Jaydee Basses

[Steve Soar]

I ordered a white pearl Mk II, with neck and headstock binding, funk groove.

It came with a pink Jaydee t shirt in the case.

It was one of John’s notorious basses that had crap truss-rods. I was never able to set it up with a low action, banana neck.

This was 1988 and John charged me £795, binding and case.

I would buy it back in a heartbeat and get John to replace the truss rod and whatever else to get it up to spek. 

It did however record beautifully and  many engineers loved its tone.

I miss it so bad.

😥

[4000]

3 minutes ago, Steve Soar said:

I ordered a white pearl Mk II, with neck and headstock binding, funk groove.

It came with a pink Jaydee t shirt in the case.

It was one of John’s notorious basses that had crap truss-rods. I was never able to set it up with a low action, banana neck.

This was 1988 and John charged me £795, binding and case.

I would buy it back in a heartbeat and get John to replace the truss rod and whatever else to get it up to spek. 

It did however record beautifully and  many engineers loved its tone.

I miss it so bad.

😥

The problem with mine - and I understood all the dodgy ones - wasn’t the truss rod but a rogue batch of wood. 

[Steve Soar]

1 minute ago, 4000 said:

The problem with mine - and I understood all the dodgy ones - wasn’t the truss rod but a rogue batch of wood. 

Hiya, I can get with that but the necks were 5 or 7 piece, with a lovely ebony board,

[4000]

6 minutes ago, Steve Soar said:

Hiya, I can get with that but the necks were 5 or 7 piece, with a lovely ebony board,

Oh I know, but if the wood isn’t stable, the truss rod won’t fix it. The story goes, so far as I remember, that John bought a dodgy batch of wood sometime in the ‘80s, hence the issues some experienced. Others may be able to expand on this. 

[Steve Soar]

7 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Oh I know, but if the wood isn’t stable, the truss rod won’t fix it. The story goes, so far as I remember, that John bought a dodgy batch of wood sometime in the ‘80s, hence the issues some experienced. Others may be able to expand on this. 

That rings a bell, I since learnt that John replaced the truss rods and did the remedial work.

 

[White Cloud]

51 minutes ago, 4000 said:

Oh I know, but if the wood isn’t stable, the truss rod won’t fix it. The story goes, so far as I remember, that John bought a dodgy batch of wood sometime in the ‘80s, hence the issues some experienced. Others may be able to expand on this. 

I heard the same. A batch of rogue Mahogany as it happens, seemingly coinciding with an upsurge in demand by virtue of MK.

 

Sadly my brand new Supernatural ended up with a terminal back bow #😔

[4000]

1 hour ago, White Cloud said:

I heard the same. A batch of rogue Mahogany as it happens, seemingly coinciding with an upsurge in demand by virtue of MK.

 

Sadly my brand new Supernatural ended up with a terminal back bow #😔

I could probably have dealt with that better than mine, which couldn’t support anything other than too-light strings without forward bow. 😂

[Chris2112]

On 22/10/2021 at 17:29, White Cloud said:

Lol, good point.

 

To me, I'd say the MK Status basses are more 'polite' ... the Jaydee, more like someone that's gatecrashed your party with a six-pack of Carling and then proceeded to hoover up the buffet and quaff all the Champagne! 

 

(Not sure this helps🤣)

 

I saw them when Mark was using the original Kingbass and his Ashdown amps on stage. They really sounded amazing, razor sharp and super tight. The video below is probably the most aggressive tone I have heard from Mark, again on a Status Kingbass. 

 

I like the Jaydee tone, it's a little more lo-fi to my ears but still pleasing. I loved the look of his Alembics but they sound fairly plain. I didn't think much at all of the tone he got from his Musicman, those dodgy Fender jazz basses or the GB Spitfires he used very briefly. 

 

 

 

[4000]

1 hour ago, Chris2112 said:

 

I saw them when Mark was using the original Kingbass and his Ashdown amps on stage. They really sounded amazing, razor sharp and super tight. The video below is probably the most aggressive tone I have heard from Mark, again on a Status Kingbass. 

 

I like the Jaydee tone, it's a little more lo-fi to my ears but still pleasing. I loved the look of his Alembics but they sound fairly plain. I didn't think much at all of the tone he got from his Musicman, those dodgy Fender jazz basses or the GB Spitfires he used very briefly. 

