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Moon Owners Club
- Thread starter gimmeagig
- Start date
I think I hit paydirt. Moral: search in Japanese.
There's not much rhyme or reason to it, but numbers appear to have been assigned based on the pickup selection and the wood. EMGs and Alembic pickups were the "special order" or "premium" versions (as seen in the other pages of this 1985 catalogue I came across, there is a full spread all on Barts and Bill Bartolini).
JJ 165 is Alder or Ash (JJ style) with the standard Bartolinis. This was the main model. From what I can tell, the barts were not initially used with a preamp, and so were passive basses.
JJ 175 is Alder or Ash (JJ style) with EMGs. I guess that's what I own.
JJ 198 is Alder or Ash (JJ style) with Alembics
JJ 208 is Walnut (JJ style) with Alembics
JJ 185 is Walnut (JJ style) with EMGs
And etc...
Looking at the colors on offer, in the JJ and Jaggy130 (Larry Graham) style anyway, there were quite a few:
Black
Cream
Orange Sunburst
Metallic Red
Metallic Blue (yes please)
Burgundy Mist
Pearl White
See-Through Red
Natural
Cool to see Mark King representing for about 5 minutes! That surely didn't last long. I love how the faces were blurred to protect the guilty.
Also note the curious absence of FIVE STRINGS.
There's not much rhyme or reason to it, but numbers appear to have been assigned based on the pickup selection and the wood. EMGs and Alembic pickups were the "special order" or "premium" versions (as seen in the other pages of this 1985 catalogue I came across, there is a full spread all on Barts and Bill Bartolini).
JJ 165 is Alder or Ash (JJ style) with the standard Bartolinis. This was the main model. From what I can tell, the barts were not initially used with a preamp, and so were passive basses.
JJ 175 is Alder or Ash (JJ style) with EMGs. I guess that's what I own.
JJ 198 is Alder or Ash (JJ style) with Alembics
JJ 208 is Walnut (JJ style) with Alembics
JJ 185 is Walnut (JJ style) with EMGs
And etc...
Looking at the colors on offer, in the JJ and Jaggy130 (Larry Graham) style anyway, there were quite a few:
Black
Cream
Orange Sunburst
Metallic Red
Metallic Blue (yes please)
Burgundy Mist
Pearl White
See-Through Red
Natural
Cool to see Mark King representing for about 5 minutes! That surely didn't last long. I love how the faces were blurred to protect the guilty.
Also note the curious absence of FIVE STRINGS.
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@600 Ohms, thanks so much for the catalogue! I am finally able to identify the model of my bass! I bought mine off CL from a guy and he certainly wasn't the first owner.
I have a JB-185 Walnut! As I am not a fan of Barts, I replaced them with Sadowsky Singles and kept the Bart pre. The bass rings like a piano and is used as a back up gig bass. It's too heavy to use the whole night, but I do some times grab it for a set now and them.
Fishheadjoe
I have a JB-185 Walnut! As I am not a fan of Barts, I replaced them with Sadowsky Singles and kept the Bart pre. The bass rings like a piano and is used as a back up gig bass. It's too heavy to use the whole night, but I do some times grab it for a set now and them.
Fishheadjoe
Well, in the gig bag it came with were 50 ft of rope and a boat cleat, if that helps!
Fishheadjoe
Fishheadjoe
So update to my Moon JJ4. Love the bass, but was not crazy about that stock Black Bird preamp. Also that the mid control was a trim pot in the control cavity. So ripped it out and went an Audere Classic preamp. I have used Audere preamps for years and love his stuff. Was a huge improvement plus now I have the mid control at my finger tips!
Hi, I am new to the Moon club! I just bought this 80's JJ-185 walnut with EMG's, all original, this week. Lovely bass, I really like the tone. I have a few questions that you can hopefully answer:
1) from what year until what year did they make the walnut basses with EMG's? is there a way to date this bass?
2) is the nut brass?
3) what's the reason for the slanted neck pickup? I think it would be more logical to slant it the other way (so closer the neck on the G string side instead of the E). My explanation would be that it is to simulate a P pickup.
1) from what year until what year did they make the walnut basses with EMG's? is there a way to date this bass?
2) is the nut brass?
3) what's the reason for the slanted neck pickup? I think it would be more logical to slant it the other way (so closer the neck on the G string side instead of the E). My explanation would be that it is to simulate a P pickup.
My ‘80’s Moon was similar, not walnut (alder in burgundy mist), with EMG’s, passive, gold hardware, 3 controls but no selector switch that I recall. I never knew the exact year, so I’m not much help there.
The nut is definitely brass, having made a few.
I like your theory about the slant, having none of my own. You’re certainly not the first to suggest reversing that orientation; look at all the reverse-P designs out there.
I loved that bass and it sounded incredible. It was one heavy sucker though.
Really nice looking bass. The thing with the EMGs, I thought the treble would be too-gonzo-all-the-time, but a little roll-off goes a really long way. Quickly becoming my favorite pickup.
actually the treble is not harsh at all. With treble full it’s perfect for me. Sometimes even wished it had more treble. What I notice is that when rolling off the treble the volume decreases slightly. Maybe that’s because of the potentiometer? Any ideas?
Here are two soundclips. First one is without any EQ or compression.
In G - Barend Tromp
New Moon (bass only)- Barend Tromp
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I'm looking into purchasing a Moon JB24 bass with a top cavity cut out. I like to know has anyone upgraded their Moon bass with an Aguilar 3-brand preamp with stacked pots?
I've only played a Moon P-bass but I certainly lust over their J-bass versions too. Came super close to getting a Moon '70s style ash/maple Jazz style 4, but ended up getting a Momose (another top-quality MIJ brand) ash/rosewood bass instead.
I am interested in a Moon JB type bass for sale on Reverb for about $700. Most of what's out there are in the thousands so I'm worried that there's something not being communicated about the bass I'm looking at. Are there Moons made in Japan (better ones?) and others sub-contracted out (less $)? Or maybe this is just a really good deal on a Moon?
Yes I've been wondering about the same thing.
Some Moon basses are really expensive and others seem very reasonably priced.
My JB5 bass was built in late 90s and on the back of the neck pocket there's a serial number I think it's like 754 was something like that have it written down somewhere but I can't find it and I don't want to take the neck off. So that definitely seems one that is not mass produced and must be worth more money.
Some Moon basses are really expensive and others seem very reasonably priced.
My JB5 bass was built in late 90s and on the back of the neck pocket there's a serial number I think it's like 754 was something like that have it written down somewhere but I can't find it and I don't want to take the neck off. So that definitely seems one that is not mass produced and must be worth more money.
Moon is not really well-known a name so a deal doesn’t surprise me. …it never has, it’s how I got my 4-string Moon, long ago. If you share pics many of us could help verify it. I’ve never heard of a Moon fake. That wouldn’t be much of a business proposition
.
I think this 80s JJ4 for 960$ is a good deal. But I am not sure of buying from Japan. I have no experience with that. Anyone here has? Moon Moon JJ-4 Trans Red [SN 13348] [06/18] | Reverb The Netherlands
