Jaydee Basses

[Sparky Mark]

19 minutes ago, joe_geezer said:

I have had to wait but I have only had positive experiences with both brothers & Toby. 

I think maybe because they have been so overwhelmed with phone calls and emails &  have probably been inundated with so many orders and then the after effects of that

they have dealt with things the best way they can whilst still getting basses out the door. They probably have ways of dealing with customers to keep the peace whilst getting on with building the massive backlog...

 

We all knew the situation when ordering a bass from them, they would have warned us, which they did & I was posting about it here. I have zero issues with the time I've waited and the customer service, it's all expected & in my case has been really good. Whenever I have contacted them and they gave me a response it's been really polite & helpful. 

 

I'm really looking forward to the basses arriving & in fact it's come at a great time when I have got past the honeymoon period with my first Jaydee!

Yes, but getting on for 5 years is terrible, especially as the bass was paid for up front.

[eude]

9 minutes ago, Sparky Mark said:

Yes, but getting on for 5 years is terrible, especially as the bass was paid for up front.

Yeah, I think that's way beyond instructing a lawyer, or at the very least small claims!

[AndyTravis]

3 hours ago, kevin_lindsay said:

the reason why I will be selling my Jaydee Series 1 as soon as i receive it.

What a shame - but I totally understand that set of emotions.

 

Who knows, maybe you’ll love it when it arrives…

 

I hope you do.

 

 

[Misdee]

I've had a quite a few custom builds over the years, and I've learnt to take prospective delivery dates with a pinch of salt.

 

To still be waiting two years after being told it's nearly ready (if I have understood correctly) is a bit much, though. 

 

By coincidence, I was looking at the JayDee website last night for the first time in ages and it says the current wait time is sixteen months months. If it  was actually sixteen months or thereabouts I'd place an order right away. However, after reading what Kevin has gone through though and other people's  travails, I can do without that kind of stress in my life. There's plenty of other nice basses to buy that might arrive before my family have put me in a care home and spent my savings on scratch cards and extra strong cider.

 

 

My contact with Jaydee back in the old days was always with John himself, and he was a lovely man who took great pride in his work. The bass he made for me was a flawless masterpiece and I should never have sold it.

 

I can't understand why Jaydee would tell someone the bass is nearly finished when It isn't. They're just making problems for themselves and risking getting doorstepped by Esther Rantzen or whoever is the modern equivalent. A few weeks or months delay, okay, things can happen, but years? It's  hard to believe that someone making a guitar can't differentiate between those timeframes for completing the job. 

Edited 21 hours ago by Misdee

[MichaelDean]

One of the guitarists in my band had to wait three years for his Old Boy from Jaydee. He also got similarly strung along and it wasn't until he threatened to go to small claims court for his deposit back that they actually built it. He couldn't get through on the phone, their voicemail is constantly full and they weren't responding to his emails for months after initially quoting an 18 month build time at the time of order.

 

He eventually got it just before Christmas and it is a lovely guitar, but they took the p*ss. 

 

Apparently after they've caught up, they're just going to be building stock instruments and selling when finished. No custom specs and no orders. 

[kevin_lindsay]

My first Jaydee was a GA24 that I collected from John's old workshop when it was in Moseley, Birmingham. 

John was a lovely guy.

 

It's such a shame that I had numerous calls to the workshop relating to my current order, where I was told information that had me set my expectations on a completion date that never materialised. Extremely frustrating,  and very annoying. 

[Misdee]

Sounds like I've had a lucky escape, because we're it not for people sharing experiences on Basschat I would have probably placed an order myself. If the quality is still what you expect from a Jaydee, their prices are incredibly reasonable.

 

Of all the basses I've owned, the quality of the woodworking on my custom MK was easily the most impressive. Their proprietary hardware is the business, too. Such a shame it looks like I can't have another. 

[Sparky Mark]

25 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

One of the guitarists in my band had to wait three years for his Old Boy.

 

He eventually got it just before Christmas and it is a lovely guitar, but they took the p*ss.

Christmas 2025?

[MichaelDean]

9 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

Christmas 2025?

Yup. 

[Kiwi]

I was playing around with the idea of getting a 5 string version made of my Alembic Series 1 with one of my graphite necks and then I wondered whether it might be easier to get a Jaydee MK 5 string made with one of my composite necks.   It looks like the Alembic tribute might be easier after all.

[Sparky Mark]

4 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I was playing around with the idea of getting a 5 string version made of my Alembic Series 1 with one of my graphite necks and then I wondered whether it might be easier to get a Jaydee MK 5 string made with one of my composite necks.   It looks like the Alembic tribute might be easier after all.

At probably many times the price! 

[Misdee]

I've been listening to some Jaydee basses on YouTube and I'd almost forgotten what a gutsy sound they've got. It's quite rare for the characteristic sound of a boutique bass to be so aggressive. They're strident, but in a good way. 

