Sparky Mark

On 25/10/2025 at 20:30, Sean said:

Carterton tonight. Go big or go home. 

Have you ever used your cabs on their sides to avoid the overhang with your 400+? (I realise LFSys recommends rotating the horn for ultimate performance)

2016 Music Man 40th Anniversary "Old Smoothie" StingRay in as new condition with original case (and keys), literature, '76 retro "radio" control knobs fitted (original chromes included) and black (BWB) USA pickguard fitted with white (WBW) original pickguard included.

Weight: 4.3kg.

Price is £2,750 or near offer collected from Bury St Edmunds or localish meet up. Thanks for looking. 

Specifications:-

Body Wood: Alder.

Body Finish: High gloss polyester.

Body Colour: Chocolate Burst.

Bridge Music Man® chrome plated, hardened steel bridge plate with vintage stainless steel saddles and adjustable mute pads.

Scale Length 34" (86.4 cm).

Neck Radius 7.5" (19.1 cm).

Frets 21 - Low profile, narrow width

Neck Width 1-11/16" (42.86 mm) at nut 2-1/2" (63.5 mm) at last fret.

Neck Wood Select maple neck.

Fingerboard Select maple.

Neck Finish High gloss polyester.

Neck Colour Natural aged light yellow finish.

Tuning Machines Schaller BM, with tapered string posts.

Neck Attachment 6 bolt neck plate.

Controls Custom "Old Smoothie" 2-band active preamp; vol, treble, bass.

Pickups Custom "Old Smoothie" humbucking with 10 elongated Alnico magnets and split cover.

Link to Sterling Ball discussing the history of this bass:-

https://youtu.be/R2ZRWzEBIzE?si=oOXpMI5eOvJreWeB

Links to a couple of bassists playing one:-

https://youtu.be/bf7Nxbebdqw?si=D-BYLBgkp9pBs-IV

https://youtu.be/_xMjHweNO7s?si=OHHfddN2NhyuHDbp

PM sent.

Do you know when it was made and its weight please? Cheers. 

I think the biggest reason they've fallen behind is that John was the main woodworker, and losing him has probably impacted their capacity by at least 50%, possibly more.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/verellen-octal.1671138/

Plenty of discussion here.

3 hours ago, Misdee said:

I've been listening to some Jaydee basses on YouTube and I'd almost forgotten what a gutsy sound they've got. It's quite rare for the characteristic sound of a boutique bass to be so aggressive. They're strident, but in a good way. 

 

I remember there was a review of a JayDee bass in Guitar Player Magazine back in the mid -to-late 1980's, when they first had a distribution deal in the States. What was interesting about it was that the reviewer was Rick Turner, chief designer of the Alembic bass. He was extremely complimentary of the JayDee, despite it being reminiscent in it's design to his Alembics, and what struck him the most was how the Supernatural had a distinct "ping" of overtones and harmonics in the  sound like hardly any basses other than an Alembic can produce. 

 

I'm thinking about basses like Jaydees ect at the moment because I'm looking to buy a modern-sounding bass, and when I say modern I mean what was modern between about 1980 and 1990.

 

 I've got plenty of Leo Fender-derived basses, I want something more hi-tech and hifi. And I don't mean something with fanned frets that people play math rock on. Problem is Status are gone, Wal might as well not be trading the waiting list is so long, and it sounds like the same can be said for JayDee. That great triumvirate of British bass builders are effectively out of contention. I don't really want to fork out for an Alembic, but that's the only other bass that's the kind of thing I'm after. Even basses like Fodera are a bit too woody and organic sounding for the stereotypical kind of tones I'm after.

 

 

https://youtu.be/Dt1APRRddS4?si=ZBFev2otXsgtr1Cc

I would describe the tone of Jaydees as having more mid character vs Status Graphite's hifi crystal clarity. The Mr Pink video link above demonstrates his Status perfectly. TBH, I've always preferred MK's Jaydee sounds, and I'm not sure Status basses have as unique a tonal signature as Jaydees. 

https://share.google/IcHhRjN9t37fARunq

4 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I was playing around with the idea of getting a 5 string version made of my Alembic Series 1 with one of my graphite necks and then I wondered whether it might be easier to get a Jaydee MK 5 string made with one of my composite necks.   It looks like the Alembic tribute might be easier after all.

At probably many times the price! 

25 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

One of the guitarists in my band had to wait three years for his Old Boy.

 

He eventually got it just before Christmas and it is a lovely guitar, but they took the p*ss.

Christmas 2025?

19 minutes ago, joe_geezer said:

I have had to wait but I have only had positive experiences with both brothers & Toby. 

I think maybe because they have been so overwhelmed with phone calls and emails &  have probably been inundated with so many orders and then the after effects of that

they have dealt with things the best way they can whilst still getting basses out the door. They probably have ways of dealing with customers to keep the peace whilst getting on with building the massive backlog...

 

We all knew the situation when ordering a bass from them, they would have warned us, which they did & I was posting about it here. I have zero issues with the time I've waited and the customer service, it's all expected & in my case has been really good. Whenever I have contacted them and they gave me a response it's been really polite & helpful. 

 

I'm really looking forward to the basses arriving & in fact it's come at a great time when I have got past the honeymoon period with my first Jaydee!

Yes, but getting on for 5 years is terrible, especially as the bass was paid for up front.

30 minutes ago, kevin_lindsay said:

From my experience,  there are two brothers who take the telephone calls. 

