Jaydee Basses

[joe_geezer]

Hey fellow bassists,

I have just ordered an amazing Jaydee bass from John Diggins.

So i'd love to hear from any Jaydee owners there thoughts, opinions and pics (please!).  Do you gig regularly with your Jaydee? What styles do you use it for? Can you resist slapping it as soon as you pick it up..? lol

thanks in advance,

joe

[Highfox]

10 hours ago, joe_geezer said:

Hey fellow bassists,

I have just ordered an amazing Jaydee bass from John Diggins.

So i'd love to hear from any Jaydee owners there thoughts, opinions and pics (please!).  Do you gig regularly with your Jaydee? What styles do you use it for? Can you resist slapping it as soon as you pick it up..? lol

thanks in advance,

joe

Congrats. I also hope to own one someday. Looking forward to the replies.

[TheGreek]

Great instruments, well made and with great tones. John is a pure gent of the highest order and will bend over backwards to protect the brand's well deserved reputation for producing excellent instruments (guitars too).

I bought a single pick up model which I wanted upgraded to the twin p/up. Even though there is a waiting list of about 2 years I had the work done and the bass returned in a matter of weeks at a VERY reasonable price. 

Most often you'll see Jaydees being played by the funk/slappist fraternity however they are not limited to this style of music. They are more than a one trick pony. 

The one minor criticism I might have is the weight. John normally uses Mahogany which can push the weight over 10lbs. I had a black one which was heavier than that. Check to see if he (well, the 2x sons now) will cavity the body. Bear in mind this will almost certainly have an effect on the tonal quality.

I'm more than a bit jealous...

[AndyTravis]

I had an 88 roadie 2a. Didn’t suit the band I was in at the time. It was lovely though.

[White Cloud]

I owned a Jaydee Supernatural (2 x pickups MK lookalike) back in the 80's. Sadly, it didn't go well as the neck quickly developed a terminal back-bow of epic proportions.

This was apparently due to a rogue batch of mahogany... 

I would however be unwilling to detract from the brand just because of my bad luck. These things can happen to any bass.

I've always considered Jaydee basses amongst the most beautiful looking instruments. 

[Defo]

Had one in the 90s (Supernatural/Mark King), sounded amazing but the neck twisted and I moved it on

[leroydiamond]

Purchased a Roadie active II in 1985. Superb bass. I preferred it over the Supernatural series. Gigged it regularly for many years and never let me down. The weight of the bass in the end forced me to move it on.

Edited March 19, 2019 by leroydiamond

[4000]

I've had 2, a Supernatural with Saturn inlays and tailpiece in Butterscotch and a MK in metallic white. Both weighed a ton. The Supernatural had a neck that had been shaved and moved if you looked at it (I suspect it was one of the rogue batch basses). It sounded great when I got it, but I sent it to John for a fretstone and he changed the pickups! He said the ones in it were on the way out, but I didn't like the sound anywhere near as much when it came back. I later spoke to the guy it had been made for & he told me the original bridge pickup had been custom wound and was different to the normal ones.

My second bass was great (bought from Overwater & set up by Scott Devine, strangely enough) but by then my back had gone and the weight was too much so I returned it. I've played good ones, great ones and poor ones over the years; have probably played something like 30 of them. The most incredible setup I ever played was on quilt maple topped Jaydee (think it was a sort of trans tobacco colour IIRC) that was in the Gallery once; the action was even too low for me! I reckon I could've got used to it though.  ;-) Incredible bass, but again, heavy.

I'd love a scaled down (and lightweight) Starchild replica with 16.5mm spacing; I remember first seeing that bass on Whistle Test (first time I ever saw Mark King and first time I'd really seen anyone slapping) and it blew me away.

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by 4000

[yorick]

I've still got a copy of a Warwick Thumb that John built for me back in the early nineties.  The build quality is impeccable as it was built to my specs.  He's a great guy. Not sure of the build time on new guitars nowadays though. ....

[TheGreek]

Don't forget that John has also built guitars in the past.

The owner of my second Status Kingbass had a SG shaped guitar and the driver who returned my car following a body repair (hit by a Police officer) had a Flying V. 

Give them your money, they'll build you whatever you want..

[joe_geezer]

Thanks guys for all the replies, good and bad!

For those complaining about quality issues with necks and finishes, this seems to only effect the  80s-90s basses that were caused by over demand and John not being able to

scale fast enough to meet demand which in turn effected quality.

Also in terms of the weight issue... it's not an issue at all as you can request any weight you like for John to target, mines going to be in between the 8-9lbs range.

 

Again thanks for all your feed back,  and id love to hear even more! 

 

[leroydiamond]

2 hours ago, joe_geezer said:

Thanks guys for all the replies, good and bad!

