Bacchus basses: "World" or MIJ

[PatentNonsense]

I hadn't even heard of this make until one of us entrred his in the prettiest bass contest. People seem to say good things about them, and the made in Japan models seem to be reasonably cheap - and the "wotld" models, made in the Philippines, are amazingly cheap. I love my Yamaha BBs, and these have some similarities, so I'm curious. Anybody have knowledge or opinions?

 

[P Cheen]

Being a "lawsuit" and a vintage MIJ fanatic, I can say that yes Bacchus is indeed a good instrument maker.
Also, is it not "Global"? I read somewhere here on TB from (I would assume) a Bacchus representative that their Global line of instruments come from the Philippines. Being from said country, we do have a Global brand that imho sucks in make and quality as they are marketed for beginners and those with tight budgets. It's a brand fairly looked down upon.
This Bacchus Global, though I haven't seen one in stores nor in the local classifieds, seems promising. Made in the Philippines is loads better than made in China haha and that's not just bias from my nationality!

 

[guitfrank]

As far as I'm concerned, Bacchus have the ABSOLUTE best quality to price ratio, at any level.
by this I mean that their chinese Universe line outdo Mexican Fenders for 1/4 of the price, their Global line outdo Japanese Fenders for 1/3 of the price and their Craft and Handmade models outdo American products for 1/2 the price. This is true of their Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Vs, SGs, Mustangs, as well as Jazz and Precision models. I'm never touching the big brand names, ever again (says this full-time, professionnal musician/unbiased and non-sponsored Bacchus player).

 

[wmmj]

One of the new attempts for their Global line (so these are the made-in-Philippines basses right above their Chinese Universe line) seems to be standardizing their entry / mid level 4- and 5- string AND offering 3 scale lengths (33, 34, 35)! And even at this price point they come with the 'turbo' feature (pull the tone for series wiring).

I drop tune a lot to DCAG so a 35' 4 string J bass, Ash body in transwhite / blonde, clear pick guard, maple neck and fingerboard, with the series wiring option... for pricing similar to the standard MIM fenders, sounds extremely attractive

 

[PatentNonsense]

DCAG!! That's a new one on me - G an octave higher than the normal EADG top string?

 

[wmmj]

DCAG!! That's a new one on me - G an octave higher than the normal EADG top string?

Should be DGCF that was almost 100 percent wrong. Just a normal whole step down.

In any case, very hard to find 35' 4-strings for this price so considering getting one in the near future.

 

[PatentNonsense]

So who sells them in the US?

 

[bassbones2]

I have been eyeball'n 2 universe series basses on eBay......a black fretted maple board, and a fretless in lined rosewood.....both are under $300 shipped and look nice. Haven't actually met or talked to anyone who's played one.


Bacchus WJB 330M Blk Jazz Bass Electric Bass Guitar Black WJB330 4 String Solid | eBay

Bacchus bjb 1R FL 3TS Fretless Electric Bass Guitar JB Shaped Solid 4 String | eBay

any input?

JB

 

[P Cheen]

As far as I'm concerned, Bacchus have the ABSOLUTE best quality to price ratio, at any level.
by this I mean that their chinese Universe line outdo Mexican Fenders for 1/4 of the price, their Global line outdo Japanese Fenders for 1/3 of the price and their Craft and Handmade models outdo American products for 1/2 the price. This is true of their Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Vs, SGs, Mustangs, as well as Jazz and Precision models. I'm never touching the big brand names, ever again (says this full-time, professionnal musician/unbiased and non-sponsored Bacchus player).

Thanks for this Frank, might grab a Bacchus J bass next time I see one from the local classifieds!

 

[Quadzilla]

It's MIJ for me. Mine has become my numero uno!

 

[jd56hawk]

Why can't Fender make them this beautiful?

 

[jim777]

Good descriptions of the Bacchus models here:

Bacchus dealer DANNY M STEWART... anyone here purchased from him? | TalkBass.com

 

[Starflyer59]

Vsnguitars.com and is a bacchus dealer and they are based in Canada so its cheaper to buy if you are from the US.

They're also active members here.

Didn't stewdbass got banned in here?

 

[Stan Stone]

Vsnguitars.com and is a bacchus dealer and they are based in Canada so its cheaper to buy if you are from the US.

They're also active members here.

Didn't stewdbass got banned in here?

Yes as far as i know VSNguitars.com is the only AUTHORIZED dealer in North America. Bacchus own web site is listing only them as Dealer/Distributor.

 

[jim777]

Vsnguitars.com and is a bacchus dealer and they are based in Canada so its cheaper to buy if you are from the US.

