There's a distinct lack of reviews for Xaviere basses online, so I thought I'd give my two cents. I picked this model up during the 4th of July sale for $199 shipped. The website description doesn't do this instrument justice. This bass is no joke. Specs are:
The neck and pups are the stars of the show. The neck is a beautiful piece of maple that has some very nice flame all over. It's a J-style 1.5" at the nut, but the profile is almost chunky...in a very good way. There's no mention of rolled edges on GFS' website, but they certainly are and it's a nice, comfy surprise. The frets were all perfectly level and only just need a bit of smoothing with some 0000 steel wool. I was able to get the action to an obscene 1mm at the 21st fret before some slight buzz started creeping in around frets 5 and 6. A tweak of the truss rod would solve this, but I'm tolerating the buzz in order to enjoy the shredder-low action, just for a bit.
Now...the pickups. These are GFS' own Pro Jazz alnico set and they sound great. Surprisingly quiet for singles, with tone that borders on modern (i.e., EMG, Bart's, etc.) when played through my EBS rig. That said, they're still warm enough to bring a vintage vibe.
All in all, I'm floored by this bass. Like most bassists in their 50s, I've owned a little bit of everything, from Peavey to Alembic. For me, this bass ranks way up there in the J clone class. I'd put it up against any US-made Fender, with the exception of their custom pieces. The only con I can think of is the weight, actually. If you want an inexpensive J that punches way above its weight, this is a great choice.
- Alder body
- Maple neck with vintage tint
- Rosewood fingerboard (I think it's actually jatoba) and rolled edges
- 1.5" Graph Tech Nubone nut
- 21 medium jumbo nickel frets
- Single-coil alnico pups
- Vintage-style bridge and tuners
The neck and pups are the stars of the show. The neck is a beautiful piece of maple that has some very nice flame all over. It's a J-style 1.5" at the nut, but the profile is almost chunky...in a very good way. There's no mention of rolled edges on GFS' website, but they certainly are and it's a nice, comfy surprise. The frets were all perfectly level and only just need a bit of smoothing with some 0000 steel wool. I was able to get the action to an obscene 1mm at the 21st fret before some slight buzz started creeping in around frets 5 and 6. A tweak of the truss rod would solve this, but I'm tolerating the buzz in order to enjoy the shredder-low action, just for a bit.
Now...the pickups. These are GFS' own Pro Jazz alnico set and they sound great. Surprisingly quiet for singles, with tone that borders on modern (i.e., EMG, Bart's, etc.) when played through my EBS rig. That said, they're still warm enough to bring a vintage vibe.
All in all, I'm floored by this bass. Like most bassists in their 50s, I've owned a little bit of everything, from Peavey to Alembic. For me, this bass ranks way up there in the J clone class. I'd put it up against any US-made Fender, with the exception of their custom pieces. The only con I can think of is the weight, actually. If you want an inexpensive J that punches way above its weight, this is a great choice.
