All the plus points of a great Jazz Bass, the Jabba 422 enhances Mayones' growing reputation. It might not be cheap but it looks cool, sounds great and feels great in your hands.
Pros
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Playability is top-notch.
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Great tones.
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It's a Jazz-style that'll handle many styles.
Cons
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Volume control could be smoother, but it’s a small point.
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Mayones bass guitars have come a long way since we first encountered them in the mid-2000s.
Compared against the brand’s other body shapes and price points, this classic-looking Jazz variant looks pretty simple – but if it does the job, why do you need any bells and whistles? Let’s take a closer look.
Build Quality
Vintage white with a three-ply tortoiseshell scratchplate is always a winning combination – and combined with the chrome hardware, many a bassist would be excused for drooling at the sight of the Jabba.
Like its namesake in Star Wars, the bass has rounded body curves; these reduce the extremes of the legendary offset body-style, and with sensible contouring front and back, extensive cutaways, and a pleasingly-contoured neck-heel, the playing experience is very much to the player’s benefit.
The one-piece hard rock maple neck features the 38mm nut width that you would expect of a Jazz variant, and with its slim and sleek neck profile, 7.5” fingerboard radius and 20mm string spacing at the bridge, this really is a bass to play and enjoy.
(Image credit: Future)
The setup is very impressive, with no sharp fret ends and a string action that sits well with any playing style you wish to employ. The pau ferro fingerboard is a worthy replacement for rosewood on this model, and features mother-of-pearl front-facing position markers with white dots on the fingerboard edge.
With a responsive vibrancy and a solid sustain that means harmonics are flying off the fingerboard, this bolt-on model has plenty of spring in its step
The chrome hardware looks the part and also performs well; the Mayones Big Foot bridge is a solid brass, high-mass unit while Hipshot Ultralite machine heads have been utilized.
These are solidly attached and turn smoothly. The control set may look a little more complicated than your average Jazz, but it’s relatively simple to deal with – volume, balance, bass, treble, a vintage tone control, and an active/passive selector switch.
All this runs through a Mayones M-BP2 active circuit, courtesy of a pair of Nordstrand NJ4SE single-coil pickups. What’s not to like?
Sounds And Playability
Considering the fairly traditional lumbers used in its construction, this Jabba model has a natural liveliness that serves it well.
With a responsive vibrancy and a solid sustain that means harmonics are flying off the fingerboard, this bolt-on model has plenty of spring in its step.
Plugging in, we’re presented with all the classic Jazz sounds you would expect – and a whole lot more. In passive mode, the throaty Jazz bark is easily called upon, and panning between each pickup, those familiar tones are coaxed from each pickup without too much effort.
The vintage tone control helps to maintain visions of a fine 60s Jazz. Switch over to active mode and you’re firmly in Super Jazz territory, the two-band EQ providing some turbo-charged oomph. The bass signal has increased power in the low end, and finesse and detail in the upper registers.
(Image credit: Future)
The slap- and tap-lovers among you will revel in the tonal quality and delivery, while fingerstyle and rock players will also approve of the flexibility on offer – whether you require pedal-to-the-metal rock or honk-laden funk tones over the bridge pickup.
The tones suit an impressively wide range of musical techniques and styles, while sounding very natural at the same time.
The Jabba 422 is a serious Jazz-style contender, and it comes as no surprise that the cachet of the Mayones brand is rising
When it comes to playability, Mayones basses have a reputation for delivering the goods and this bass lives up to the billing. It’s comfortable to wear, easy to navigate and a pleasure to play.
It fits like a glove and will have you returning to it time and again. If there’s one small gripe, it would be that the volume control borders on the on-off variety; for much of the control turn, there is no gradation and very little happens.
Conclusion
The Jabba 422 is a serious Jazz-style contender, and it comes as no surprise that the cachet of the Mayones brand is rising. This instrument easily justifies its pricetag, and if you want a no-nonsense bass machine with classic looks, old- and new-school sounds and playability that will put a smile on your face, then look no further...
