Manson Guitars John Paul Jones E-Bass

Manson is a pretty high end instrument maker out of eastern Europe. This bass fits that level of construction that they are known for. This bass is pretty simple but has a ton of tone and usability. The bass has a mahogany body with a quilted maple top. The bass features neck through construction. The neck is a 3 piece maple neck with graphite reinforcement. The fretboard is ebony with 24 frets. The neck scale is 34 inches. Up top you get 4 sealed tuners and a hipshot D-tuner so you can easily drop the tuning down on the low E a step when ever you want. The bridge is a nice Badass bridge. The pickups are a set of active EMG pickups. There is an EMG 35 P4 in the neck and an EMG 35 TW in the bridge. The bridge pickup can be split for more high end tones. The controls are typical active bass controls. You get a volume knob with a blend knob. The blend knob has a push pull pot that splits the bridge EMG. You also have bass and high end adjustments.

UTILIZATION

The bass is heavier than it looks. The mahogany body and badass bridge add some mass to the design. The neck is very similar to a Jazz bass and has the same feel. You can reach all of the 24 frets easily due to the cutaways on the body. The D-tuner lets you switch from standard tunings to drop tunings on the fly which is a really cool feature. The ebony fretboard has a super smooth feel to it. With the neck through design there is no heel in the way so you get ultimate playability and ultimate sustain.

SOUNDS

This bass has great resonance. Playing it unplugged you can really hear it. With the mahogany body and the Badass bridge you get a nice loud tone even unplugged. The mahogany body gives you nice thick low end while the maple top keeps everything clear. The neck through design gives you ultimate sustain and clarity. You can really feel all the notes resonate through the entire body. The EMG pickups had super clarity and response through all the settings. With these active electronics you can really dial in your ideal bass tone. Selecting the bridge pickup and rolling off some high end you can get the traditional Jazz bass tone. Even when you have the high end wide open the bass still has a full sound which lots of low end. The EMG bass pickups are not as over the top as their guitar counterparts. They seem to have a very neutral sound that depends mostly on your settings.

OVERALL OPINION

John Paul Jones is a bass playing legend. He could get anything he wanted in a bass design and this is what he wanted. If this bass is good enough for John Paul Jones it is good enough for anyone else. The design, fit and finish are all top of the line and have a custom shop level feel to it. The electronics and hardware are all top shelf as well. These are just about the best parts you can put on a bass. If you are looking for a great production bass with custom shop level quality this is a good option.