Bacchus Craft WL-JB Ash 2014 Made in Japan bass

I am selling a Japanese jazz bass by the prestigious brand Bacchus - model WL-JB Ash. This one dates from 2014 and like all basses in the Craft series it was handmade in the Bacchus manufactory in Aska. Made in Japan, not the Philippines or China like cheaper models.

This beautiful bass is a combination of classic and modern - ostensibly a traditional passive JB, but here we have, among other things, a 12.2" radius, a series/parallel mode switch and an oil finish that perfectly highlights the ash grain. Interesting fact: the body is three pieces of ash, but they were chosen so that from the front they look like a monolith. Simply stunning. The whole design is completed with a pearl plate, binding and large markers.

As is typical of Bacchus, a lot of attention has been paid to ergonomics - the trussrod can be seamlessly adjusted at the bottom of the neck, the extended fretboard gives us an extra fret and the clear black dots on the bindings on the player side make it easy to navigate through the notes. The lacquered neck is narrow (38mm at the saddle), relatively thin (but without extremes) and fast thanks to its flat radius and low action (1.7mm).


Japanese Bacchus are known for their excellent workmanship... And it's the same here. Tight neck pocket, rounded frets, perfect fit - everything checked. The company's luthiers have even taken care of such a trifle as a plastic insert under the neck plate - a simple thing that saves the wood underneath. The hardware - keys and bridge - was supplied by Gotoh.

Sonically, the bass is very even and tuneful - it speaks with a wide bandwidth, responds well to articulation but is not aggressive. Although it gets an extra boost in parallel mode, this is not a drop-A type of bass. So... For metal or punk - not so much. For rock, pop or funk - great! But ultimately it's still a matter of preference. If need be, I can record a variety of samples without any problem. The Bacchus plays very loudly accoustically and resonates strongly which leaves a lot of room for modifications, even adding "Satan" with other hotter pickups.

The condition is very good - with an oil finish, two scratches and a collection of micro marks on the back of the body could not be avoided, but otherwise it looks great.

An additional advantage is the weight - only 3.8 kg, which does not happen often among JBasses.

The bass is based in Poznań, Poland, but shipping will not be a problem (30-40 euro in DACH, to be discussed for other EU countries). I add a Warwick gigbag.