They're also active members here.

Didn't stewdbass got banned in here?

I think that was a temporary thing until he got his authorized dealer status done. He's not banned now at any rate.

 

[Stan Stone]

I think that was a temporary thing until he got his authorized dealer status done. He's not banned now at any rate.

How can he be an authorized dealer here when he is located in Japan and Bacchus lists VSN Guitars as authorized dealer here??

 

[Doctor J]

Long term fan of Bacchus here. I can only echo what Frank says, they're the business. Keep an eye on Ishibashi's second hand section, plenty of bargains can be picked up there, especially the Handmade MIJ stuff which is priced so nicely, you'd be crazy to go with anything else.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

And in time-honoured Talkbass fashion, here are some pics of my crew. All are handmade MIJ, the first two I got second hand from the u-box. Ishibashi are very good to deal with and anything I bought from them has been in better condition than their description.

02 Standard 5

TwentyFour

Woodline P Classic

 

[Dirtyfrenchman]

I personnally own 2 "world" Bacchus basses, one hollowbody Jazz, active electronics, made in China and one passive Jazz, handcrafted in Philippines.
Hollowbody J has been purchased 2nd hand through Ishibashi U-box. Natural color, transparent pickguard, rosewood fingerboard, finish and playability are flawless. Preamp is crappy IMHO (I may be partial, since I like passive instruments).
Passive J has been purchased nedirect from Japan, candy apple red, maple fretboard. Excellent Pups it has needed a little fret finishing. Though transportation cost is high (moe or less 150 $), these are cost effective instruments. I will eventually buy a Japanese instrument second hand through Ishibashi U-box since they have proved to be very good. I will stick to passive electronics.

 

[AngelCrusher]

It's MIJ for me. Mine has become my numero uno!

Awesome Bass, you will rarely see a Fender that looks this nice.

Why can't Fender make them this beautiful?

I said the same thing. There is a recent thread with some stained Fenders in limited colors and they look pretty cool, but I still question if they have level of craftsmanship that Bacchus Handmade ones have.

Long term fan of Bacchus here. I can only echo what Frank says, they're the business. Keep an eye on Ishibashi's second hand section, plenty of bargains can be picked up there, especially the Handmade MIJ stuff which is priced so nicely, you'd be crazy to go with anything else.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

And in time-honoured Talkbass fashion, here are some pics of my crew. All are handmade MIJ, the first two I got second hand from the u-box. Ishibashi are very good to deal with and anything I bought from them has been in better condition than their description.

02 Standard 5

TwentyFour

Woodline P Classic

Nice, I have one coming over soon like your first one. It is the 6 string version, so it has big singles. How are you liking the neck on that thing? Ebony on a jazz bass is just genius.


To address the OP, I think the way to go is the handmade MIJ version of Bacchus. I have not played the Philippine versions, but they are probably not at the same level of quality. The handmade series have insane detail. Just check out the wiring on them for example. It is the cleanest I have seen. They use all high end parts, custom pickups..etc. Really take the modern jazz bass concept to another level in terms of tone.

Ill let Doctor J comment more, as he owns 3. I will say that I have been dealing with Danny Stewart and he has been great so far. He also gives great youtube reviews of all the basses and is a great player, so you can really hear the versatility of each model.

 

[Whippet]

I have a Bacchus TF 5 string Philippine model in my arsenal. It's fine. Was only 270 bucks with active. Plekked it and shaved some frets here and there, then got it tuned up. I carry this around when it's snowing or raining and I don't care if I land on my ass from slipping, or if the thing gets wet.

Out of the box it played fine. Better than some high end stuff which I won't mention. But a tuning done by a professional gave it life.

Pros. Cheap. Light. Well made. Decent tones. Plays like a Fender. Heck even the action and truss rod are similar. This is my throw away bass. No real love for this one but that is probably because I play this the least amount of time. If this were the only bass, I'd end up loving it. Love the one you're with kinda thing, in a good way. She may not be the prettiest, smartest, most loving, or most anything but she makes it up because she's an easy one to pick up. No she's not a whore but let's call her a casual girl.

Cons. Well..... not too many. There is one thing that does bother me. For some reason the tone starts to change as I crank up the amp. If I play on a 5- 20 watt amp, the tone stays the same across the board, from quiet to loud. After 250 watts it becomes quite noticeable. When I plug this into my Puma 900, it doesn't sound as good as it used to sound as I turn up the volume on the bass. You could say it's fragmented. But hey, I've heard custom bass costing 10 times more that sound fragmented too so I guess it was the luck of the draw.