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Fender Reggie Hamilton Custom shop PJ5

Rocksolid

Rocksolid

Mar 19, 2008
3,893
6,517
Adelaide, South Australia
#1
Well I received mine a few weeks ago after getting lucky finding one second hand in Pennsylvania by accident - I was following a link to a Valenti and there it was in all it's glory!

Thanks to all who gave there input on my original thread about PJ5's: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=573048

RHCSPJ5-Blktort2.jpg


This Bass to me looks absolutely amazing and the Tonal variation and feel/action is spectacular. It is quite light - 9.4lbs - and it feels only marginally heavier than 64 CS NOS Jazz.

The Preamp is quiet and very powerful - less is certainly more when dialing in changes. I love the sound of my P bass with frahlins in it and this bass has an amazing P bass sound, not as mid aggressive as my P bass but that can be easily dialled in if wanted . The Nordy J single coil at the bridge is quiet when solo'd and has the punchy Jaco type sound we all expect from a bridge Pup solo'd on a J bass. With the Blend knob centred it sounds like a J Bass on streroids! A J bass sound with a heap of extra girth.

The B string plays very well and sits tonally with the rest of bass - i was worried about this as we all know this can be a weakness of 5 string Fenders. It has an extender key on the B string which I don't think I will ever use - I would rather it on the E string. At some stage I may try swapping them to see if there is enough clearance for the extender to function properly in that position.

In passive mode the Bass gives faithful representations of a P and J bass. The P bass tone in passive is better than in active but the signal isn't quite as hot.

The action is low and fast, a dream to play. The neck profile feels like my J bass but wider - almost like the rad in the centre back of the neck had been stretched 12mm or so.

Just wanted to give you all a review on this bass as there is very little info about these on TB (believe me - I looked hard!!) as they are not that common.

Really struggling to take any other basses out the door to gigs. Taking this and my EBMM SR4 to a gig covers just about any tonal requirement I have!

Cheers!
 
#4
Great bass you have. I own a Reggie Hamilton Standard 4. There is very little info/love on Talkbass about the Reggie Hamilton models.

It's a Super P and a Super J in one bass. IMHO it is one of Fender's top signature bass models and one of the best playing, sounding and versatile basses they make.

It's my favorite slap/funk bass ( I own a Geddy and a Modulus jazz), but it can do so much more...... :)
 
#12
Rocksolid said:
The B string plays very well and sits tonally with the rest of bass - i was worried about this as we all know this can be a weakness of 5 string Fenders. It has an extender key on the B string which I don't think I will ever use - I would rather it on the E string. At some stage I may try swapping them to see if there is enough clearance for the extender to function properly in that position.
Click to expand...


Have you considered stringing it with a high C and keeping the hipshot in place but just stringing it with an E? I own the 4 string version of the RH P/J and I always thought the crisp high end of the bass and great pre-amp would sound great with a high C.

Might not be your thing but it's food for thought.
 
#14
Yeah, I hear ya - that bass is BEAUTIFUL - I've got that exact bass, and it sounds GREAT! It is by far my favorite bass!

I think the sound of the Reggies is the best of both worlds (P and J). Great tonal variety.

Congrats on a great instrument!
 
#17
Just got one of these via ebay - only have had a chance to play it for a few hours at home, but am mightily impressed...gotta get some familiar strings on it and a set-up, but can already see that this is one of those rare instruments that can practically do it all. But even with all of those controls at flat or midpoint, the real deal is the tone off of the wood of the bass. Wow.
 
#18
I have one of these & I love it! The range of sound, the active/passive switch, it's solid, with a great neck - I love it - and how I got it is Great story too - I was looking around for one, but they cost too much, so I found a used one at GC in Cincy (the only one I've ever seen!) It was made in April 10' & I bought it in May 10' still with the plastic on the PG. Turns out some guy had ordered it, wasn't happy, & traded it in on another bass! I checked it out, loved it - but didn't qualify for the same as cash so I walked away. A few weeks later I didn't see it on their website, so I called - turns out they were holding it for me! Weird, I took it as a sign & rushed down & got it - and have never regretted it - One minor issues is that I don't like the pearl white pickguard, which I'm hoping to change.
 
#19
Two questions about the V model that the OP mentioned:

1. I have researched this bass and can't find hardly any info on the thickness of the neck. It sounds like the OP said that it's a little chunkier/thicker front to back than a jazz neck. Did I read that correctly? I don't like chunky necks, but might consider one that was little thicker but not too thick.

I once owned a 97 Fender P bass deluxe 4 string, and the neck was too chunky for me.

2. What do you think is a fair price for a nice/excellent condition one of these?
 
#20
I've owned a Reggie CS 5 and the neck is fantastic. It is not any thicker than the 2012 Jazz Deluxe V and it is satiny smooth. Two things that I didn't like about that bass was the weight (around 11+ lbs) and the sound. In passive mode, it had a weak output and lacked punch. The P pickup sounded decent though, but the J pickup lacked the bite and growl. In active mode, it was noisy, and the mids and treble were too much, not to mention the boomy bass. I think Fender fixed all of these issues with the 2010 and even moreso on the 2012 Deluxe Jazzes, which IMO, are a better bet than the older design of the CS Reggie's.

A good price for a used CS Reggie would probably be in the $1900-2200 range.
 

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