 

I remember there was a review of a JayDee bass in Guitar Player Magazine back in the mid -to-late 1980's, when they first had a distribution deal in the States. What was interesting about it was that the reviewer was Rick Turner, chief designer of the Alembic bass. He was extremely complimentary of the JayDee, despite it being reminiscent in it's design to his Alembics, and what struck him the most was how the Supernatural had a distinct "ping" of overtones and harmonics in the  sound like hardly any basses other than an Alembic can produce. 

 

I'm thinking about basses like Jaydees ect at the moment because I'm looking to buy a modern-sounding bass, and when I say modern I mean what was modern between about 1980 and 1990.

 

 I've got plenty of Leo Fender-derived basses, I want something more hi-tech and hifi. And I don't mean something with fanned frets that people play math rock on. Problem is Status are gone, Wal might as well not be trading the waiting list is so long, and it sounds like the same can be said for JayDee. That great triumvirate of British bass builders are effectively out of contention. I don't really want to fork out for an Alembic, but that's the only other bass that's the kind of thing I'm after. Even basses like Fodera are a bit too woody and organic sounding for the stereotypical kind of tones I'm after.

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Misdee

[kevin_lindsay]

Hey Midsee - when my Jaydee is completed,  it'll be up for sale! Hahaha 

 

[Misdee]

14 minutes ago, kevin_lindsay said:

Hey Midsee - when my Jaydee is completed,  it'll be up for sale! Hahaha 

 

 I'd be very interested to hear the spec, but I'm a fussy fella when it comes to basses. I expect you are the same.

 

  Is your bas the big-bodied Series 1? If so you'll be able to sell it for over-the-odds to a Mark King aficionado who doesn't want to wait. If I was you I'd use the opportunity to get full compensation for being pissed about.

 

I want a GA24 with Saturn inlays ect, but not LED's, probably in a burst finish.

[Mike Brooks]

1 hour ago, Misdee said:

I've been listening to some Jaydee basses on YouTube and I'd almost forgotten what a gutsy sound they've got. It's quite rare for the characteristic sound of a boutique bass to be so aggressive. They're strident, but in a good way. 

 

I remember there was a review of a JayDee bass in Guitar Player Magazine back in the mid -to-late 1980's, when they first had a distribution deal in the States. What was interesting about it was that the reviewer was Rick Turner, chief designer of the Alembic bass. He was extremely complimentary of the JayDee, despite it being reminiscent in it's design to his Alembics, and what struck him the most was how the Supernatural had a distinct "ping" of overtones and harmonics in the  sound like hardly any basses other than an Alembic can produce. 

 

I'm thinking about basses like Jaydees ect at the moment because I'm looking to buy a modern-sounding bass, and when I say modern I mean what was modern between about 1980 and 1990.

 

 I've got plenty of Leo Fender-derived basses, I want something more hi-tech and hifi. And I don't mean something with fanned frets that people play math rock on. Problem is Status are gone, Wal might as well not be trading the waiting list is so long, and it sounds like the same can be said for JayDee. That great triumvirate of British bass builders are effectively out of contention. I don't really want to fork out for an Alembic, but that's the only other bass that's the kind of thing I'm after. Even basses like Fodera are a bit too woody and organic sounding for the stereotypical kind of tones I'm after.

 

 

Ever considered a GB Guitars bass by Bernie Goodfellow? Just throwing an idea into the pot....

[Sparky Mark]

1 hour ago, Misdee said:

I've been listening to some Jaydee basses on YouTube and I'd almost forgotten what a gutsy sound they've got. It's quite rare for the characteristic sound of a boutique bass to be so aggressive. They're strident, but in a good way. 

 

I remember there was a review of a JayDee bass in Guitar Player Magazine back in the mid -to-late 1980's, when they first had a distribution deal in the States. What was interesting about it was that the reviewer was Rick Turner, chief designer of the Alembic bass. He was extremely complimentary of the JayDee, despite it being reminiscent in it's design to his Alembics, and what struck him the most was how the Supernatural had a distinct "ping" of overtones and harmonics in the  sound like hardly any basses other than an Alembic can produce. 

 

I'm thinking about basses like Jaydees ect at the moment because I'm looking to buy a modern-sounding bass, and when I say modern I mean what was modern between about 1980 and 1990.

 

 I've got plenty of Leo Fender-derived basses, I want something more hi-tech and hifi. And I don't mean something with fanned frets that people play math rock on. Problem is Status are gone, Wal might as well not be trading the waiting list is so long, and it sounds like the same can be said for JayDee. That great triumvirate of British bass builders are effectively out of contention. I don't really want to fork out for an Alembic, but that's the only other bass that's the kind of thing I'm after. Even basses like Fodera are a bit too woody and organic sounding for the stereotypical kind of tones I'm after.

 

 

https://youtu.be/Dt1APRRddS4?si=ZBFev2otXsgtr1Cc

I would describe the tone of Jaydees as having more mid character vs Status Graphite's hifi crystal clarity. The Mr Pink video link above demonstrates his Status perfectly. TBH, I've always preferred MK's Jaydee sounds, and I'm not sure Status basses have as unique a tonal signature as Jaydees. 

Edited 50 minutes ago by Sparky Mark