Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Bass - Sparkling Burgundy Reviews

This is an amazing bass, especially at this price point. Below are my opinions:

1. Craftsmanship - 9/10 - Great craftsmanship throughout. I can not find a single glitch on the bass, and I am as picky as they come. The only thing I will mention as others have, is be careful when setting the Veritone selector to 500, as you can keep turning it past the click. It locks in perfect just be careful not to keep turning it.

2. Playability - 10/10 - I put on the hipshot Gibson replacement ( more on that below), with flat wounds, and this thing plays beautifully. I have it at a medium low action and it's consistent throughout the neck. I will say the neck is pretty chunky IMO, a little thicker C than my Precision Pro II. I love it.

3. Tone - 9/10 - This bass gives me exactly the tone I like and expected. You can get a nice variety to suit most any style. In particular, the normal tone knob is VERY sensitive and allows a change in tone for even a single change in Number position. Very well done and not typical at this price point. Electronics are dead silent and I have no intention to customize the pickup.

4. THE BRIDGE 3/10 - It's widely known the Gibson 3 pt bridges are complete garbage. No clue why they keep using these? While it may be fine for some, swapping out the bridge is a no brainer and will dramatically improve tone and playability. I put on the Hipshot Supertone made specifically to replace these Gibson bridges. Takes 5 minutes (two bolts) with no mechanical skills needed. Took me maybe another 10 min to set action and dial in the intonation. IMO this upgrade raises the value of this bass considerably. They are about $150 give or take but again sooooooo worth the quick easy change. My suggestion is just plan on doing this at some point.

Overall I just love this bass. It's beautiful, is very well made, and sounds fantastic. Even with the bridge upgrade you are under a grand for a bass that looks and plays like one costing twice as much.

I own Fenders, Gibsons, Guilds, and others, but my Epiphone Jack Casady basses are some of my favorites. Great tone and playability make these basses great!

This Epiphone Jack Casady bass is a dream to play and it is gorgeous. I own about 23 electric basses and this has recently been one of my favorites to play: fast action, a wide diversity of tones due to the three position tone control that evidently chooses between three very different cutoff frequency filters. In my opinion it is easily worth twice the price. I think it is a better instrument than the vintage 1967 Gibson semihollow body bass. My 1967 Guild Starfire is just as good but I do prefer the long scale of the Jack Casady. I removed the pickguard because I find it unattractive but that is simply a matter of taste. I recommend any bassist try one and see for yourself. This one is a keeper and a player. How Epiphone is able to price this instrument so low is amazing: evidently because it's Made in China. I prefer US or German made instruments, but in a blind test I could not tell it was made in China. Evidently numerically controlled machining and diligent quality control by Epiphone deserve the credit. I truly love this bass.

The JCB sounds incredible! Warm and full! Had to adjust the neck a bit, but I love this bass! A great instrument for a very reasonable price!
A big thanks to Adam Chesi for his help on this purchase!

this is my first Epiphone. needed a hollow body cause this body is starting to get old. first the issues I had {which are minor} When I first got it the receiver for the plug was loose and fell out of the body. sent it back and was repaired and sent back within 2 weeks. The other issue is the strap mounts. it does have a tendency to lean in at the bottom and you have to kind of keep your right leg to keep it pushed out and level. Now the good part. It sounds great right out of the box. No need to change the strings. Great hollow body sound. It takes a bit to get used to the larger body but you get used to it quickly. definitely a great deal for the price.

Slap on a set of tape wound strings and it sounds similar to my '64 Hofner violin bass. Overall, it is well-made. Didn't purchase from Sweetwater, but wish I had. While setting the action and intonation a bridge post pulled out of the body. I took it back to place of purchase for warranty service and all they were concerned about was if I had purchased the pro protection plan. Needless to say, I had to contact Gibson directly to get warranty repair. They were great. Got my bass back in two weeks.I have never had to deal with the manufacturer directly before, again wished I had purchased from Sweetwater. Now for the good stuff. Finish is really nice, fret ends on the neck are smooth, tuners are smooth. Electronics are nice and quiet. The pickup and selectable resistance switch give you almost limitless tone possibilities. You can get a great sound without sticker shock.

