Greg Edwards69 Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 Jackson JS1X Minion bass. Well, not quite today, but it arrived at in the office whilst I was on holiday, got it home on Friday and checked it over but didn’t get a chance to really play with it today. Set up this morning and band rehearsal this afternoon. I've been looking at lightweight 'hope-I-never-need-it" alternate backup bass options. It's become a pain dragging a spare full size bass to gigs that sits in a gigbag all night. Besides, I've also been instrigued by short scale basses and wanted to try something inexpensive. Even though I hope I never need it at a gig, I still wanted something I would enjoy playing at home, where I sometimes find my other basses unweildly to play whilst seated. After looking at various options I settled on getting the Minion. I’m a sucker for maple and black markers so I've been waiting for one of these to become available for months. I had a couple of email notifications setup and one came through from Mann’s Music on the first day of my holiday. Only one available and good price (£169). Tracking down the case was a little trickier, but found one from Musik Produktiv at a good price inc customs and shipping. Got both sent to work and collected on Friday What can I say. It’s so cute, and so much fun! Nice and light, almost too light to feel right. Dead easy to play - I thought the scale might cause problems with muscle memory but it didn’t at all, well not until I got up to the dusty end. Me and my band mates could not believe the sound that comes out of this thing. Seriously, this thing punches well above its weight. I might look a little toy like, but its certainly a most playable and giggable instrument. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 Love a pointy headstock. What scale length is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 It’s teeny tiny 28.6” scale and eminemtly playable. The Ibanez Mikro is the same scale, but upon research, it appears the Jackson just takes the edge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 (edited) On 22/10/2023 at 21:28, Greg Edwards69 said: It’s teeny tiny 28.6” scale and eminemtly playable. The Ibanez Mikro is the same scale, but upon research, it appears the Jackson just takes the edge. Well, the stock pickups on the Jackson Minion are definitely, at least in my opinion, better sounding, but in every other aspect I prefer the Ibanez Mikro, better upper frets access, reverse P pickup, smaller frets, and overall look of the Mikro as well (especially the matte black Weathered Black finish, with black hardware, version). But overall quality wise I think the Jackson Minion and Ibanez Mikro are very similar (the Mikro is made at the Cort factory in Indonesia, except the real early ones which was made somewhere in China, and for everyone who is familiar with Cort basses they know that means high quality all across the entire price spectrum, down to their cheapest budget models). The more recent production Mikro's, unlike the earlier ones, comes with contoured/rounded off neck joint, real metal pot knob, and shielded wiring. The Jackson does though feature a graphite enforced neck, but the neck on my Mirko is the most stable neck I ever had on any bass or guitar, it practically never needs adjustment, unless I change for significantly lower or higher tension strings. And my EMG Geezer Butler P equipped Mikro Bass sounds no short of amazing. In any case congratulations to OP. Edited October 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted October 23, 2023 Author Share Posted October 23, 2023 (edited) I freely admit, that I was tempted by the Mikro, but the Jackson just edged it for me. It's largely subjective TBH, but a couple of hardware differences also swayed me. The look definitely swayed me - I'm not a huge fan of the "sucked sweet" Ibanez body shape these days - and I say this as a former Warwick fan - although that weathered black model was very very tempting. Neither am I keen on reversed P pickups. And I love maple fretboards, purely an aesthetic choice. I was unaware that the latest Mikro has a new heel joint - that's quite interesting to hear - I do agree that top fret access on the Jackson is impaired. Thinking about it, my Squier 50s P is even worse in that regard! The neck on the Jackson is quite comfortable for me, almost a D shape with a bit of meat. I'm don't know what the Mikro neck is like. One would assume it's slimmer like most Ibanezes? I did watch several comparison videos and, for me, Jackson took the edge, and LowEnd Lobster's review convinced me it was the right choice for me. Yes, those Jackson pickups are pretty good. Easily matched the output of my G&L JB2, which surprised me. FWIW, Lobster's review also included a modded version with EMG Geezers that sounded incredible. All that said, a 5 string Mikro is also tempting me. PS. I got the official Jackson minion gigbag from Germany, rather than waiting a few weeks for one to become available over here. It's not great. Hardly any padding and is made out of that cheap rip-proof material that really cheap gigbags usually are. The bass only just fits - very snug fit. I reckon it's a third-party case embroidered with the Jackson logo. They have done that thing with guitar gigbags which annoys me no-end, in that the carrying handle is centred rather than offset, so it's unbalanced when you carry it. It'll do the job for the time being but I'll have to investigate and look for a better slim case for it. I also need to source some strings! Any suggestions? Edited October 23, 2023 by Greg Edwards69 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodShowSir Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) Nice, I saw someone locally selling one for under 100squid and was a little tempted. Even more so now Curiously, just been doing a quick google, but does it say where the bass was made? Edited October 27, 2023 by GoodShowSir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) What Does it matter ? Just curious Cnc is universal Edited October 27, 2023 by Geek99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Geek99 said: What Does it matter ? Just curious Cnc is universal Nothing matters, we are all going to die anyway... Seriously though: What does what matter or doesn't matter? Edited October 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 16 minutes ago, GoodShowSir said: Nice, I saw someone locally selling one for under 100squid and was a little tempted. Even more so now Curiously, just been doing a quick google, but does it say where the bass was made? It says made in China on the back. Considering Jackson is owned by Fender, I would assume it's made in the same factory as the Chinese Squiers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodShowSir Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 5 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said: It says made in China on the back. Considering Jackson is owned by Fender, I would assume it's made in the same factory as the Chinese Squiers. Thanks! I'm just always curious where stuff I buy is manufactured, not just basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Looks like a great value fun little bass. I have a 28" scale bass which I use quite a lot (and have gigged a couple of times) and it is a good size in the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) Looks a cracker, but that picture messes with my head... "Small bass, normal sofa...normal bass, tiny sofa....small bass, normal sofa....giant stand !!!!!" Arrgh! Edited October 27, 2023 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 4 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said: It says made in China on the back. Considering Jackson is owned by Fender, I would assume it's made in the same factory as the Chinese Squiers. Which are excellent by all accounts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Edwards69 Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 20 minutes ago, Geek99 said: Which are excellent by all accounts I believe so, yes. I have an Indonesian 50s P that is excellent (although it might be up for sale soon - as much as I wanted one, it doesn't "fit" me as well as I hoped it would). I believe some Chinese squiers are just as good, if not better in some regard. Some people are even saying Squiers are now so good, that in some cases they are better than more expensive MIM Fenders, and that Fender should drop the name and call them "Fender M.I.F.E." - Made in the Far East. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Kid in my school has one. He is a really good jazz guitarist but is often asked to sight read bass parts for the school orchestra. It sounds immense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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