MSRP: $799 US
“For players looking for a bass with vintage vibe and vintage tone with some more modern tonality options this bass is definitely worth your consideration.”
When I decided to put together this spotlight on great basses under $1K USD, the first bass that came to mind was the Epiphone Jack Casady Bass. When it comes to bang for your buck this bass is hard to beat. If you’re not familiar with Jack Casady, he is the bass player of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna fame and he developed this bass with Epiphone. Casady had been in search of an electric bass with amazing tone but the response of an acoustic bass. Casady himself designed the 3 way impedance switch and low impedance JCB Humbucker that give this bass it’s sweet tone. For players looking for a bass with vintage vibe and vintage tone with some more modern tonality options this bass is definitely worth your consideration.
I picked one of these up a few months back and as soon as I plugged it in the first thing that stood out was the tone. The JCB Humbucker is fat with lots of thump and some nice highs and growly mids with the 3 way impedance providing some nice tonal variation. Set at 50Ω, the bass has less top end and more of the traditional thump you’d expect from a traditional semi-hollow body bass. At 250Ω you get more more highs resulting in almost a traditional P bass tone but a little rounder due to the semi hollow body. At 500Ω this bass is thumping, almost overdriven with more mids and highs that will easily cut through any mix.
The Jack Casady bass comes with roundwound strings and for my tastes they were a little too bright. Once I restrung mine with some 0.45 to .105 flats, I had a hard time putting it down. I’ve found it to be a versatile bass from rock to r&b to folk and country I’ve used this bass on a little bit of everything.
I did have one issue with this bass that should be mentioned here when changing the strings over to flatwounds. As soon as I tensioned up the new strings, the bridge pulled out of the body. I did some reading and adjusting of the saddles but I wasn’t able to get the bridge to stay in place. Luckily I returned it to the shop where they glued the bridge posts in place and set it up at no cost and I haven’t had any issues since. The bridge on this bass is extremely solid and easy to adjust. That being said, there are many players who don’t seem to love the Gibson style bass bridge. If you happen to be one of them, Hipshot makes a replacement bridge for Gibson basses that fits the existing posts and is relatively affordable. Despite your bridge preference, this bass is well worth the cash.
SELECTED SPECS:
Body Wood: Layered Maple
Binding: Single Ply Cream
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Fingerboard Material: Indian Laurel
Fingerboard Radius: 12″
Number of Frets: 20
Width at Nut: 1.66″ or 42.037mm
Scale Length: 34″
Bridge: 3 Point Adjustable
Tailpiece: 3 Point Adjustable
Trussrod: Dual Action
Pickup: JCB Low Impedance Humbucker
Controls: Master Volume, Tone, 3 Way Impedance Selector
Finish Colours Available: Ebony, Metallic Gold, Sparkling Burgundy, Faded Pelham Blue
| The Good | Things to Consider |
| Solid Build with Great Tone | Semi Hollow Body may not be comfortable for all players, definitely try one out first |
| Multiple Tone Options | Some players don’t love the 3 Point bridge system, but it can be replaced affordably (personally I like the bridge) |
| Vintage Vibe with Great Colour Options | |
| Decent Playability |
Check out the video below for a full demo of the Epiphone Jack Casaday Bass
Who is Jack Casady?
Jack Casady is best known as the bassist for Jefferson Airplane although he has worked on many projects since then. For our full Jack Casady discography, check out the LEN Bass and Drum Database. It’s a great way to discover new music and songs by your favourite bassists and drummers!
