Hey guys, this is my review and shout out for an undiscovered, local bass maker by the name of John Toon. Hope you enjoy. Read further for information about him, his instruments. (I'll post links towards the end.)
To start out when entering the home of John Toon, you can just tell this guy really understands bass to the point that he makes it for the bassists. A little bio on John Toon starts out with him being frustrated that good basses had to cost so much money! Thank god someone understands, right? He then just started making his own basses, and they were sooo good started making more and selling some as he went. A truly remarkable 1-man show!
Nonetheless, I'll get to the technical stuff down below, keep readin!! VV
I had the pleasure of sitting down today with a local luthier that specializes in making basses. I played his basses and just melted inside. He makes anything from 4-6 with a "Carl Thompson" vibe to them. In my opinion it's one of the best sounding basses I've set eyes on, played, and felt.
First off the look of his basses aesthetically are superior. All of his wood-working is precise and beautiful. His selections of wood are so well-planned out, I honestly couldn't believe that he himself created something that looks this good. On top of that the play-ability of the neck and the bass itself was INSANE, far better than anything that I've ever played.(For those of you that have seen me lurking around these threads you know I'm 17, but I've played a good share of quality instruments).
I'm a new fan of "set-in" necks. The way he explained it to a noob like me who had never played the set-in neck structure before is that the neck carries the reverberations and vibrations that happen with the strings and the neck all through the body better for a better resonance. After hearing that I fell in love. Sound was superb. (For those of you that have seen me lurking around these threads you know I'm 17, but I've played a good share of quality instruments). It's different than a neck-through some-how, that I'm unsure of but It sounded / looked amazing.
As far as electronics go, I'm sorry to disappoint you electronic fiends out there that want a parametric EQ on your bass, your amp, and then maybe your dog
, because it's plain and simple. You have active EMG electronics with a tone and volume knob, that sounds amazingly quiet, no hum, nothing really fancy pickup-wise. I believe it was an EMG MM style active pickup under the hood of the bad boy, but it could've been their HB model too. EITHER WAY, sounded amazing and got great response. Down on the lows and the mids I got a slight, very sweeeet growl out of the bass that melted me from the inside out. Definitely quality instruments at ROCK BOTTOM prices.
Mainly, the pickups were used as a amplification method just like any other bass, but more than some. The woods really shined through in this bass. Not that the bass sounded "woody" or "clunky" but when playing the 3 or 4 basses he had me try out, the tone varied, all of them beautiful, all unique to their own selves because of the different combinations of wood that he utilized in making the different basses.
BASSICALLY
I don't see why you'd want to pay so much money for a bass that sounds good, so why would you?! I believe his custom work, as well as the basses he has for sale, are lower 1000's and really hover around that area. For this quality of bass from this nice of a guy, with true skill, I don't see why you'd want to have your custom bass built anywhere else, or by anyone else.
Website : [URL="www.toonbass.webs.com[/URL] I'll upload a couple of picks of the bass I'm looking at getting from him just to show you a little more! He has a lot of pics on his website though, check it out!!!
To start out when entering the home of John Toon, you can just tell this guy really understands bass to the point that he makes it for the bassists. A little bio on John Toon starts out with him being frustrated that good basses had to cost so much money! Thank god someone understands, right? He then just started making his own basses, and they were sooo good started making more and selling some as he went. A truly remarkable 1-man show!
Nonetheless, I'll get to the technical stuff down below, keep readin!! VV I had the pleasure of sitting down today with a local luthier that specializes in making basses. I played his basses and just melted inside. He makes anything from 4-6 with a "Carl Thompson" vibe to them. In my opinion it's one of the best sounding basses I've set eyes on, played, and felt.
First off the look of his basses aesthetically are superior. All of his wood-working is precise and beautiful. His selections of wood are so well-planned out, I honestly couldn't believe that he himself created something that looks this good. On top of that the play-ability of the neck and the bass itself was INSANE, far better than anything that I've ever played.(For those of you that have seen me lurking around these threads you know I'm 17, but I've played a good share of quality instruments).
I'm a new fan of "set-in" necks. The way he explained it to a noob like me who had never played the set-in neck structure before is that the neck carries the reverberations and vibrations that happen with the strings and the neck all through the body better for a better resonance. After hearing that I fell in love. Sound was superb. (For those of you that have seen me lurking around these threads you know I'm 17, but I've played a good share of quality instruments). It's different than a neck-through some-how, that I'm unsure of but It sounded / looked amazing.
As far as electronics go, I'm sorry to disappoint you electronic fiends out there that want a parametric EQ on your bass, your amp, and then maybe your dog
, because it's plain and simple. You have active EMG electronics with a tone and volume knob, that sounds amazingly quiet, no hum, nothing really fancy pickup-wise. I believe it was an EMG MM style active pickup under the hood of the bad boy, but it could've been their HB model too. EITHER WAY, sounded amazing and got great response. Down on the lows and the mids I got a slight, very sweeeet growl out of the bass that melted me from the inside out. Definitely quality instruments at ROCK BOTTOM prices. Mainly, the pickups were used as a amplification method just like any other bass, but more than some. The woods really shined through in this bass. Not that the bass sounded "woody" or "clunky" but when playing the 3 or 4 basses he had me try out, the tone varied, all of them beautiful, all unique to their own selves because of the different combinations of wood that he utilized in making the different basses.
BASSICALLY
I don't see why you'd want to pay so much money for a bass that sounds good, so why would you?! I believe his custom work, as well as the basses he has for sale, are lower 1000's and really hover around that area. For this quality of bass from this nice of a guy, with true skill, I don't see why you'd want to have your custom bass built anywhere else, or by anyone else.Website : [URL="www.toonbass.webs.com[/URL] I'll upload a couple of picks of the bass I'm looking at getting from him just to show you a little more! He has a lot of pics on his website though, check it out!!!
