Jaydee Roadie Fretless - Thoughts?

[bassatnight]

Anyone own or played a Jaydee Fretless Roadie? Any good worth £900 or too much?

[TheGreek]

Is this the one at Bass Direct? I think one sold on eBay recently for a bit more than this..


I've got a fretted Roadie and can recommend them as basses - well weighted/ good balance/nice range of tones. Some would say they are very 80s sounding - true to some extent as they were well used in the 80s but good instruments all the same. Whether they are worth £900 is always going to be subjective - you probably could pick one up for less by shopping around but I would say that this is a fairly reasonable/realistic price.

Doctor of the Bass is the resident Jaydee officionado - contact Nick for his learned opinion..

[GeeCee]

[quote name='bassatnight' timestamp='1322682710' post='1454541']
Anyone own or played a Jaydee Fretless Roadie? Any good worth £900 or too much?
[/quote]

What kind of Roadie? One or two P/U, active or passive, condition? That price (£900) is more than a new basic Roadie I (1 P/U, passive) and pretty close to the current price for a Roadie IIA (2 P/U, active) at £1,155, but there's a 16-month wait for a new one, so worth it to you, maybe? Fretless models are often Roadie I's and I quite like them. Quality bass, basic, simple volume and tone arrangemement, but well made and very playable. Jaydee is not known for his fretless basses though, so try before you buy would be my advice.

Edited November 30, 2011 by GeeCee

[leroydiamond]

I have a roadie 11 fretted since 1985 and they are a very well made instrument. Considering the new price is just £1,155 makes them one of the best value instruments out there. Dont know much about the frettless though. Try it out. If it plays well and is in good shape and you like the tone buy it and enjoy

[bassatnight]

Cheers guy's, it is indeed the one on Bass Direct, it's a 2 pup version and active. Its a bit far for me to try might just hold out for a Wal Fretless if I can get it passed the wife!

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='bassatnight' timestamp='1322903327' post='1457075']
...might just hold out for a Wal Fretless if I can get it passed the wife!
[/quote]

Good luck with that (on both counts!). Not many around, and they're all expensive (as I'm sure you know already). If that's the goal though, have you tried Wal Basses Naturally on Yahoo groups?

[JohnFitzgerald]

If it helps with values, CC Music in Glasgow recently sold a Mark King for £999.

Depressingly, the bloke who walked in off the street and sold it to them over the counter got £400 for it.

[leftybassman392]

I'm sure Doctor of the Bass can speak to this better than me, but I think Jaydee prices are still quite volatile (which I've always found odd considering the quality of the product).

I bought an '80's Mark King Supernatural a few years ago on eBay for a little over £300, and traded it a couple of years later at closer to £800. Trading partner and I were both very happy with the trade, even though I was a bit confused...

[jude_b]

I had a Roadie fretless for a number of years, but sold it because there wasn't much call for a fretless in anything I was involved with and the neck felt particularly thin and delicate for my taste (and I have generally had a jazz as my main bass).

It was a really well made and reliable bass though. I would definitely try one before you buy to get a feel for how a Jaydee plays.

[Rich]

I had a Roadie 1 fretless for years, bought it new in 87 and sold it on about 5ish years ago for a hell of a lot less than £900. During that time I fitted an EMG pickup (because the original died), an EMG 2 band eq and a Hollis preamp. I believe Nick the good Doctor has it now. It was a lovely instrument, the fingerboard was the hardest piece of ebony you've ever seen in your life. 20 years of roundwound steels and there was barely a mark on it.