For those complaining about quality issues with necks and finishes, this seems to only effect the  80s-90s basses that were caused by over demand and John not being able to

scale fast enough to meet demand which in turn effected quality.

Also in terms of the weight issue... it's not an issue at all as you can request any weight you like for John to target, mines going to be in between the 8-9lbs range.

 

Again thanks for all your feed back,  and id love to hear even more! 

 

I am sure you will be delighted with your bass. The Roadie 11 that used to have was a beauty. 

[weepaul]

Cash converters got a 5 string for sale. Don't know much myself, but could be of interest to some one here.

 

https://www.cashconverters.co.uk/shop/product/jaydee-celeste-5-string-bass-guitar-1989/229245?list=Search results

[Shaggy]

6 minutes ago, weepaul said:

Cash converters got a 5 string for sale. Don't know much myself, but could be of interest to some one here.

 

https://www.cashconverters.co.uk/shop/product/jaydee-celeste-5-string-bass-guitar-1989/229245?list=Search results

That's definitely top of price range.......cheaper one recently on BC from a great seller; withdrawn but he might be tempted -

Nearly gone for a Jaydee a couple of times; real quality and unique basses

[joe_geezer]

Well, it's been awhile since my original post on ordering a Jaydee but the great news is I have some progress pics.

John got back to me with this recently with this pic which he explained was just awaiting preparation to be sprayed.

 

[police squad]

I had something like that. Cherry red stain. Wonderfully made but I didn't really understand the electrics. It was 32 years ago and I was 20 years old. I'd only been playing for 5/6 years and was still learning about all things. Wish I could try it now

[White Cloud]

Still the prettiest of basses!

[TheGreek]

I've had two - cherry red and black. There are photos of a BR Green one on the net - looks amazing.

[Captain Bassman]

Shaping up nicely, lucky chap!

Here’s my GA24 custom. Pics from JD website (better than my own!). 14 years old now but has been gigged very regularly over the years.

So versatile and has a more tight focused sound to my ears than the Classic.

[TheGreek]

I had a GA24 - don't remember it having that many switches...

Lovely bass though

[kevin_lindsay]

I love seeing pics of instruments in their various stages of construction.  Your new bass will look fantastic when it's complete. 

 

I had a GA24 with black satin finished body wings Years ago. I bought it in the mid 80s after chatting with Mark King about his Series 1 basses.

I collected the bass from John Diggins' workshop in Moseley,  Birmingham. That was a great bass, and was my sole instrument for about 10 years. (I actually gave it away to a young gospel player in London,  who was an incredible player, but had a terrible bass as he couldn't afford a new instrument himself.  Can't recall his name now)

I've actually been in touch with Jaydee over the past few weeks regarding my ordering a new instrument from them. Looks like I'll be able to place the order in August when an available slot opens up.

I think I'm going to opt for a Series 1 with the crescent inlays For my own new bass.

[White Cloud]

1 minute ago, kevin_lindsay said:

I had a GA24 with black satin finished body wings Years ago. I bought it in the mid 80s after chatting with Mark King about his Series 1 basses.

I collected the bass from John Diggins' workshop in Moseley,  Birmingham. That was a great bass, and was my sole instrument for about 10 years. (I actually gave it away to a young gospel player in London,  who was an incredible player, but had a terrible bass as he couldn't afford a new instrument himself.  Can't recall his name now)

An incredibly kind act, extremely generous and altruistic!

[kevin_lindsay]

I have to say, I knew he would appreciate it, but I had major feelings of regret afterwards for quite some time! Hahaha 

[joe_geezer]

5 hours ago, kevin_lindsay said:

I love seeing pics of instruments in their various stages of construction.  Your new bass will look fantastic when it's complete. 

 

I had a GA24 with black satin finished body wings Years ago. I bought it in the mid 80s after chatting with Mark King about his Series 1 basses.

I collected the bass from John Diggins' workshop in Moseley,  Birmingham. That was a great bass, and was my sole instrument for about 10 years. (I actually gave it away to a young gospel player in London,  who was an incredible player, but had a terrible bass as he couldn't afford a new instrument himself.  Can't recall his name now)

I've actually been in touch with Jaydee over the past few weeks regarding my ordering a new instrument from them. Looks like I'll be able to place the order in August when an available slot opens up.

I think I'm going to opt for a Series 1 with the crescent inlays For my own new bass.

Great Story!

[joe_geezer]

On 15/05/2021 at 21:16, Captain Bassman said:

Shaping up nicely, lucky chap!

Here’s my GA24 custom. Pics from JD website (better than my own!). 14 years old now but has been gigged very regularly over the years.

So versatile and has a more tight focused sound to my ears than the Classic.

Ive often looked at that very bass and marvelled at it! Do the pickups any different from the standard wooden covered ones?