For months I looked on the Jackson forum and on this forum et al for some reviews and info on the ultra-affordable Jackson JS3Q Kelly Bird bass, a T-bird-style bass. I couldn't find any, but I finally gave in to temptation and bought one online. I thought I'd give a short critique for anyone else interested. This body shape (T-bird) has always intrigued me, but of course, it comes with the requisite neck dive. I've seen some ways to combat that published online, including moving the strap button to the bottom horn, which stretches closer to the head. However, that seems like it would create the new problem of the bass trying to pull away from your body. I'm still searching for a solution. Any ideas would be welcomed.
The bass is well built and weighs in at about 9 lbs., 2 ozs. If it were balanced better, that would be fairly comfortable. The body is said to be poplar with a maple veneer top. the neck is maple with an amaranth fretboard. My biggest concern was the pickups, and while they're not great, they're usable due to the active 3-band preamp. They are muddy, weak passive pickups. To get a good sound out of them, I've had to boost the mids and treble all the way up and cut the bass down to -3. That should give you some kind of idea how muddy they are. I'm toying with the idea of replacing them, but a new set of pickups would cost nearly as much as the bass. "Dear Santa..."
The controls surprised me. They were said to be V - V - active bass - active mids - active treble. However, it actually has a master volume and a blend control that works better than many others I've had. I like it better than the dual volume controls. To me, that's a big plus.
The build of the bass is good at the price point. The bridge is a High Mass Jackson bridge. I've had no issues with it so far. There is a bit of fret sprout on the neck which will have to be addressed at some point, but it's not bad enough to need immediate attention. The ultralite tuners are all good. Shockingly, the head is actually glued to the bolt-on neck. That's a little spooky, but it is a flawless fit, so I'm OK with that so far. The bass arrived pretty well set up and plays well. It's a compound radius neck going from 12" to 16", a crazy feature at this price point. The neck is fat, so if you're a "skinny neck player," this bass is not for you. I played a 1970 Fender P-bass for many years, so fat necks don't bother me, but the feel of the neck with the compound radius will take a little getting used to.
The biggest problem with this bass was the strings. They're roundwounds of some sort (not the D'Addario XL 170s that are on so many new basses). They're very rough, and much of the muddy sound was due to them. I was ready to buy a new set of pickups but wanted to try different strings first. I installed a new set of strings I was familiar with and, while the pickups are still muddy, the bass can be made to sound good with the controls as described above. At least for the moment, the new pickup purchase is on hold.
I apologize I have no pics yet. I'll post some soon. It's a beautiful bass--redburst. I'd rate this bass around 3.5 stars, with a lean towards 4-stars. At the price, it's a very good deal.
