So I got this bass last week and have been putting it to work at home, at a gig, and a practice. I always feel I can tell if I don’t like a bass in 5 minutes but I can’t tell how much I like a bass until I really get to know it for a few months so maybe I will give a review update after a while. A NBD review is bound to be a little overly positive so I am doing my best not to throw to much hype at this thing.
This was a 2019 NAMM bass. I have not seen very many if any other Hadrien Feraud model 4 strings (only the 5 string version). Probably because the 5 string is what he plays.
Fit and finish
What can I say it is perfect. Neck pocket is tight. Finish is dead on. Wood choice seems great. Body is nicely contoured. Frets are well rounded no sharp ends. There is no buzz anywhere. It can get low action (even though I go for more like medium.) A few nice details like the Luminlay side dots and between pickup ramp. It is equal to the sadowsky and FBasses I have owned as far as fit and finish and better the a number of other high end basses. So not much to say other then this is a high quality bass up there with the best.
Things some players might not like
I don’t love plastic battery compartments. I have had them on an Fbass as well as a music man and I am not a big fan. The ones (2 9v) on this bass are a bit hard to open. Probably they will loosen up over time.
The control layout. It makes palm muting a little cramped as my pinky rests against the top row of knobs using this technique. Also the knob layout is not totally intuitive. (Volume, Treble, mid top row, blend, bass bottom row.) I am use to it now and it did not take that long to learn it, but it is not as intuitive as the standard jabba layout or most others.
Feel
The 18mm spacing plus the very flat 20" radius makes this bass a very fast player. The neck is I would say normal C shape jazz feel to it. Not super skinny front to back, full feeling, but not big.
All 24 frets are easily accessible and the heal contour is very well done.
Weight
8.1 pounds. Very light and easy to play for hours.
Tone
I would say on the modern side of jazz basses for sure. Very full, solid sounding. Strong attack to the note, which maybe due to the poll pieces. The preamp is very usable and versatile. The bass control on the preamp is a little aguilar (OBP-3) like in that it is great in small doses but it to my ears seems tuned low so I probably won’t go past 10-20% boost due to it getting to be to much after that.
The string tension feels a small bit stiffer then usual. I wonder if the 34.25 scale adds a small bit of extra tension. I don’t notice the scale length change from 34 other then maybe that. String choice will make a more noticeable factor in tension anyway but worth noting.
Case
This model comes with a high quality hard case that is much smaller than most. I always use a gig bag so not much use for it.
Overall, I am very impressed by Mayones. This will not be my last. It is nicer then some very high end instruments I have had and on par with the others that get to that cut off point of not better or worse just different. I really appreciate the modern choices of neck dimensions, full access to upper frets, luminlay, between pickup ramp, hipshot tuners, etc. Every little detail is well thought out.
Here are some dealer glamour shots of the actual bass and one photo from me.
This was a 2019 NAMM bass. I have not seen very many if any other Hadrien Feraud model 4 strings (only the 5 string version). Probably because the 5 string is what he plays.
Fit and finish
What can I say it is perfect. Neck pocket is tight. Finish is dead on. Wood choice seems great. Body is nicely contoured. Frets are well rounded no sharp ends. There is no buzz anywhere. It can get low action (even though I go for more like medium.) A few nice details like the Luminlay side dots and between pickup ramp. It is equal to the sadowsky and FBasses I have owned as far as fit and finish and better the a number of other high end basses. So not much to say other then this is a high quality bass up there with the best.
Things some players might not like
I don’t love plastic battery compartments. I have had them on an Fbass as well as a music man and I am not a big fan. The ones (2 9v) on this bass are a bit hard to open. Probably they will loosen up over time.
The control layout. It makes palm muting a little cramped as my pinky rests against the top row of knobs using this technique. Also the knob layout is not totally intuitive. (Volume, Treble, mid top row, blend, bass bottom row.) I am use to it now and it did not take that long to learn it, but it is not as intuitive as the standard jabba layout or most others.
Feel
The 18mm spacing plus the very flat 20" radius makes this bass a very fast player. The neck is I would say normal C shape jazz feel to it. Not super skinny front to back, full feeling, but not big.
All 24 frets are easily accessible and the heal contour is very well done.
Weight
8.1 pounds. Very light and easy to play for hours.
Tone
I would say on the modern side of jazz basses for sure. Very full, solid sounding. Strong attack to the note, which maybe due to the poll pieces. The preamp is very usable and versatile. The bass control on the preamp is a little aguilar (OBP-3) like in that it is great in small doses but it to my ears seems tuned low so I probably won’t go past 10-20% boost due to it getting to be to much after that.
The string tension feels a small bit stiffer then usual. I wonder if the 34.25 scale adds a small bit of extra tension. I don’t notice the scale length change from 34 other then maybe that. String choice will make a more noticeable factor in tension anyway but worth noting.
Case
This model comes with a high quality hard case that is much smaller than most. I always use a gig bag so not much use for it.
Overall, I am very impressed by Mayones. This will not be my last. It is nicer then some very high end instruments I have had and on par with the others that get to that cut off point of not better or worse just different. I really appreciate the modern choices of neck dimensions, full access to upper frets, luminlay, between pickup ramp, hipshot tuners, etc. Every little detail is well thought out.
Here are some dealer glamour shots of the actual bass and one photo from me.
