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Club Moollon

So I got *lucky* and bought a Classic J5 from a TBer, and we had a nice meetup. It's definitely a very nice bass. The tone is very even all over the neck, and the B is nicely integrated with the rest of the strings. It's bright, but has a vintagey tone. The G string and higher notes in general are nice and thick, something that isn't always true on jazz basses. There's a slight dead spot around the 4th fret on the G string, but I wouldn't hesitate to use that note in a bass line, it still has punch.

I think I'm going to change the strings, it currently has brand new Stainless Dunlops on it, and they seem a bit clean and hifi for my taste. My current favorite strings are the Cobalt rounds. I'd like the bass to sound more aggressive, a bit more P-like in the mids, and I'm hoping the those will do the trick. The neck pickup is already more P-ish than other jazzes I've played, so this bass could give my Nordy P5 a run for the classic/hard rock stuff if it likes the Cobalts.

Here's my current family, I think it fits right in:
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Congrats you have some killer basses. Your tonal findings are in line with mine. The Moollon has such a rich and thick J tone - really like the good ones should and do sound.

I'd strongly suggest trying the Fodera nickels. They accomplish what you are going for tonally. Thick and warm in the mids. When I really want to get aggressive. I turn on my 5TH gear OD pedal barely past 9 o clock and run it through a Tube pre. It's easily the best bass tone I have ever had.
 
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I ordered a set of the Fodera nickels. I'll try both those and the Cobalts on the Moollon and report the results.

Awesome. I am hooked on those darn strings. I used Sunbeams before, which were nice, but I much prefer the Fodera. Let's see what you think.

I agree with @DELACIUS and @AngelCrusher. It's hard to describe the connection/love I have for the Pclassic; my Jclassic V is an extraordinary instrument as well.

Once I get my second pclassic, I'll have the "holy trinity!"

1 P with flats
1 P with rounds
1 JV with rounds

But the moollon GAS won't stop there, I'd like the double P hollow, P5 and a B524!

For now, the Pclassic with flats and Jclassic V are handling the work load!

**the Jclassic is burgundy mist w/ mint pick guard...beautiful color that's hard to capture on camera**

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Sweet, and I agree that be pretty sick. Are you doing a lot of sessions? I am going to get a 4 string P and just swap flats and rounds for a while on it for sessions. I keep looking at other P's but with the Moollon, I know it's going to sound amazing out of the box.
 
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O my..... what a beauty
 
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I saw Esperanza Spalding this week in Melbourne, Australia. What technique! Can anyone tell me more about her Moollon bass? 5 string fretless, one f hole, figured top (maple?), looks like a B524? I guess it was custom made for her? It looks more reddish in this photo. Great looking bass! The guitarist Matthew Stevens was playing a Moollon tele and a strat. She also played a double bass by local luthier Ben Puglisi.
 
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I saw Esperanza Spalding this week in Melbourne, Australia. What technique! Can anyone tell me more about her Moollon bass? 5 string fretless, one f hole, figured top (maple?), looks like a B524? I guess it was custom made for her? It looks more reddish in this photo. Great looking bass! The guitarist Matthew Stevens was playing a Moollon tele and a strat. She also played a double bass by local luthier Ben Puglisi.

This is on Moollon's Instagram page. Probably the one they made her as it looks the same. Looks like they made her 2 fretless 5s, and that one has the F hole.
 
There is a small boutique music store near me that ordered it in. I actually had it on layaway for a while. Its a killer bass. Super responsive and has that 3D quality to the note that isn't super common. The pickguard is cool. I was actually thinking of having a Spitfire faded orange 60's speckled made for it too...
 
Sumit,
They had a P5 prototype at NAMM in Jan. and it was quite good. I like your Nordstrand better, though. Did you get the Moollon J5?
Hey Alan,

I got the J5, and I like it a lot. I do love my Nordstrand, and I certainly haven't found a P5 that sounds or feels anywhere near as good...

There's something I'm looking for that I imagine a really great vintage P would have, a kind of vocal quality to the mids, lots of thickness and brightness and warmth and articulation, aggression but not harshness. It can get deep without boom, and grunt, growl, thump or cut as needed, and sing in the high range. I don't know if that exists, or even if it's possible to have all that in a single instrument. And yet, I was hoping the Moollon might do all that. :)
 
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There's something I'm looking for that I imagine a really great vintage P would have, a kind of vocal quality to the mids, lots of thickness and brightness and warmth and articulation, aggression but not harshness. It can get deep without boom, and grunt, growl, thump or cut as needed, and sing in the high range. I don't know if that exists, or even if it's possible to have all that in a single instrument. And yet, I was hoping the Moollon might do all that. :)

I tend to go for a darker sound with P basses (strung with flatwounds and the tone control almost entirely rolled off), so I think I'm looking for something different than what you described here. I have a stock '65 P, so that is usually my basis for comparison when investigating 5-string P's. The closest one I have found to date was an Alleva Coppolo KBP-5, but the Moollon was not far behind.
 
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If I didn't have my Firemist Classic J V, we'd be talking. Man, it's tough to let go of a 5 string because they are such a must have for me on a lot of R&B/Hip hop sessions..think about it before you sell that beauty!! The Moollon low B sounds like what Leo would have wanted!