• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

TBC - The Bass Company

Gus Borden

Gus Borden

Oct 21, 2007
2,727
26
Bergen County, New Jersey
#1
I am on the fence about picking up a TBC bass, they definitely seem cool, I've spoken to Jake, he's a nice guy.

My question, for all of you who own or have owned a TBC bass - I know he uses proprietary pickups/preamp in his basses - what would you compare them to, how are they?

Does anyone have any recordings of them?

I'm not sure if I'd go with the stock electronics or go for some modding.

Thanks, Gus
 
#2
I had a 4-string TBC AP-400, thought it was great - not for me, but great. MM style pickup & placement.
:EDIT: Looking at the pic, it seems the pup is a little farther from the bridge than a MM. :shrug:

Light weight, good fit & finish, easy playability.

For me, the tone was too modern. I wanted it to sound like an old 'Ray, and it sounded very modern - clean, good lows, but no "guts" - all IMO and YMMV, yadda yadda.

Outdoors029.jpg
 
#4
i saw a used one of these but 5 string at guitar center & wanted it desperately. it didn't last the trip home to get a gig bag & get back to the store. less than 30 minutes later it was gone.
 
#6
gus1894 said:
Thanks guys. I may change out the pups but I am really tempted now. jnuts, he has the motherload on ebay right now...TBC on ebay
This is what spawned my interest...
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's been about a year since Jack built a batch of basses. Evidently he's been busy doing other stuff.

One thing about the MusicMan style pickups on these - they are quite punchy. I think that's a good thing, as that's the sound I wanted from mine. Jack makes probably the most affordable quality 5 strings with 19 mm string spacing, as well. And he makes them himself.
 
#8
I don't have one. There have been several threads on these basses over the last year and the people who have them seem to really like them. I keep going back and forth deciding if I should get one or not.
 
#9
pica said:
I don't have one. There have been several threads on these basses over the last year and the people who have them seem to really like them. I keep going back and forth deciding if I should get one or not.
Click to expand...

Well, it's weird, in that there have actually been several incarnations of TBC over the last 15 years, and the quality has been up and down, usually down when each new incarnation is starting up. So you'll find mixed opinions of these basses if you look around long enough, even in the TBC club thread. The good news is that TBC is in a stable and up phase now, just not as high volume as they used to be.
 
#10
Spoke to him the other say, seems like a genuine kind of guy. Pretty sure that its basically him now. He mentioned to me that he's been doing a lot of custom work, which had kept him away from the "stock" models. I am contemplating a 5-string, they are 19mm. They are only 22 fret necks, but he said he could do a 24 fret neck for me.
I'm leaning towards pulling the trigger on an "MM" style bass from him. I keep wavering b/c I'm paranoid about the fact that I have yet to play one so its a leap of faith. There is one in his eBay store that has a "chocolate burst" finish, so of course I'm also torn between that and a natural finish. I will have to decide soon.
 
#12
My AP500M is a China-built bass and I really like the bass. A far better player than I am played it and described it a "a Stingray with jazz sound."

Never played a Stingray, so I can't really say how it compares, but it sure has a snap and snarl to it.

DSCF5921-1-1.jpg
 
#14
Hmmm...as you can see from the picture above, I like natural finish, but I also have some with burst finishes.

That choco-burst is pretty nice. I'd probably go for it.

Consider it this way...either one is a beautiful finish and there aren't a ton of them out there. The chocolate finish will be the more rare of the already reasonably rare. Very few bass players, not familiar with TB, have ever heard of TBC basses. I get a lot of blank looks when I bring them up to non-TB'ers.

Rare v. really rare?
 
#17
I need to give mine a fret job in the winter. House is dry enough that there is a little fret sprout.

I can get the action very low on mine, but keep in mind that I have one of the older ones. If Jack is making them to the same standard, fretwork is not a problem.

There seems to be little complaint about that issue in the longer threads on these basses.

I've been playing mine a lot lately and really loving the sound. No fret sprout so far this winter.
 
#18
I think that the wood alone was worth the $300 that I paid at the time for a TBC jazz 4 string (about 3-4 years ago). However, I found the pick ups and electronics to be brash and not very articulate. You have to make some kind of compromise at that price point. I ended up changing the pickups, preamps and nut. That made it a very nice instrument, my main bass guitar (which gives me a reason to change the bridge & tuners as well - they are very handsome and they basically do their job; however, I don't think they are all that good either).

Like I said, for the wood alone. A good neck, and a very nice swamp ash body (very musical).
 
#19
Does anybody on TB have a JT500-SS or JT500-JJ? I'm looking for a solid modding platform: 34" scale, 5 string, good B, 19mm, thin neck front/back, but with soapbar pickups. THAT IS HARD TO FIND!! I'm not trying to spend an arm and a leg but will spend what is necessary for a quality instrument. These basses look like the ticket.
 
#20
I have a jt500 jj that Is supposed to arrive tomorrow ,I can let you know my thoughts on it.I will be posting a review.I don't know the size of the pickups yet ,but that might be something. I will mod but not sure yet. I have heard the j style pickups have a nice growl to them, and Jake will do a custom j mm configuration if you want .that would be another way to go If you want, the guy is so cool you could probably send him whatever pickups and preamplifier you choose and he would put it in. After I ordered mine I almost called him back to see if I could get a reverse color finish like the body black cherry with a natural pickgaurd . That would be cool...
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back