# Wolf 7-stringer mini-review



## vansinn (Feb 15, 2011)

I resently shopped a Wolf 7-string 35" bass from Heke-Vertrieb (HK on the bay), just not the model shown in the thread "7 String Production Basses?".

Mine is a 7-ply maple/rosewood neck-through with ash/bubinga wings, lovely smooth neck/body transition, thin almost speed neck profile.
The fretboard is high quality ebony semilar to what I see on i.e. a cello, polished to almost a sheen. Frets are polished and level, I have found no issues like dead spots or excessive buzz, though I haven't yet had the chance to mark frets up with a marker and run a leveler over to see if it starts to 'take' fully even. I expect to find only minors if any, though.
Wilkinson tuners, ABT single bridges (string through-body or bridge mount), Kent Armstrong pups.

HK are large enough to order special builds, which mine was, hence the ash/bubinga. The normal model can (IIRC) be had with solid ash or walnut wings (when/if HK has them back again).

It has active EQ with passive/active switch, with controls placed so the most often used ones are right at the playing fingertips, like pup balance and mid-EQ.
Being able to flip between passive and active, and manipulate balance/mid makes for nicely quick tonal adjustments.

It's a lovely playable thingy with good tone and sustain right up to the uper frets.
I havne't yet changed strings, so can't comment too well of the lowest-most part.

The factory fitted Olympia strings (130,100,80,60,40,22p) sounds quite ok, and are nicely balanced, with the exeption of the low B, feeling a Bit too soft and sounding hollow.
Tune it up half a stop, and it sounds ok, leading me to believe it's all a mere matter of a more sexy restring job.

I'm now debating myself about stringing it low F#...C; we'll see.. 


It has two balance issues:
* The upper horn is a Bit too short, which I'm simply going to remedy with a suitable add-on.
* The lower horn curvation and hipdip cut-in (in lack of better terms) should've been done a Bit closer to the horn/neck, for a better balance sitting down. As the finish is oil, I'll simply redo this routing and re-oil.

What's been taking place is simply that Wolf based it on their 6-stringer, and made a wider neck, but forgot to change said two balance points.

One additinal annoying issue is that the brass-nut behind the zero fret has seven adjustable mini-saddles, all of which is made with the same routing as for the low string.
This means higher strings will shift position.
Here I'll likely made some 'fills' out of brass or carbon and superglue them in on the inside of the saddles, leaving strings to rest on the buttom of the saddle as intended, meaning that said inserts won't damage sound/tone, but merely act as string guides.

If the above sounds scare-way'ish, well, don't let it drag you down.
At the close to give-away price of &#8364;450 + shipping, I'll happily do these three mods with absolutely no complains 


So sorry I have no soundclips to offer..
I posted a single pic in my resent "F# doable on 35"?" thread, and will do couple more suitable pics later..


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