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NBD: Wilkins 'Cayenne' (Roasted) PJ5

G On Bass

G On Bass

Dec 31, 2007
7,671
4,463
Ventura County, CA
#1
I was fortunate enough, via months of trading and selling off basses that aren't getting played, to finally snag the bass I have wanted since Pat first showed me his prototypes as unfinished bodies and necks.

Specs:

Roasted Body - Pearl White Satin finish
Fingerboard - Dark Roasted Flamed Maple - Natural Satin Finish
Neck - Quarter Sawn Honey Roasted Flamed Maple - Natural Satin Finish
34" Scale, 10" Radius
Nut Width 1.75
Frets 6230
Nordstrand NP5
Nordstrand J5
Sadowsky Preamp
Hipshot Ultralite tuners
Hipshot Vintage C bridge, 18.5mm
7.8 pounds

This is a perfect companion to my chambered Wilkins Roadtested/ancient-wood-neck PJ5 that has been my main player since buying that one a couple of years back. Somehow I seem to end up with his NAMM basses. No complaints....

Full review to follow once I get to play it at a rehearsal through my own rig. Lovin' it at home.

Pics:
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#3
In the words of "THE TUBES"

"She's a beauty....

A one in a million girl..."

Pat continues his righteous pilgrimage....

"it's tied and Wilkins has the ball at half court - time is running out - he dribbles he shoots -

HE SCORES!"

Wilkins scores again - nearly from half court to win the game!
 
Last edited:
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#10
BassHappy said:
In the words of "THE TUBES"

"She's a beauty....

A one in a million girl..."

Pat continues his righteous pilgrimage....

"it's tied and Wilkins has the ball at half court - time is running out - he dribbles he shoots -

HE SCORES!"

Wilkins scores again - nearly from half court to win the game!
Click to expand...
Hehe - The Tubes - I thought you were going to trot out "White Punks On Dope" there for a sec! :thumbsup:
 
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#11
Baird6869 said:
Amazing looking bass. The neck is amazing.

I have seen the question asked "why roast the body if it is being painted?", but haven't seen it answered. Is it to dry the wood further? Any other reason?
Click to expand...
Certainly makes it lighter, getting all the water out, likely changes the tone?
I've been wondering myself, actually, I wish the Wilkins site or someplace offered a writeup on it.
 
#13
Thanks, everyone!

Baird6869 said:
Amazing looking bass. The neck is amazing.

I have seen the question asked "why roast the body if it is being painted?", but haven't seen it answered. Is it to dry the wood further? Any other reason?
Click to expand...

My understanding of the process is that, as others mentioned, it removes moisture and therefore weight and helps 'open up' the wood. The cosmetic beauty is just a wonderful by-product of the process. Maybe Pat will chime in with a more in-depth explanation.
 
#14
G On Bass said:
My understanding of the process is that, as others mentioned, it removes moisture and therefore weight and helps 'open up' the wood. The cosmetic beauty is just a wonderful by-product of the process. Maybe Pat will chime in with a more in-depth explanation.
Click to expand...
Thx.

The neck I get even if it adds zero tonal value as it looks incredible. Be interested in hearing about the body once painted.

In any case, I am a huge fan of Pat's work and still can't get over the finish he did on a bass I recieved last week. Just incredible stuff.

Congrats again! Amazing bass.
 
#15
The neck is indeed just stunning in appearance if I do say so myself. But what drew me back to Pat for another bass is the ergonomics/comfort. As I've said ad nauseum elsewhere, his basses just seem to disappear when I hold them, as if they are a natural part of everything. It's hard to explain but it's a weird thing I've not experienced elsewhere. It doesn't hurt that they also sound amazing.
 
#17
Very nice
Must be tight sounding with just about no scoop going in with that pickup placmemt.

I have Valenti basses with tighter pickup placement and loved it.
 
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#19
G On Bass said:
The neck is indeed just stunning in appearance if I do say so myself. But what drew me back to Pat for another bass is the ergonomics/comfort. As I've said ad nauseum elsewhere, his basses just seem to disappear when I hold them, as if they are a natural part of everything. It's hard to explain but it's a weird thing I've not experienced elsewhere. It doesn't hurt that they also sound amazing.
Click to expand...

at 7.8 lbs - it's understandable how it can feel so stealthy :thumbsup:
 
#20
Hi everyone. Thanks for all the posts about this white PJ5 bass that G now owns. There have been several questions regarding the roasting. Questions about why I'm putting colors on them too. Let me say that what I will say here is what I've been told by a couple of people that do the wood roasting and certainly not because I know anything at all about what happens when the wood is baked. Everything in theory makes great sense and in practical application I've found that it does work as it's been explained to me. First, when wood is baked/roasted it removes most of if not all of the moisture from the cells of the wood. That leaves each cell completely open and able to freely resonate. Multiply that several thousand times and now you've got a piece of wood that is resonating on a completely different level than anything you've ever experienced before. The result is extremely good in my opinion. I've found that the lows are clearer and deeper, the mids are more present and the high end has a nice warmth to it. Now again imagine all the cells being free of moisture and completely open. Without the moisture in these thousands of cells it stands to reason that the wood has to be lighter and significantly lighter. I've found that to be quite true as well. When the wood is roasted, as the moisture leaves the wood, it starts a process of carmelization, almost as if you put onions in a frying pan, add butter and cook it down. The wood becomes darker in color and the carmelizing process gets in to the fibers of the wood and strengthens it. I haven't had a neck twist or go bad since I've started using roasted wood. We've had some pretty extreme temperature changes this year and every neck that's out there is still working just as I set it up here at the shop. That in itself is pretty amazing. As far as why I'm doing painted finishes on them, I recognize that not everybody wants a natural wood (think hippie sandwich) bass. I personally love the look of natural roasted wood and my 2 main players are natural. The finishes that I put on my RoadTested bass are matte finishes and are extremely thin, almost nitrocellulose thin. A painted surface is really no different than a natural surface. There's just a coat of color before the matte clear goes on. Sonically there's no difference at all in my opinion. Since the gloss finish I use has been developed for musical instruments I've done a couple of gloss finished basses and the light brown sunburst, gloss finish bass was the first bass that was sold at Namm this year. Everyone said that was the best bass I brought to the show. I hope this begins to explain to you all why I'm so excited about roasting my wood before I build a bass and opens a dialogue that is constructive and informative.
 
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