?
Jeez’
You tellin’ lobster?
‘Cause I never said either/or.
Not sure why you’re tellin’ me?
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Joe Dart II - Question and community challenge
- Thread starter JeremyStingray
- Start date
Jeez’
You tellin’ lobster?
‘Cause I never said either/or.
Not sure why you’re tellin’ me?
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
- 14,723
- 20,970
- Disclosures
- I suck, but nobody really notices
I was just saying it in general.
But, maybe it's just the pickups.
Joe Dart plays with the tone off, so I figured that he'd make his signature basses, without tone controls, with the tone permanently off. Know what I mean?
But, there does seem to be a decent amount of high end to this one.
Whatever. My bad. Disregard.
If you're open to G&Ls I'd definitely give em a try, my #1 is a L2000 Tribute, pretty versatile and very comfortable (IMO).Thank you for this. I am definitely open to a Fender JB, and am curious about G&L's too. Do you mind sharing the type of JB you have and enjoy? Thanks for the relevant response around tone
I've heard good things about their jazz bass too
Just curious, but why wouldn’t you want to see negative responses about the JD II? If I’m looking to buy something, I want to see any & all negatives about the item. I can decide if it’s something I can live with or if the negative response eliminates the item for me.
I don’t know what you’ve seen / read about the JD II, but it would be somewhat of a red flag to me if I was looking at acquiring some piece of gear and “every” thread contained negative responses. It might be worth your time to visit some of those responses and see if there’s something you might be thankful to find out before you and your money are separated.
I was only showing J pickups that would sound different than typical J's. Those pups in the JD 2 would be the same as in the Big Al 4 (or at least the same shape).
I recommend Sandberg. They sound and play amazing throughout their range, and have options for a variety of budgets. They're one of the best bass builders out there, imo.
Great bassist, but both of his signature basses sound bad! Other than you liking Joe Dart why would you buy a bass that doesn’t sound good.Hi all!
I've been interested in the EBMM Joe Dart II. Every thread I read contains negative responses that are not overly helpful to my decision making process.
Me:
Question:
- I am interested in adding a Jazz Bass style bass to my collection.
- My favorite Basses are Ernie Ball Music Man's, due to MM's high quality craftsmanship, playability, and feel.
- I enjoy Joe Dart's style of playing, however I am not a fan of Vulfpeck. For no particular reason, Vulfpeck and Joe Dart's groups have not made it into my playlists.
- I would like a JB that will be generally reliable to use if ever recording for myself and others for various styles that call for a JB.
- I LOVE the Joe Dart II's tone, based off of what I have heard online.
Challenge to the community:
- For those who own the Joe Dart II, and are planning to keep it, what do you like about it? Does it meet my recording criteria?
- I challenge the community to leave zero negative comments, replies, etc
Thanks ahead of time!
My guess is because so many of the comments around the Joe Dart basses are around them being too expensive for what you get, not liking the aesthetics, and/or general criticism around Joe Dart's playing, tone, or Vulfpeck in general.
None of which are helpful for making a buying decision. Maybe if it was legitimate concerns about the bass it'd be different, but obviously i'm not the OP.
OP, just buy it since you want it. Don’t look to TB for validation.
Yep. I have enjoyed the Fearless Flyers albums more than any of Joes other projects. His playing is great. His playing is great. The musicianship is great. He can really move those fingers. His tone?
Nah.
Sorry - I haven't played one.
But - IME - If it's a Bass that I was interested in - (and it seems your are), I'm not really going to know until I try it myself, regardless of "the weight of the TB evidence".
And being a very "niche" instrument and the very small sample size of people who have actually owned one* doesn't help.
You like the sound of the bass, and its feature-set (or lack thereof) isn't an issue to you.
So, to me, the real decision is, how much is it worth to you to try it out?
It's a $3,000 + bass, and looks to be fairly rare.
Are you willing to buy it, and potentially go to the trouble of selling it (and possibly sitting on it for a while) if it doesn't turn out to be what you want...
Personally, I would, but only after doing a little "market research". i.e. follow it on Reverb, etc.
*(a quick search in the classifieds here didn't bring up any results of "Joe Dart 2"....)
But - IME - If it's a Bass that I was interested in - (and it seems your are), I'm not really going to know until I try it myself, regardless of "the weight of the TB evidence".
And being a very "niche" instrument and the very small sample size of people who have actually owned one* doesn't help.
You like the sound of the bass, and its feature-set (or lack thereof) isn't an issue to you.
So, to me, the real decision is, how much is it worth to you to try it out?
It's a $3,000 + bass, and looks to be fairly rare.
Are you willing to buy it, and potentially go to the trouble of selling it (and possibly sitting on it for a while) if it doesn't turn out to be what you want...
Personally, I would, but only after doing a little "market research". i.e. follow it on Reverb, etc.
