Yeah, if I still had it, I wouldn't sell it now. It was mainly the neck width/profile that I didn't like, but I could live with it.
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Looking for Epiphone Jack Cassidy soundalike.
- Thread starter Evildrwallace
- Start date
Not many basses around where I live now (the rural West coast of Ireland) but maybe I should buy another cheap Jazz-alike (it's the slim neck I'm after) and experiment with a P pickup up by the neck and different strings.
@B-Mac
The main thing that bothered me was the neck profile and width - I like a slender neck, despite having fairly large hands. I can live with the body thickness (check out my profile pic!) and I know there are ways of countering the neck dive, such as moving the strap pin, which I didn't do on my JC as I had an inkling I would be selling it on.
Makes sense and I hadn't noticed that you were in the UK. If you Google "Fender Bass Special" you're likely to find a number of basses with a 1.5" nut and a P-pickup in the neck position. G&L Tribute also offers economical basses with 1.5" nuts and hum-canceling neck pickups.
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Basvarken
Commercial User
- Dec 3, 2010
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Believe it or not, but the original of the JCS, the Les Paul Signature was intended to compete with the P-bass. And Les Paul and Gibson really got part of that goal right: soundwise they are very much alike.
Actually no longer UK, (I've just updated my profile), we moved to the Republic of Ireland a year ago, so I've swapped the Thames for the wild Atlantic ocean. More sheep, fewer basses!
I'd also suggest, if you have the chance, to play one of these if at all possible. Past JC owners appear to really like these. Guild Starfire I. @FlyingPigSound has one and used to own a JC Sig.
+1
Slimmer neck? Check (short scale)
Smaller body? Check
Less neck dive? Check
Similar tone? Check (not the same but close enough...)
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Hmmm, necks on Semi-hollow/Hollow tend to be thicker than slab o’wood basses. That ergonomic issue may be hard to get around? I think the Guild Starfire I is still worth checking out.
This has been my observation too. Casadys sound very much like a P Bass. Exact, no. But in a mix, super close.
Has anyone measured to see if the pickup placement on a Casady is the same as a split coil PBass? I suspect it is.
Put a pickup in that spot on a 34" scale bass, and you'll get that sound.
I own a Casady and I love it! IMHO and IME, the 50 setting on the dial sounds very similar to a P Bass. The other 2 settings are hot and hotter.
Get a P Bass with a 12 K ohm pickup. Pretty darn close!
Get a P Bass with a 12 K ohm pickup. Pretty darn close!
In my experience with a number of Ps, a JC, and lots of sessions for lots of people, the "semi-hollowness" is a definite part of the recorded sound that you can't get with a P. I can EQ a P to sound similar, but I can't put the resonance in. FWIW, I also have a full hollow-body and I play upright; the resonance of the JC is closer to the full hollow-body than it is to any solid body I own. To my ears, that's a big part of the "magic" of the JC.
I believe that the JC has a similar (not quite the same, but similar) sustained tone to a P, but not the attack. Much darker, more compressed, with more "throat". And more even. It can't really nail the P tone, it either sits more forward or backward in the mix depending on the band's sound (it growls! But it doesn't "propel", if you get what I mean). The Guild Starfire I (which I have) on the other hand sounds much more like a P (or a Mustang, for that matter).
I find the Casady more authoritative in a dense mix, and a bit more subdued if you give it space, oddly enough. It doesn't do funk, like, at all.
I find the Casady more authoritative in a dense mix, and a bit more subdued if you give it space, oddly enough. It doesn't do funk, like, at all.
Jack had a P bass phase, too. I saw him probably a dozen times in the early 80's with this P - SF made by Stars Guitars with Modulus neck:
Note the thumb pick!
And it would/could sound something like this. Jack with his Jazz with P pick up...
Here's a non-traditional semi-hollow body bass some people aren't familiar with...not a big body, no sharp edges but different pickups and electronics. GHS black tapewounds.
I like my Jack Casady bass, but this one's my favorite...yes, including my two USA-made L2000s.
I like my Jack Casady bass, but this one's my favorite...yes, including my two USA-made L2000s.
On your side of the pond... I'd check out a used Chowney and see if that gets close to what you're looking for. Or perhaps a Harley Benton Hollowbody... I dont see many of those so I'm speculating that they're close based on what I've read. But yeah if you're handy you could find a donor bass for cheap on the marketplace and put in your electronics. Do it on a shorter scale like a bronco and it'll sound a bit different, but be very easy to play. Broncos are usually cheap, so there's more than a few FrankenBroncos around. Good luck!
Here's a non-traditional semi-hollow body bass some people aren't familiar with...not a big body, no sharp edges but different pickups and electronics. GHS black tapewounds.
I like my Jack Casady bass, but this one's my favorite...yes, including my two USA-made L2000s.
Is the internal construction much different on these than the Ampeg originals? On those, the hollow area was pretty negligible (essentially the controls - similar to that on a t-bird but front routed vs rear - and a small corresponding area on the E string side) - not much more than a "smuggler" Tele.
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