper fret bends. With the guitar’s volume and tone controls maxed, the pickup sounded articulate with an ever-so-slightly soft edge to upper register notes. (This is when the neutrality of the pickups works out well.) Further down the fretboard, things get a little woofy on the E and A strings. But while that type of tone might be too ratty for a shredder playing three-notes-per-string scales in low registers, it was amazing for fuzzed-out, stoner-rock riffs. The bridge pickup sustains nicely and can be surprisingly smooth and warm for high-gain lead sounds. It's not the most dynamically responsive pickup around, but for shred-styles, it does the trick.
Ratings
Pros:
Killer price for a neck-through-body guitar. Superb playability.
Cons:
Could benefit from a pickup upgrade. Some tuning stability issues.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$439
Allen Eden 1987
allenedenguitars.com
Shredders will also like the sculpted neck joint, which allows for unobstructed access to the 1987’s 24 jumbo frets. The 25.5", 5-ply maple-and-walnut neck and flattish fretboard work perfectly with the low-action factory setup. Even bends way up high on the high E and B strings never fretted out. And it was a kick to play against a D minor track, bend the 24th fret high E to F, and hear the note ring true. The playability was so good that I soloed often and readily above the 17th fret.
For distorted chord work, the bridge pickup has enough of the bite necessary for classic metal. More complex, prog-type chord voicings would benefit from better note separation, and some modern metal styles might call for a bit more aggressiveness. Of course, if you’re hell-bent on switching the pickups, the low cost of the instrument means you’ll have more money to treat yourself to replacements. And for an extra charge you can order the 1987 from Allen Eden with a pair of Seymour Duncans that might get you closer to the shred tone you need.
Typically, when a guitar offers this much bang for the buck, something’s gotta give. And, not surprisingly, a few minor quality control issues were apparent. The pickup selector switch felt a little tight, while the volume knob seemed pretty loose. I also noted a few protruding fret ends—which clearly did not effect the superb action. And the Floyd Rose-licensed locking tremolo, which is factory set for upwards pull of almost a major third plus deep dive bombing, sometimes failed to stay in tune as well as a locking tremolo should.
The VerdictFor an axe that straddles the line, price-wise, between a beginner and intermediate guitar, the 1987 is leagues above many of its competitors in terms of playability. As is, it’s a solid-sounding instrument that could deliver for many heavy rock and metal gigs. Swap out the pickups (or opt for the Duncan upgrade) and maybe some of the tuning hardware, and you’re on your way to a pro-quality guitar at a bargain basement price.
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