I have a really cool Kiesel Vanquish 5 string bass here. This one is paired with a brand new Ibanez Powerpad case. These are really good modern soft cases.

Conditionally, this bass is well kept and looks beautiful, with some light to average playwear on the tung oil finish.

The body top shows light signs of rubbing on the satin finish in the common spots that your fingers will brush against. That's around the knobs and around the perimeter of the pickups. Pretty typical minor stuff. I didn't find any dings or gouges or anything notable going on on the body top.

The body sides/edges show about a couple handfuls of a variety of tiny surface marks. These are little surface indentations about a millimeter in size on average. There are a few little line shaped surface marks, but nothing that busts up or chips the finish, just tiny little impressions. I don't really see a cluster or any formed, built up patterns of playwear. It's just a light scattering of the stuff that's small enough that you have to scrutinize it and look carefully to find it. There are no cracks emanating off the neck pocket.

The body back shows a little bit of surface playwear below the electronics cavity. This consists of very fine line shaped surface indentations that do not break the finish and tiny, dot sized, round surface indentations that do not break the finish, less than a millimeter in size. It's a pretty minimal scattering and hard to see in the pictures. Working your way up the rest of the body, it looks super clean. I did not find any clusters of playwear. It's a gorgeous mahogany surface throughout.

The neck shaft contour looks and feels excellent, with nothing to report there. The headstock shows a handful of micro surface marks on the top edge wall of the headstock. These are little dot sized marks about a millimeter or so in size. But I didn't find any chips or anything I would constitute as a ding or a mark of note.

The frets are tall and meaty, showing just light traces of level use on a few frets, mostly on the lower first few frets. Nothing sinking in or creating a divot, more so just very fine signs of use showing that it's been played on those frets. Nothing that would affect playability.

The playability is exceptional. It actually feels slinky and easy to play with a low action. It's been well kept. It does not have any fret sprout or sharp fret edges. I believe it's been kept in the ideal climate for its lifetime. That's what stands out to me when you have a great playing guitar that is 10 years old. The electronics are working as they should.

So this one rates an 8.7/10 and grades as very good. This guitar has what I would summarize as some light surface playwear in a few spots, but not an all over sheen of soft playwear. Most of the surface of the guitar looks excellent, with some very indiscreet signs of use here and there as noted. The neck plays phenomenal. It is structurally and sonically sound.

So this bass has been a recent favorite of mine. It is unique but entirely practical and well built in its specs.

This is a natural wood build with no color or hard finish. It is Kiesel factory tung oil finished.

It has a mahogany body and a walnut top. It has a Jazz Bass style bar neck pickup and a humbucker bridge pickup. This is extremely versatile, and each pickup has its own 9 volt driven preamp with a high and low frequency stacked knob for control. So you can boost or cut the highs and the lows for each pickup and still blend the two pickups as well. It can be articulate and punchy, or it can be absolutely thunderous and get that low end rumble that shakes the windows, just based on the versatility of the pickups and the active boost.

The neck is a maple fretboard on a maple neck shaft. It has white pearl staggered inlays and glow in the dark side inlays. It's equipped with Black Beauty strings. The frets definitely look like stainless steel to me. They have no signs of oxidation whatsoever. Generally, nickel silver frets would look kind of gray and oxidized with time. These still look like new.

Tonally, this bass is going to blow its competition out of the water. It absolutely smokes anything remotely close to its price range. It punches way above its weight class and is comparable to some of the finest basses I've ever had at any price point.

Mahogany is a lovely choice here. It's more rare to find that on a bass, but everything that is true about mahogany on a guitar is also present here. It has a rich low midrange presence, the mids sound three dimensional and detailed. It's not lightweight. It's closer to 10 lb than 9. Due to having a mahogany body and a walnut top. That said, they're not especially heavy specimens. It's just the nature of that wood. And again, that's where it gets that amazing, alive, three dimensional, powerful low end response from. You're not going to get that lightweight low density ash or alder. Warwick has a similar thing going on with their bubinga basses. They are heavy but have a detail in the low frequencies that is just heavenly to listen to and play.

The walnut top creates a bit more aggression and punchiness than just having a mahogany body. Mahogany always pairs well with hardwood laminate tops. Walnut is hard like maple. It has the articulation of maple, but is not quite as over the top bright as maple. It's a little warmer compared to maple or ebony, but it has a similar resonance and punch.

This is counterbalanced by a bright, aggressive, and articulate all maple neck. Maple is perhaps the best neck wood of all time, for every reason.

So this bass will have a powerful, three dimensional, sweet, warm lower midrange presence, but will also have the articulation and singing high end clarity that is sought after in more bright, articulate sounding basses. It literally has both.

The fanned frets are pretty easy to adjust to. If you're playing simple bass lines, it's really no different than just adjusting to a different neck contour or a different gauge of strings. You'll get used to it really quick. If you're a very advanced player that does sweep picking and complex scales, there's actually a higher benefit curve to having fanned frets. I feel like fan frets on a bass benefit the advanced player but do not compromise an intermediate player. That's my experience with them as an intermediate player myself.

I really like the value and the quality of this one. I think this is a special instrument. I feel it does more and has better premium woods than anything in this price range, used or new. Walnut looks so good with a natural tung oil finish, and it is at its most appropriate as a laminate top. Some people also like it as a neck back. It really shines when it is paired with other woods.

So this bass has three different tonewoods, all of which have a major impact on the tone: mahogany, maple, and walnut. It's really rare to find that exact combination. It has a complexity and sophistication to its tone that just stands out from the more common bass builds that I come across.

I always tout how good Kiesel is and what a great value they are. It's a true high quality USA custom shop instrument in all regards.

Note that this listing may come down at anytime as I am a multi-platform seller and do sell locally and on my own Site as well in an effort to keep sales fluid. State sales tax will be charged on Reverb sales when applicable, so factor that in to your purchase.

I will immaculately pack it as well. I use quality shipping boxes, ample tape on all sides. And sufficient bubble wrap filler and bracing inside the box. And always Marked/denoted as fragile. I generally detune guitars 1/2 half step prior to shipment as well if needed.

Thank you for reading and considering!