Review: Jay Turser JTB-400-QMT Bass Guitar
Jay Turser
Posted 2002-01-29
We were quite impressed with the last Jay Turser guitar we reviewed and after having several requests from our bass playing readers, we decided to ask Music Industries Corp. if we could get our paws on a Jay Turser bass model. Sure enough, a new Jay Turser JTB-400-QMT electric bass guitar arrived on the MGR doorstep about a week later. After carting the tall narrow box to the test studio, we set about like a team of mad scientists in a laboratory to uncover any and all information we could on this unique specimen.
Once we unwrapped the unit, the first thing that struck us was the style and beauty of the guitar. What we're referring to is a quilted maple top with a pearloid pickguard and gold hardware. These are some nice features for a unit in the under-$400 price range, so needless to say we were very pleased. If there's one thing about the Turser brand that stands out, it's the incredible number and variety of styles of guitars they offer and the very tasteful cosmetic touches they put on their instruments. Once you've tested as many units as we have, however, you know that beauty can sometimes be skin deep.
After strapping on the unit, it was hard to not notice how light the bass was. Often with guitars manufactured in Asia, a lighter quality wood is used in instruments and can provide little sustain. We made note of this for the sound check and continued on inspecting every crack and crevice of the unit. The body style is a classic shape with double cutaways which combined with the light weight make for a very comfortable instrument, especially for those long gigs or practice sessions at home. But enough about looks and feel, it was time to get to the real test - sound quality.
As we cranked on the amps and PA, the lights in nearby Pittsburgh dimmed and flickered. We don't mess around when testing equipment and to properly test a bass you not only have to have enough signal to hear the tone, you've got to FEEL it. We don't bother testing with piddly 25W amps here. We're talking 100W Fender Bassman tube heads running into 4x12 cabs and 1200 Watt Mackie PA Systems.
After several hours of testing, we were able to get a really good idea of the units performance. For a bass guitar constructed of a lighter wood, the high quality electronics apparently were able to compensate in most places and the tone was very resonant. The action on the unit was quite low and open E's on the bottom string would sometimes cause some fret buzz, but other than that, most notes played on the low string had plenty of body and attack without any unexpected sound artifacts. This JTB-400 is very smooth playing and if it were mine, I'd mount a thumb rest and plan on using fingers all night long. Nevertheless, we tested the unit with all types of music from Jazz to Metal and were quite impressed in every genre. The tone is not as tight as you might expect from some high end models, but for the price range this bass guitar is an unbeatable value.
Bottom Line:
For around $350, the Jay Turser JTB-400-QMT bass guitar is a great value. With it's looks, playability and tone, the unit could easily go for around $500 in our opinion. It's not an American P-Bass mind you, but it's not designed to compete in that league. If I were a beginning bass guitarist or somebody that gigs frequently and doesn't want to spend a lot but still get a great looking, great sounding bass I would check out the Turser line at your local dealer. You'll undoubtedly be quite surprised when you sit down and test one out yourself.
