GeeCee

Tough one, Jaydee is enjoying a bit of a renaissance right now, like Wal, and has full order books and significant waiting list BUT that's for the Mark King and Iommi models.  I would imagine a Flying V bass is going to have a more limited appeal, but if someone has just got have one who knows.  With John semi-retired - I don't think the sons offer the same kind of custom service that he did - maybe that works in your favor.  Got any pics?

Are any Basschatters living in or near Bristol able to confirm that Electric Ladyland has shut its doors for good?

4 hours ago, ambient said:

Is that one of his original instruments?

Yes, it's his original Jaydee bass (003SA), the one he bought from Sounds in London with his record company advance.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to set-up a who is best argument, far from it, nor am I suggesting that there is anything inherently wrong with JDs.  FWIW, I have one Wal and several JDs, which should tell you what I prefer (though for pension purposes I wish I had done that the other way round).  I guess my point is that times change, these are all instruments designed in the 70s that are played mostly by middle-aged men, myself included (though I am rapidly approaching old-age).  I was just trying to speak to the comment about JD not offering something new and why I am not sure that is going to happen.  A few years back I was talking with Paul Day who was selling his rare early 60's Burns Bison guitars.  I asked him why and he said the same thing, old guitars for old men and he was selling them on while there was still someone left who cared enough about them to buy them.  

BTW, the PUs and electronics (3-band EQ) in the original MK, GA and Roadie models are the same, though you have the choice now for an updated (non-reverse P) PU.  I believe the boards got tweaked and refined over the years.  The PUs and electronics are different in the Calibas and Celeste models (stacked humbuckers with 4- and 2-band EQs, or something like that).

7 hours ago, 4000 said:

Well the Series 3 is smaller and lighter than the first two versions, albeit essentially more or less the same shape. And really, that’s all Wal have done, come up with three variations of the same thing. The difference is JD historically would build you pretty much anything if you asked. And may still, who knows. And if we’re splitting hairs they actually do more models than Wal, with potentially more options. 

Its the PUs and electronics that make a Wal a Wal and that is mostly down to Ian Waller.  Who knows what else they may have done had he lived.  They never were and are not a full custom shop like JD.  That said, I think Wal basses are generally really well made.  The body shape and neck profile may or may not be your cup of tea, but you don't have as many people cursing Wals for their rubbery necks.  I don't think JD offers the range of models they used to such as the Calibas or Celeste.  Also, I don't think they do as much non-Jaydee work.  John was the man to set-up and repair/restore anything, regardless of what you thought about his own bass models.

Ibanez did an interesting tweak of the Musician series for Alphonso Johnson.  It's factory built.

On 30/05/2021 at 04:34, Grassie said:

Can't seem to find the FB page....

 

Here are the pictures

11 hours ago, Grassie said:

Hi folks,

I'm in the midst of another one of my bass related art projects and I'm after some decent pictures of the Pangborn played by MK (as seen in the videos for "The Sun Goes Down" and "Lessons In Love").

I've managed to get a couple of fuzzy screenshots from those vids, but there seems to be very little else in the way of quality photos of it. If anyone has any (or of the same model - a Warlord I think) I'd be eternally grateful if you could share them!

Many thanks!  x

 

There is a Pangborn FaceBook page that has some pictures of it now.  It's hanging up in a bar somewhere in Amsterdam (I think).  There are a bunch of decent photos of Warlords on BC, just search for Pangborn.

On 19/05/2021 at 21:36, Chris2112 said:

I believe it would be a Chieftain model though I'm not certain. There are other Chieftain models with that same body shape albeit different pickup placements. 

I would think that one predates the Chieftain bass.  The Chieftain basses weren't built by Pangborn either, more assembled by, with the woodworking done elsewhere, if memory serves correctly.  That is probably late 70's.  I have a fretless one of a similar vintage that has the same headstock shape.  The PUs in mine were originally reverse P's too, but got swapped out for wider soapbars at some point.  Mine has a Baddass bridge and the same kind of switch and truss rod cover.  The guy who played bass for Buck's Fizz did have at least one Pangborn, it was a Warlord though.  Maybe he had this one too.

On 19/05/2021 at 16:53, Russ said:

I do love a Jaydee (was the first proper "high-end" bass I ever played).

But it'd be nice if Mr Diggins would come up with something new occasionally. The current designs have been in production for 40 years and it'd be nice to see something a bit more contemporary and modern. Things have moved on a lot in terms of aesthetics, weight, playability, electronics and so on. 

Mr Diggins is in his seventies and basically semi-retired; he worked at John Birch for a few years before setting up on his own in '77.  Jaydee Guitars is now run by his sons with a grandson doing a lot if not all of the finishing work.  Why would they bother coming up with something new at this point.  I think they sell as many SG copies to Iommi and AC/DC fans as they do Classic basses to MK fans.

On 03/04/2021 at 05:40, Dave Coates Audio said:

Thought you might like to see this example that came to me for a setup and some minor repairs this week, it could well be the one that scojack and GeeCee mentioned in connection with MK.