 

 

 

Aggressive to me is midrange, like the Jaydees. The Kingbasses are too far ‘pingy’ for me. Which just goes to show that these descriptions can mean different things to different people. 
 

I love the sound of his Alembics, I think they’re by far the most musical of his basses. ‘Plain’ is the last description I’d use, but then from previous discussions I suspect we like very different sounds. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by 4000

[Steve Soar]

At the end of the day, Mr King is a f@#ing maniac.

I love him and his music. 

😬

[White Cloud]

1 hour ago, Steve Soar said:

At the end of the day, Mr King is a f@#ing maniac.

I love him and his music. 

😬

Crazy good player. A legend!

[joe_geezer]

This is the bass in the spray booth a few months ago....

[Dazed]

Apologies if slightly off topic - seems to have turned towards MK’s various basses over the years - and my q relates to this. 
 

Anyone come across clips of him ever playing the Pangbourne live?
Always loved the look of that bass but only watched him on stage with Jaydee / Alembic / Status over the years. 

[4000]

21 hours ago, Dazed said:

Apologies if slightly off topic - seems to have turned towards MK’s various basses over the years - and my q relates to this. 
 

Anyone come across clips of him ever playing the Pangbourne live?
Always loved the look of that bass but only watched him on stage with Jaydee / Alembic / Status over the years. 

Yes, I have an old copied-from-VHS dvd of him playing a Pangborn. Sounds not dissimilar to the Jaydee, maybe just a little less grunt. 😉

[Steve Soar]

Is Ashley still building?

[Owen]

15 hours ago, Steve Soar said:

Is Ashley still building?

GAS rears it's ugly head!

[RhysP]

On 12/11/2021 at 22:24, Steve Soar said:

Is Ashley still building?

Some people, me being one of them, had basses ordered that were never fulfilled... 🤬 

I ended up ordering a Jaydee because he flipped me around so much.

I heard that he did a runner because he owed a lot of people a lot of money. Don't know if it's true or not, but going by my dealings with him in the 80s it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Also heard that he ended up working for Gibson.

 

[RhysP]

On 29/10/2021 at 01:17, joe_geezer said:

This is the bass in the spray booth a few months ago....

T-Dog does some awesome finishing work, don't think there's a better finisher in the country right now.

[Doctor J]

On 29/10/2021 at 01:17, joe_geezer said:

This is the bass in the spray booth a few months ago....

It's almost pelham blue, no? You could spray brussels sprouts pelham blue and they'd be desirable. Spray a foxy bass like this that colour and... wow. Very, very nice.

[joe_geezer]

Just spoke to John & will have some new pics on the assembly bench soon...

[TheGreek]

Joe, I'd keep your whereabouts quiet.....

 

You may find many strangers lurking outside your home the day you collect the bass...

 

It's lovely!!

 

 

[leroydiamond]

Great to see the interest in Jaydee basses. With MK back using them, they will become only more desirable. I used to have a Roadie 2 and it was superb. Priced at £1455 it has to be one of the best bang for buck basses out there. I preferred mine to a friends Supernatural. A long wait time but well worth the wait.

[Russ]

I love that MK has brought them back out into the spotlight again. Not my favourite L42 bass tone (that'll be the Alembics) but great for all the purists out there who want MK to sound like he did way back when. 

 

Like I said earlier in this topic, I still maintain that they need something new and a bit more modern, so they don't just get seen as an 80s throwback brand. 

 

I wonder what Rob Green at Status thinks about his switch back over to Jaydees, given that he has an entire range of signature basses with them?

[joe_geezer]

5 hours ago, Russ said:

I love that MK has brought them back out into the spotlight again. Not my favourite L42 bass tone (that'll be the Alembics) but great for all the purists out there who want MK to sound like he did way back when. 

 

Like I said earlier in this topic, I still maintain that they need something new and a bit more modern, so they don't just get seen as an 80s throwback brand. 

 

I wonder what Rob Green at Status thinks about his switch back over to Jaydees, given that he has an entire range of signature basses with them?

Could i disagree on not updating the design... I love how Jaydee and Wal have maintained their brand and designs , they have included new designs like the series 3.

 

I really dislike all the new status basses and prefer the original series 2.

 

Also, look at fender, alembic etc most bass guitar brand dont update their classic original designs - thank god!

[joe_geezer]

As promised some updates that John kindly sent me this evening...