*(a quick search in the classifieds here didn't bring up any results of "Joe Dart 2"....)
An instrument is such a personal thing. Can you go play one? Nothing like sitting down with a bass for a while to see if it is a good fit tone wise and sound wise. In my experience you can tell pretty quickly.
Since someone mentioned that the Caprice is similar, I have a Caprice and it is killer. Feels great. Sounds great.
Since someone mentioned that the Caprice is similar, I have a Caprice and it is killer. Feels great. Sounds great.
Being to expensive for what you get seems to be fairly legitimate, especially if it comes with a detailed explanation….
I was shocked to see a used Dart (1) at GC so I had to try it. So the wood looked good but not overly exciting. The neck felt good (looked even better), it had a pleasant tone. It pretty much ends the positive comments there. There wasn't anything wrong with it. Except they wanted $2k for it. The final conclusion is it looks like a Joe Dart bass. But it just wasn't exciting enough for me to pull out 2K.....
While there is always going to be some amount of negativity around any bass ("Expensive basses aren't worth it!" "Cheap basses are crap!" "Producers want a P bass!"), I would agree with an earlier poster that the sheer number of negative comments around the JDII, mostly around the weak pickups, should be something to keep in mind when you're thinking about dropping $2,799 on a bass you can't play first. If you're willing to take a risk on it, all good, but asking only for positive opinions seems a bit off.
FTR I love Joe Dart's playing, dig most of his work with Vulf and Fearless Flyers, and saw him with Theo Katzman in a small venue right before COVID, so I'm a fan. And I like having a jazz bass. But I have a G&L jazz bass.
I've not owned any US Fenders (but have played them in stores), but I have owned MIM and MIJ Fender Jazz basses, so I'm familiar if not an expert. I have a USA G&L Jazz bass, and it kills. You can order one from a dealer in any one of 20-30 colors, choose alder or ash for the body, choose the nut width, fretboard material and radius, etc. - for about the same or slightly less as on off the rack Fender. I own three USA G&Ls, and they are all great instruments. Two were ordered and showed up well before the quoted 8-10 weeks, one was bought used.
FTR I love Joe Dart's playing, dig most of his work with Vulf and Fearless Flyers, and saw him with Theo Katzman in a small venue right before COVID, so I'm a fan. And I like having a jazz bass. But I have a G&L jazz bass.
I've not owned any US Fenders (but have played them in stores), but I have owned MIM and MIJ Fender Jazz basses, so I'm familiar if not an expert. I have a USA G&L Jazz bass, and it kills. You can order one from a dealer in any one of 20-30 colors, choose alder or ash for the body, choose the nut width, fretboard material and radius, etc. - for about the same or slightly less as on off the rack Fender. I own three USA G&Ls, and they are all great instruments. Two were ordered and showed up well before the quoted 8-10 weeks, one was bought used.
They sound great to me. Apparently the pickup output level is low, but that seems to be why we have gain knobs on our amp heads.Hi all!
I've been interested in the EBMM Joe Dart II. Every thread I read contains negative responses that are not overly helpful to my decision making process.
Me:
Question:
- I am interested in adding a Jazz Bass style bass to my collection.
- My favorite Basses are Ernie Ball Music Man's, due to MM's high quality craftsmanship, playability, and feel.
- I enjoy Joe Dart's style of playing, however I am not a fan of Vulfpeck. For no particular reason, Vulfpeck and Joe Dart's groups have not made it into my playlists.
- I would like a JB that will be generally reliable to use if ever recording for myself and others for various styles that call for a JB.
- I LOVE the Joe Dart II's tone, based off of what I have heard online.
Challenge to the community:
- For those who own the Joe Dart II, and are planning to keep it, what do you like about it? Does it meet my recording criteria?
- I challenge the community to leave zero negative comments, replies, etc
I like the minimalism, although (and I maybe skating close to the edge on negativity here) the knobs to me look like they are being deliberately silly in a not-really-that-funny way. Which is sort of like Vulfpeck in general, so I see what they are going for. Not my thing though. I assume the pots themselves are fine; I'd probably switch out the knobs for knurled chrome - in fact I have a set right here in my drawer that I'm not using.
I'd play one.
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Agree. It's a polarizing band for sure. I do not like them, but honestly I can't quite nail why. If you were to list the "ingredients" of their sound in any objective way, I'd sign up immediately. Something in the way they deliver it puts me off.
My guess is that discussion about the bass leads to combative discussion about the band and the OP wanted to avoid that.
Is "pure J" what you want now? Because the JD is pretty clearly not that. It looks like a smoking bass bass to me, but if a pure J is what you're after, this won't get you there.
That said, if you want it and like it, buy it and get your Jazz fix elsewhere.
I think there are better options out there for a Jazz Bass tone. If you like the bass, go for it! Personally, I can’t see what makes the JD bass so phenomenal that it would justify the cost.
