Jerzy Drozd appreciation thread

I've seen very few Jerzy Drozd basses on the forum, so I thought I'd write a few comments and post some pics of an Excellency V that I recently acquired. You can learn more about these basses at Jerzy's website: www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/

The craftsmanship is unreal, with so much attention to detail. Like the custom wooden pickup covers and custom bridge that are both recessed into the body. The truss rod cover is also recessed into the headstock. The top is a beautiful example of spalted maple. The body is made of etimoe, a wood from Africa. Weight is around 9 lbs. The fingerboard is a very thick slab of ebony. The D profile neck feels very comfortable in my hand.


The tone is killer. In general, it should be placed in the "modern" sounding catagory, falling somewhere in the ballpark of an MTD/Smith/Warrior bass, except the Jerzy has its own unique voice, which to me is a bit mid- scooped and slightly piano-like in that you really hear the strings. Jerzy says he designed the pickups with the Aggie OBP-3 pre in mind, and the results are impressive -- they make an excellent combo. Along with a strong fundamental, there seems to be a lot of harmonic info being pulled from the strings. I installed a new set of FBass stainless steel exposed core strings and the bass growls nicely. The sound is full-range -- all the bass, mids and highs are there in whatever amounts you dial in. The sustain is like that of a neck-through bass. This is all IMHO, of course.



If you can find one, I highly recommend trying a Jerzy Drozd bass!

I'd like to personally thank Dan Lenard at the Luthiers Access Group for helping me acquire this bass. This was my first dealing with Dan and I hope it is not the last. Thanks, Dan!

I know there aren't many around, so let's see your Jerzy Drozd's!

Mike, it was your bass that inspired me to look into Jerzy Drozd basses. I couldn't resist trying one out. Just incredible!

stretchcat said:

Wow Gary! That is a beautiful bass.

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Thanks Ben!

RAM said:

I'm good friends with Dan and back up everything Freddy G. said...but, anyone who knows me already knows that about me. Check out the title line in my posting: self-appointed ambassador to Jerzy Drozd. The truth about that is I was the first here on TB to own a JD and spoke so highly for so long about it, Jerzy himself told Dan I was the ambassador...I only call myself the "self-appointed" ambassador since I don't have any formal affiliation with either Jerzy or Dan.

I did a review of mine a while back for TB. Here's a link: http://www.talkbass.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/18/cat/13

Because it's got a walnut body and a wenge neck, this bass tends to be darker sounding than most of what Jerzy puts out.

Oh...and Freddy...I've played your bass! It really is an awesome piece of art! Dan's let me get my grubby mits all over so many Jerzys he once said I've played more Jerzys in the US than anyone else except him - but he's the US distributor!

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Glad to see the ambassador here. It must be nice to have the LAG so close by. I'm not far from the Atl. Bass Gallery, but Jim has seen very few Jerzys. Though he's listed as a US dealer, he actually is not.

Here's one example of Jerzy's attention to detail. The Jerzy Drozd logo is "branded" into the wooden electronics cover.

Good eye, Munji! Here's a better look at the spalted maple on mine.

Vic said:

Man, that is a SMOKIN' bass.

Hey, is the 6th knob for sweep mids? Also, are the switches splitters for the pickups, i.e. single/series/parallel (assuming they're dual coils under the hood, not splits).

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Thanks Vic! I am TOTALLY blown away by this bass.

The 6th knob is a passive tone control that works in passive or active mode. The pickups are Jerzy's noiseless split single coil. The switches are mid frequency and active/passive. Some people are intimidated by all the knobs, but once you become familiar with them, you have so many tonal options.