I've had this bass for 2 years now & forgot to write the review !!! I always wanted a hollow body bass in my collection(22 currently),but so many of them are short scale(which I don't care for) so the JC was always on the list but I wasn't crazy about the original gold finish color.Once I saw the Sparkling Burgundy I knew that was the one I wanted,the pictures don't really do it justice,the color is amazing.The bass is a head turner & I get asked about it every time I take it to a gig.
It took me awhile to get use to the larger body & where the strap button is on the neck makes the bass hang differently than other basses,this is the only reason I gave it 4 stars.So I found if I shorten the strap & wear it higher than other basses I found the sweet spot.
The overall fit & finish of the bass is really great,no issues at all.The neck on this bass is pretty slim,reminds me of the neck on my 1980 Rickenbacker 4001.The tone is what you'd expect from a hollow body bass,deep & thumpy,but the factory strings are too bright for my taste & the string noise is amplified in the hollow body.So I've put DR Legend flatwound strings on mine & I like the sound much better(see video).Also DR Nickel Lo-Riders sound great too.
The vari-tone selector switch gives the bass different voicings along with the tone control I've found a couple of different tones that fit what I play & can dial them in quickly.I usually leave it on 250 with tone at 50% for most songs.I play mostly country,classic rock,Tex-Mex with a bit of Cajun/Zydeco too.
I've never had any issues with feedback as some might expect from a hollow body but our band doesn't play at a really high volume.That might come into play if you're amp is really cranked up,but I've never really heard anyone else complain about it either in the FB group for these basses.
The bridge seems to be something that most people point to as the weak link in these basses & other Epiphone basses as well.I don't really have a problem with it but it is a bit tricky to setup compared to others,but once it was set I haven't had to adjust it.
As I mentioned I have to wear it higher than my other basses so I tended to rest my right arm on it more than usual,the binding on body can start to dig into your arm after awhile but I've learned how to play it without that happening now.
Overall it's a great bass but not the most ergonomically comfortable basses I have,but it does have cool factor & uniqueness that none of my others have.I know weight is a concern for some players but this bass is light,right around 8 pounds so no shoulder or back strain with the JC.
Also I highly recommend getting the hard shell case for it if you intend to take it to gigs.It doesn't fit in any standard case & there's one or two gigs bags that will fit it,but I wouldn't trust a gig bag on a hollow body bass.
This bass may not be for everyone & it took me awhile to comfortable with it but it's now one of my favorite basses.

Epiphone is hit or miss, for me. This one hits. Beautiful tone. A pleasure to play. I love the feel of it. The way it plays. Some very cool tonal options. Not a lot of money for a bass this nice. And it's pretty :-)

The Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Bass will add a whole new color to your paintbox.

The best feature of the JCB is the sound. The bass has it's own unique character. I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but it speaks with a completely different voice than a solid body bass. The pickup has plenty of lows and highs, and also a pronounced full range brightness to the mids. The Vari-Tone switch takes the tonality from warm to bright and gives a volume boost as you increase the brightness.I have no idea how the Vari-Tone works, but it gives you 3 really nice tones to work with. Plus there's also a standard treble roll off type tone control. Set the Vari -Tone on 50, roll the tone off and pluck by the neck, and the sound is almost like an acoustic bass. At the other extreme with the Vari-Tone on 500 with the tone full up, and the JCB has a pleasingly zingy brightness.

The playability of this bass is awesome. One of the first things I noticed is how light it is. For me, this is a huge plus. The balance is surprisingly great too, despite the semi-hollow body and the giant headstock. The very slight tendency to neck dive is easily fixed with a wide strap. The neck is a little wider and thicker than say, a Jazz Bass, but it's still very comfortable to play.

The Sparkling Burgundy finish looks fantastic. It works well with the vintage vibe of the bass. The appearance of the color changes from bright red to a more muted tone depending on how the light hits it. I like that the neck, back and sides are dark stained maple that shows the wood grain instead of red - it's a nice visual contrast. Since I almost never use a pick, I took the pick guard off to reveal more of the finish.

The build quality is good. The bass stays in tune really well. The tuners work great and the large clover style keys compliment the old school look of the bass. With a few tweaks to the 3 point bridge it was easy to get the JCB playing the way I like. I was prepared to have to change the strings out, but the medium round wounds that the bass came with sound pretty good, so I left them on.

I found a couple of minor QC issues. The volume and tone knobs were very loosely attached to the pot shafts. The volume knob would actually fall off the shaft when I'd go to adjust it, and the tone knob wasn't much better. I applied a little teflon tape to the shafts of the pots and that seems to have fixed the problem. Also, the bass was delivered with a small divot/dent on the bass side of the fingerboard between the nut and first fret. It's pretty small and doesn't effect the playability of the bass, so I can live with it.

Overall, I like this bass a lot. It's relatively inexpensive, surprisingly versatile, very playable, looks sweet, and sounds great.

Fit and Finish: Acceptable at this price point.

Playability: Decent but not an easy player.

Sound: With a set of flatwound strings, I am happily achieving those rich and resonant hollow body tones of the 60s era. Definitely pleased. With the roundwound strings it arrived with, you have a pretty good tone palette. All kinds of useful sounds can be achieved.

I am happy with this purchase!

Great all purpose instrument for it's value!