| Author | Message | ||
| glocke
Member Username: glocke Post Number: 75 Registered: 9-2002 |
Interesting thing up on ebay right now.. http://cgi.ebay.com/Jay-Dee-Supernatural-Bass-like-Alembic-Series-1-Like-Nu_W0QQitemZ7358206731QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem If you go to the home page they call their classic series a "Mark King Series I" http://www.jaydeeguitars.com/html/classic.asp | ||
| angelboy
Junior Username: angelboy Post Number: 48 Registered: 1-2004 |
That's not a 'classic' Mark King series I. The bass for sale is a supernatural which is what Mark King made famous. After that was the Supernatural II which has a 'funk groove' near the bridge but no binding around the neck of headstock. Then come the Mark King which you can still buy today. They're not 'thru necks' either! I have one as well as a Alembic Series I and they are a world apart I think. | ||
| glocke
Member Username: glocke Post Number: 76 Registered: 9-2002 |
didnt say that was a classic mark king series I...Just put up a link on their website that leads to a bass that THEY call a classic Mark King Series I... Anyway, as far as Alembic copies go, these dont look bad...What do they sound like? | ||
| angelboy
Junior Username: angelboy Post Number: 49 Registered: 1-2004 |
They sound great and are pretty easy to play. There's more of a 'honk' sound to them which is great for really digging in. Compared to the Series I they don't have the same range of sounds but I like them both for different reasons. In the UK JayDee seems to be compared with Alembic quite a lot (as in a cheaper Alembic!!!) and I'm not really sure why. This only seemed to happen after Mark King moved to Alembic. | ||
| muller1007
Member Username: muller1007 Post Number: 78 Registered: 5-2002 |
I'm pretty sure this particular bass is a Jaydee GA 24, the George Anderson jr. (Shakatak) signature model. I can tell by the body shape (shorter lower horn and shorter body than the classics), tobacco burst paintwork and chrome hardware. | ||
| angelboy
Member Username: angelboy Post Number: 51 Registered: 1-2004 |
I think you might be right! It has 24 frets which the supers and MK's didn't have! | ||
| bigbadbill
Advanced Member Username: bigbadbill Post Number: 209 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yep, GA24. Nice bass. I've had 2 Jaydees and played several more and they vary quite dramatically. The easiest playing bass I ever played was a Jaydee that was in the Bass Gallery in Camden; it was so easy in fact that I couldn't play it! (So I guess in a sense it was actually hard to play  ) They're very good basses, generally. As stated, they tend to have more honk, and don't have the flexibility of the Alembic electronics, but I'd have another. BTW, all Jaydees have set necks. I think the reason they're referred to as the English Alembics is because of their one-off custom status (I think John - who did some work for me recently - will build most things) and the fact that the Supernaturals vaguely resemble the Alembic body shape, although John claims not to have been influenced by Alembic. | ||
| karl
Member Username: karl Post Number: 60 Registered: 7-2002 |
That's a beauty - very similar to my GA24, except mine has gold hardware and the neck isn't bound. They are great basses, but sound nothing like Alembics. They have a much more 'old school', less hi-fi sound with quite a bit of upper-mid 'honk'. But as has been stated, without exception they play like a dream - very fast necks, perfect string spacing and tension. And those carved wooden pickup covers make very comfortable and decorative thumb rests, if you need such a thing . . . I always get lots of comments of admiration for that bass when I take it out - more than for the maple-top Alembic MK sig or the Status Kingbass with LEDs - Jaydees are very pretty instruments, and that tobacco sunburst finish in particular. And yes, they look like through necks, but actually they're glued in. Some people even reckon it's John Diggins' (Mr JD himself) liberal use of glue that gives his basses such a distinctive sound. The Alembic comparison is purely because of the body shape - while John claimed not to have been influenced by Alembic, I think I read somewhere that the guy who helped him design the shape of his basses in the early days had seen a couple of Alembics and maybe had them in mind as he was giving John suggestions. I also think I read that Mark King bought his first Jaydee back at the beginning of his career mainly because it looked like an Alembic, a bass he was familiar with because his hero at the time, Stanley Clarke, played one. K. |
