New Ashdown bass guitars

[Johnny Alien]

My first DL Jazz had Lindy Fralins in it and it was light, the second Jazz was light also with the stock pickups they were actually nice sounding pups, my Lakland Skyline D Dunn has Geezer pups which I installed, I get it, the stock pups were to modern sounding for me I immediately installed the Geezers, it’s a killer bass but it is slightly heavier than the Lakins but still under 10 lbs. the necks are the same oil finish as the Ashdowns! I really can’t justify having another bass as I have 3 now 2 are Pbasses but that Ashdown Pbass in gold is killing me as is the black Jazz!!

Are you saying the Skylines have an oil finish? If so that is not the case. They have a satin poly finish. Those Geezer pickups are killer!

 

[Drummerboy2]

I didn't have quality issues with any Skylines. I apologize for making statements that sounded like that. I will say I think the quality on the Lakin and Ashdowns are better though. They are much closer to the USA Laklands than the Skylines are. The Skylines are setup in the USA but are PLEK'd and do not have the hand finished frets like the USA line. PLEKs are nice but I will give it to the USA techs at Lakland every day of the week over a PLEK. As @Kukulkan61 pointed out the necks are flatsawn vs quartersawn and the USA have graphite in the necks and the Skylines don't (4 strings only the 5 string Skylines do have graphite). Beyond that Skylines are generally much heavier and don't have the same specs as the USA line as far as body wood. For the Jazz and P basses the imports use the modern Lakland pickups while the USA versions use the vintage voiced pickups.

Oh ok. Yeah hand crafted is always better. But sure you can have a good bass tech/luthier do the same to the Skyline. My 55-02 Skyline Deluxe has Swamp Ash body with a Flamed maple top. I will have to weigh it to see how much it actually weighs. Mine is a 5 string so I have the Graphite in the neck. I love that bass the way it plays and sounds!

 

[JamesRogers]

Really poor quality.
Broken, razorsharp nut.
Scratches on the neck.
Cheap fingerboard wood.
Glue all over the fretboard.
999€???
A Squier is 10 times better built

 

[Christcr]

I'm interested in their short scale J-bass... but it's like looking for a unicorn. Pretty hard to find a dealer. And unfortunately, for an ACTUAL short scale Jazz Bass (with two single coil Jazz Bass pickups and looks like a Jazz Bass), there is almost no choice at all. There is the SX J-bass, but that's a bit too budget for me and I hate the headstock shape (unless they've changed it again). There is the Atelier "Mustang bass" with JJ pickups--they are a little hard to find and don't look like a J-bass. And then there is Warmoth--they do a JJ, so that's a possibility. Then I found reference to the Ashdown Grail SS "Jazz Bass," but it seems it's impossible to find one. Plus there is no review or video anywhere that I can find of the short scale. Too bad nobody wants to make JJ shorts scales. Plenty of PJ, but no JJ. Oh well.

Here is a review that will answer some of the questions about quality, etc:

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[fhm555]

Good for them. But let's wait a while and see how they show up. Since they are clearly private labeled are they worth it? They look OK but wouldn't run to a mystery maker instead of a known brand.
I'm not saying "pick a lane" either. Let's see how they do. But I'm also surprised that a niche sorta boutique player wouldn't go a little higher-end for basses. Because they have a well-respected and sought after brand in their amp/cab and electronics lines.
Kind of like if Mesa or Aguilar got into the guitar biz. Would they be good? Same answer, depends who actually makes them.

I’m wondering if the short scale Grail uses standard Fender J pickup dimensions.