Anaconda Basses

[BeLow]

I don't post much, but have actually been a member on here for many years. I was recently talking to Andrew Taylor-Cummings at Anaconda Basses about how many of his instruments went to America, and as a UK brand relatively few made their homes here in the UK. I said I would try to do my bit to change that - this is a review of the Ultra Jazz Essence 5 I bought a while back (hopefully you can read files in this format). I am pretty enthusiastic about what Andrew does, the bass is made overseas to his design, and checked before dispatch. He also crafts his top end basses in his North London workshop. The great thing for UK bass players is he does support his instruments, which some other suppliers of offshore made basses struggle to do. He is also very pleasant to deal with. I played it in a covers band since I got it, where it replaced my trusty Squier Jazz Deluxe. The Drummer said it was the best bass sound he had heard (more to do with the bass than me I think). These are great basses which are more affordable than many of the established brands, and in my humble opinion outperform some of them. 

 

I have owned a number of high end basses including a Wal 5 midi bass, a pair of Shukers, 4 ACG basses and my beloved Ashley Pangborn among others. I have also built from scratch a few basses of my own. So while I am no professional reviewer, I think I know a bit about what I am talking about.  

Anaconda Ultra J Essence 5 String review.pdf

Edited 9 hours ago by BeLow
typos

[BeLow]

[eude]

Looks an absolutely cracking bass, a proper Super Jazz!

Edited 8 hours ago by eude

[Mrbigstuff]

I’ve been following what they’ve done on FB for a long while now and love the sounds I hear from the demos. There’s one on here in my favourite green colour. My problem is that my Sire is very very good and I don’t think the Anaconda will be enough of an improvement to warrant the price difference.

[Merton]

I don’t think I’ve read a bad review of them, they seem to do the Super J thing superbly. Andrew has carved a nice little niche for himself!

[BeLow]

3 hours ago, eude said:

Looks an absolutely cracking bass, a proper Super Jazz!

Indeed it is - Super Jazz describes it really well, the pickups and electronics make this really stand out, and the neck profile is particularly good IMHO.

[BeLow]

2 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

I’ve been following what they’ve done on FB for a long while now and love the sounds I hear from the demos. There’s one on here in my favourite green colour. My problem is that my Sire is very very good and I don’t think the Anaconda will be enough of an improvement to warrant the price difference.

Sires can be really good, I have a 5 string fretless, which has been problematic hardware wise (it was an earlier version). I work with a number of young bands and several of their bass players have had to bypass the electronics due to failures. The machine heads on the Anaconda are very good (among the best I have used, and light too). The Sire is essentially a good Jazz style bass, the electronics are certainly flexible, but the stiffness of the neck construction and pickup / electronics on the Anaconda is in a similar league to my Custom ACG basses, which is high praise indeed. Of course not everybody wants that clarity and zing. I can't say it would be the right upgrade for you, our tastes all vary of course, but for me it was an easy decision. People used to talk about a studio quality sound, and for me, this describes the Anaconda really well.   

Edited 4 hours ago by BeLow

[80Hz]

Thanks for the thoughtful and thorough review! That’s a very good looking bass, but with some nice design choices that differentiate it from the many slightly tweaked but essentially Fender copies out there.

 

I particularly like how the headstock has been done - it has a sense of proportion and the modern retainer plus careful tuner layout looks the business.

[BeLow]

One other comment I should make, when I mentioned each bass is checked, this is a pretty thorough process of setting the instrument up, rather than plugging in and checking it plays. One are where offshore manufactured basses can fall down is this final attention to detail. I have had to recut nuts, adjust truss rods, shim necks on mass produced basses and fret level, but this is done for you. I am sure if you had an issue Andrew would personally sort it out because he cares about his reputation. 

 

When Overwater Basses did their partnership work with Tanglewood(?) they had some issues with how basses were set up in shops, and it can make undermine even reputable brands.  

[Mrbigstuff]

2 hours ago, BeLow said:

Sires can be really good, I have a 5 string fretless, which has been problematic hardware wise (it was an earlier version). I work with a number of young bands and several of their bass players have had to bypass the electronics due to failures. The machine heads on the Anaconda are very good (among the best I have used, and light too). The Sire is essentially a good Jazz style bass, the electronics are certainly flexible, but the stiffness of the neck construction and pickup / electronics on the Anaconda is in a similar league to my Custom ACG basses, which is high praise indeed. Of course not everybody wants that clarity and zing. I can't say it would be the right upgrade for you, our tastes all vary of course, but for me it was an easy decision. People used to talk about a studio quality sound, and for me, this describes the Anaconda really well.   

It’d be good to hear one in a side by side comparison to the more common super jazz favourites like Sadowsky (US), Overwater or Fender Ultra.

I’ve had two Sire’s and never had any issues with setup, electronics or hardware but understand I might have been lucky.

[Terry M.]

4 hours ago, Mrbigstuff said:

I’ve been following what they’ve done on FB for a long while now and love the sounds I hear from the demos. There’s one on here in my favourite green colour. My problem is that my Sire is very very good and I don’t think the Anaconda will be enough of an improvement to warrant the price difference.

I think it may boil down to personal comfort and how much you'll pay to achieve it.The Anaconda will have a flatter radius,slightly longer scale and if we're talking 5 strings will have wider 19mm string spacing over Sires.That alone on paper at least puts them over Sires (I've had a few) for me. I tried a 6 string Ultra J Essence in Wunjos once and even though I have no use for the high c string I thought it was phenomenal. 

[bubinga5]

Before Andrew started making basses under the name Anaconda he made other basses like this amazing Ostinato Jazz bass that I bought from the Bass Gallery in 2010. Emg pickups. Aguilar OBP2, Alder body Olivewood top. It was a fantastic instrument. 

Edited 1 hour ago by bubinga5