Dave Coates Audio

That's the one; obviously built for a Mr. Young (not Mr. King).  That is pretty damn nice though.

8 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Aria?? A bit Jaydee-ish...ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Guitar-Body-Lot-3/333926206948?hash=item4dbf8d8de4:g:nkkAAOSwiPxgVMOU

Yeah, does look like a Jaydee Hooligan 85.

On 18/08/2020 at 11:19, doc40hz said:

Can any JayDee owners answer me this? I have three JayDees. Two Series IIs and one Series III. All from the mid/late 80s I think. 

I always assumed the treble circuits noise was just a quirk of the preamp. It's really hissy when boosted, but this hiss disappears when the mids are cut. 

I recently bought my second Series II from another basschatter. It had a defective bass circuit so was sent back to the JayDee workshop and it had a new preamp fitted. The treble circuit on the new preamp is dead quite, and doesn't sound so dramatic in its treble boost.

So.....are my other preamps defective or is that just what they sounded like and the new preamp is quieter?

 

I think it's what they sounded like new.  The treble boost was always a bit hissy when turned up, but early days for active electronics.  Never bothered me much because I like a middly sound and never really boosted the treble.  I don't doubt they have improved it since then and use a quieter chip.

On ‎03‎/‎09‎/‎2020 at 13:05, Stub Mandrel said:

The clue to the bass is those brass 'coins' that anchor the strings, I just wish I could place them...

Without a doubt a Jaydee - very early model too.  Probably a Jaydee Session bass and I would guess around 1980/1.

43 minutes ago, scojack said:

Waaaaaaahhhhhh that's my old Betsy in the front !! Waaaaahhhhhh, i had that bass man and boy!!!! It was originally built for Steve Stroud from Bucks Fizz.

Im off for a big cry ! I should never had let this bass go .....sniff sniff !!

Sorry, I didn't mean to reopen an old wound.

This is Pangborn's "Mark King" Warlord that was most closely patterned after Jaydee's Mark King model even copying the funk groove at the base on the neck.  I suspect the electronics have been swapped around.  I would have expected a PU selector where the first LED is, then volume and master tone rotaries, with the passive-active on-off switch and the bottom three controls the 3-band EQ.  That said, Ashley seems to made every bass differently, see picture below.  They are all Pangborns.  The EQ controls were smaller, but he used a variety of different knob types.

15 hours ago, therealting said:

Is there a link? I’m curious 

There is another thread on BC about it, search here (or on EBay) for "Jaydee Copy".

On ‎19‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 19:46, Andyjr1515 said:

Hi wow this is my first ever bass built by Nick Springett from my requested design. My name is Alistair and you will see in mother of pearl at the 12th fret it has "Ali" which Nick did for me. Originally the bass had x2 humbuckers but I and active passive controls. We changed to EMG pickups to try and get a richer bottom end.The bass has a lovely laminated finish underneath the white but I had it changed as I originally wanted it to look like a Jaydee supernatural (my mistake). I loved the bass and always thought of trying to get it back one day....sigh

Wow - that's a bit of a result . Great thread (and looks a nice bass...)

It's on Ebay so now is your chance.

I think I remember that Calibas from the old Yahoo JD group.  Do you stilll have it or what did you replace it with?

3 hours ago, vmaxblues said:

Apparently John not involved so much now.

 

Andrew Diggins will help you out; just be patient/persistent.  They will respond eventually.  If they can't remake the pickups, he may be able to make you wooden covers to match the holes and cover the EMGs.  Don't think they make the pre-amp anymore.  It would have been a blend, vol, B, T originally.  Guessing there must be an input jack on the side.

On ‎02‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 20:03, SlapbassSteve said:

Hi all, I recently got hold of a Vox Standard bass (early 80's Japanese thing with a single DiMarzio P-bass style pickup right next to the bridge) and it sounds fantastic, surprisingly JayDee-like with the right effects added, the pickup just seems to work really well in that position.

Not that surprising really, because underneath those wooden covers are reverse P pick-ups

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 07:54, TheGreek said:

I'm not 100% sure it is a Jaydee. The heel doesn't look quite right and I can't believe that John would have build a bass so far from the Jaydee norm...

It's genuine.  It was made for the girlfriend of one of John's sons.

Send me your email address and I may be able to help.  Tx.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1451043036' post='2937969']
Not true. I had mine built for me in 1984 & the neck was a nightmare.
[/quote]

Did Jaydee not try to fix the neck for you? He seems like a straight-up guy.

If the serial number is 71392 it was likely built in '87 and would be around the 1,392nd bass built. It's a Series III Mark King model (so it would not have a funk groove). The push button P/U selector is a feature that was introduced with the Calibas model. I think the first Calibas came out in '88 so I would guess it is a later addition, replacing the normal rotary P/U selector. It's an unusual feature on a MK. The cherub inlay is not the standard design used on the "StarChild" bass (MK's white one). Black MK's are somewhat unusual. Oh, and it's not a through neck; it's set neck - look closely at the heel. Hope that helps.