they are excellent quality and John is an absolute star and extremely helpful with enquiries - i had a j-east in a old status matrix for a while - it was immense , sounded like jazz bass on steroids BUT it no longer sounded much like a status (even though the tone was very good for a J config) - i took it out of the status because for me it was just too much for gigging i prefer simpler tone controls and powerful passive pups to make you work harder for the tone with your fingers (just my two cents worth) and also Rob adn Dawn at Status were very helpful in providing a nice one off tone circuit they had on the shelf whci i installed and hey presto it once again sounded like a status ought to (but unfortunately not what i was looking for gigging but nice to have it behaving like a status should)
if your emphasis is on studio and recording the j-east will most certainly be a positive for you but depending on your playing style and rig/live feed config you might find it "too much" in live scenarios - i certainly did and went back to totally passive with wizard pickups
forgot to add... agree with all the above - especially build quality and versatility, second to none but in the end its all down to tonal preference - would also receommend the glocks (i believe) which are in the sandberg californias they are beastly and seemed a lot more tonally controllable for me in live situations