One is really personable, and apologises for the delays, explaining about the massive orders they received during lockdown.

The other brother has no hesitation in lying to you, saying he has your order details in front of him, and gives you information which turns out yo be completely false.

Very frustrating  - and is the reason why I will be selling my Jaydee Series 1 as soon as i receive it.

That's bad, and sadder still that you no longer wish to even own the bass. You will be able to make a clear profit for sure, but the emotional investment and ultimate disappointment are something else.

I wonder if paying in full up front disincentivised completion; I'd like to think not, but plenty of custom builders businesses have ended that way.

I always finished my phone calls with the "promise" to call again in a couple of weeks just to keep informed (be that squeaky wheel).

Obviously, John's passing has been a massive loss to Jaydee, but knowingly giving false information/hope is unacceptable for any business. I'm hoping Andrew is still the one giving truthful replies; I'd recommend asking to speak with him whoever picks up, he always updated me, whether the news was good or otherwise. 

On 07/01/2024 at 15:55, kevin_lindsay said:

During the chat I was told that .y bass was almost done, with an anticipated delivery date on February. 

With the sad news of John passing away on 2nd January '24, my completion date may be delayed again? 

Something must be seriously wrong. Two years ago you were told it was almost finished and should be delivered in February 2024. I'll assume you've been speaking with Andrew since then; what's the reason you've been given ( if you're content to share)?

19 minutes ago, kevin_lindsay said:

I've been waiting 4 1/2 years so far (ordered 1st Aug '21, paid in full March '22) for my Series 1 with crescent inlays. 

It'll be a shock yo the system ehen i hear that my bass is underway! Hahaha 

 

When I ordered mine in May 2021, I paid £500 deposit and was only asked to pay the balance prior to shipment. 

51 minutes ago, briansbrew said:

I had a bit of a play with the seller last night, here is a portion of the conversation 

 

Is there a way to report scammers to Reverb? I couldn't see one.

On 22/01/2026 at 09:30, Misdee said:

For me, MK's first solo album, Influences, is his best work. I remember when it came out in the summer of 1984 and what an impact it made. It really shows what he can do, and that his talents go well beyond the slap show pony tricks that really don't appeal to me. Tracks like Clocks Go Forward and the title track show the depth and subtleties of his style, and the slapping is super,-tight and appropriate where he uses it. Everything on that album sounds good to me. 

Thanks for the reminder; I haven't listened to this album in over 40 years. It's even better than I remember!

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

There’s one in the USA I see for just over 15k that looks like the same one 

Is that one still available? I can't believe any of us thinks the $5k Middlesbrough bass is legit! 

Could do with a photo of the full rear of the body showing the control cavity cover.

2 hours ago, Belka said:

I can tell from the tuning machines and tort pickguard that the pictures show a real pre-CBS bass and not a custom shop.

 

For that price it will be a scam. I'd guess the real Andrew from Middlesbrough has had his account hacked. He does have decent feedback, but only as a buyer. There are none for him as a seller. The scammer is probably abroad and has set the price at $5000 without using a UK located VPN, hence the odd price. There's no way someone who has bought 22 items on Reverb would not know a realistic price for this.

 

If it looks too good to be true, it is. 

This.^^

Priced $5000 in Middlesbrough? 

On 22/01/2026 at 11:01, millar138 said:

I’m wondering that myself too. It appears from the photo the leather goes underneath the bridge.
 

I also wonder if the leather will take away some of the high-end snap.

 

I guess all will be revealed when it’s delivered!

If the top end is reduced too much, you could remove an area of leather under the bridge and insert a metal block/shim to ensure direct bridge to body contact. (As long as the neck joint is tight and stable, that isn't really any different to the plastic under-neck plate used on plenty of F shaped basses).

2 hours ago, kolossusuk said:

What is the serial number, please?

I have obscured the full serial number as I have been advised this can impede scammers from claiming ownership somehow. The details shown above attest to the bass being manufactured by Fender USA in 2018. I have also used the official Fender Serial Number Look Up service, which returns the below details:-

I hope this is OK. If there's something else you need the full serial number for, can I ask that you send me a personal message, thank you.

I was the first customer to have Status fit a graphite neck to my 70s jazz bass. It felt great, but ultimately the shift in the mids took something away from its character. I hear the same when listening to Mark playing his Status and Jaydees; both great, it just depends on your preference. 

1 hour ago, silverfoxnik said:

Wow - I haven't seen one of these Odyssey basses in the UK for about 30 years! 

 

IIRC, a bass player called Eg White played one of these in his first band, Yip Yip Coyote, circa 1983/4, before he went on to form Brother Beyond.

 

Eg was a really good player and his Odyssey bass sounded incredible. 

 

A really rare bass indeed and great to see on here. .. 

 

GLWTS 👍😊

That's some pretty impressive niche knowledge mate. I do remember the name Yip Yip Coyote, but must've erased that song from memory. Where on earth does a band go after that song? 

3.34kgs seems about right for a late 70s P. Once the neck and other hardware are added it could weigh around 4.5kgs / 10lbs.

Weight please?

Cheers. 

24 minutes ago, binky_bass said:

This needs it's own OnlyFans...

 

Pretty sure I bought a MarkBass SD1200 from you a decade or so ago? If so, a top man to deal with! If not, probably still a top man to deal with!

 

Actually... according to historical BC records, t'was I that sold you a bass head! The 'Top Man' comment stands. 😆

Yep, 'twas my Markbass TA503, that I still own. Thanks for the kind words mate.