Captain Bassman Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) [attachment=5211:GA24_Custom.jpg] OK, here's the first sneak preview I received from John Diggins last week! I wanted something special to mark my 40th birthday last year and decided against a big party. They don't last long enough, especially if you can't hold your booze like you used to! So, I did some thinking bass-wise and narrowed it down to three makes - Sei, Status and Jaydee. Whilst I think Sei basses are fantastic, they're just not me - too "organicky" if you know what I mean? Status are fantastic too - very well built and totally practical but I already had 2 at the time (I now only have one...). So, I spoke at length with John about what I could do to his base GA24 model to make it unique for me. A few weeks, several phone calls and e-mails later and the order went in! What I've done is base my order on the 25th Anniversary GA24 he made a few years ago (there are pictures of this on the Jaydee website). The main changes John is making for me are; The headstock will be tapered like a Pangborn Warlord, instead of the classic forked shape that Jaydees are famous for (John had absolutely no problem with this!!) Both the upper and lower horns have been sharpened - they're quite blunt on the GA24 compared with his Classic model Face wood for the body and headstock is Cocobolo Gold hardware, knobs and individual string retainers Unbound neck and headstock (keeping things clean and minimalist!) Active electronics only - no passive switch or master tone control (again, keeping the lines clean and simple) She's due for completion by the end of March - not long now!! I must say that John is a great bloke. Nothing has been too much trouble, even me making last minute changes to the spec, and his opinions with wood choices etc has been invaluable. He's a very busy man so if you're thinking of ordering a Jaydee be prepared for a long wait - mine was 22nd in line when ordered and it's now 4th in line for completion, some 12 months later... Anyway, I'll post some more pics when I get them. Laters! David Edited May 4, 2008 by Captain Bassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 At last! A JayDee build diary! That body looks great...the horns are definitely and improvement of the normal GA. John did some custom work on a Gordon Smith guitar of mine years ago and he was great to deal with and did a brilliant job. He custom wound a humbucker for the neck position and added a push pull pot so I could go all single coil. One of the best sounding pick ups you could imagine. I will be watching this one with interest. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 (edited) You bastard! Sorry, did I say that out loud? That's lovely. Edited January 27, 2008 by steve-soar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Looking very nice indeed! And great to see a build diary from a different luthier than the usual crop... ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I had a Jaydee once..... sold it..... miss it now...... can't wait to see your finished bass!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Me to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted January 27, 2008 Author Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks for your comments guys! I'm glad not everyone's into the more modern ergonomic bass designs! It's been a long wait so far but will be well worth it. I'll get some more pictures soon, hopefully. I don't like to keep pestering Mr D 'cos he's a very busy man but watch this space... David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phsycoandy Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Bring it on, more pics please, i had a roadie once great bass.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 MB1. Met John! He just recently overhauled an 85 Active Roadie for me!..... Diamond Geezer! and what a refreshing change to the usual builds posted (thought this was becoming the Shuker diaries). I also will be watching this one with interest,along with George Anderson no doubt!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I owned the 25th Anniversary JD Fantastic instrument ! - If a little bit lacking in weight in a band context. It now lives in the States Looking forward to seeing your completed - cocobola is my favourite wood ! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaty Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Really beautiful, please post more when you get it. Is it going to be a set neck or a bolt on? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted January 29, 2008 Author Share Posted January 29, 2008 [quote name='Peaty' post='130056' date='Jan 29 2008, 03:12 PM']Really beautiful, please post more when you get it. Is it going to be a set neck or a bolt on? Pete[/quote] It'll be the usual JayDee thing - looks like a through neck but is in fact glued in. It's also going to have blue LEDs, just for a bit of fun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 OK, sorry not to have posted anything new for a while, for those of you interested in a non-Shuker build! John's extremely busy, as always, so I don't like to keep bothering him for updates and pictures etc. He's currently on hols too! Anyway, the latest news is that my bass is now 2nd in line for completion - up from 4th last time I posted. So, the hope is that she will be completed within the next 4 weeks! That'll be 14 months from placing the order - good job I'm a patient chappie!!!! I've asked for another picture but it might just be that I'll have to post them when I've picked her up (at last!) Stand by all... David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 14 months for something that you're going to have for the rest of your days isn't too long to wait. It's definately going to be something very special... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 (edited) OK, here's a picture that Andrew Diggins kindly just sent me of the neck in it's early stages of construction (hopefully by now it's attached to the body...). You can clearly see the revised headstock shape. All credit to John for allowing me to change from the usual Jaydee design! The finished headstock will be completely faced with the same Cocobolo as the body, so the neck laminates won't be visible from the front. The JD logo will be centred between the four tuning posts. The oval fret markers will have inset blue LEDs and I have elected not have the neck or headstock bound. I have a big gig at Stamford Bridge on the 13th April and am desperately hoping that she'll be born in time for that!! David Edited March 14, 2008 by Captain Bassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 (edited) Well, here she is, finished at last! 15 months from inception to delivery but worth the wait! The build quality and finish is absolutely first-class and everything I had imagined, but better. It was delivered yesterday morning and got its first outing last night - straight into action! Sound-wise, it's got a rich punchy tone off the mid-pick-up position and really honky (Jazz bass-like) off the bridge pick-up. Having played with the tone knobs a bit and adjusted the input gain on my amp I got a fantastic sound very quickly for gigging but I'm sure there's a lot more sounds to be found inside. The neck is gorgeous - just like a slender Jazz bass neck, especially around the first 3 frets - and much less clumpy than other Jaydee's I've played before. Balance is superb and weight is good too, considering most of the body mass is mahogany, albeit slimmed down in thickness to acommodate the cocobolo facings front and back. All-in-all, I love this bass! Big thanks to John Diggins for pulling this off and for being such a great bloke too! Edited May 4, 2008 by Captain Bassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Wow. That looks lush. Congrats on an excellent beauty of a bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_of_the_bass Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 (edited) Stunning! Just stunning! Not sure if you guys are aware but John has a brand new website and this bass is featured within! [url="http://www.jaydeecustomguitars.co.uk"]http://www.jaydeecustomguitars.co.uk[/url] The old site can still be found at: [url="http://www.jaydeeguitars.com"]http://www.jaydeeguitars.com[/url] The Pangborn head shape suits the bass perfectly; you've also combined the traditional `MK' cutaway designs nicely too! We will have to organise another open day at John's workshop - the last one we had was back in 2001 and was a truly memorable event - some great basses there including the very first two JDs. Must give John a ring to see if he's finished respraying my Classic! Cheers Nick Edited June 2, 2008 by doctor_of_the_bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Jeez. Just checked out the website link above and excuse the pun, but "I wish I could be like David Watts"... Lovely, absolutely lovely. Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Thanks for your interest and comments guys. I've been out with her a few times now and she's great to play. Really comfortable body size and neck dimensions and just the right weight too. The output is quieter than my other 2 main basses, both of which have 18v circuitry too, but a bit of fiddling soon balances this out (in fact my Radial Bigshot I/O switcher has an ideal 'dim' switch that allows me to reduce the input signal of the loudest bass to balance them out). Now, what's next? Hmmm, maybe a nice '67 P bass to commemorate the year I was born... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bassman Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Oh, and "Fa fa fa fa fa - fa fa fa"!!! Well remembered Old Horse sir! It's great having a song named after you, ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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