Often, it is the case that bass players retain the amplifier, even when the rest of the band plays acoustic and I can understand this. However, for finger-picking away, it can be nice to just pick up and play. This is where the Applause surprised me! The sound projection is much more solid, full and audible than I expected. The standard strings do offer a bit of brightness but I don't find this an issue personally.
Through a small practice amp, the tone is decent, has good lows and nice tones in the upper registers, without suffering any excessive boost or loss in the bass, mids or treble range, with the EQ set flat. Obviously not wanting to state the obvious, how the amp was set (unchanged from normal use) has an effect here. The upshot of this, both amplified and otherwise, is that I can sit (or stand) quite happily with the band when they play acoustic and fit in with the visual image.
The tuner is simple. It works, is plenty accurate enough and it mutes the output. I would imagine most would use the tuner to which they are accustomed but, it exists and for an on the fly tune up, is more than capable of guiding you as desired.
To play, the roundback shape takes a few moments to get used to, beyond this, the neck shape is decent and I found it to give confidence in use.
The position of the neck end strap mount, with the standard bass scale means that a little neck dive will be experienced. Saying that, while playing I didn't find this to be a particularly significant problem or even all that noticeable.
The finish of this Applause is very good indeed. The top is classy, not fussy but not too plain. Looks like an acoustic bass of higher value.
Finding a suitable case is a trickier task than I expected, worth asking the good people here at Thomann.
All in all, I really like this and consider it to be a very good acquisition.
