Mayones Jabba HF 5 Aged Yellow

Mayones Jabba HF 5 Aged Yellow

Hadrien Feraud’s Jabba

This is the Jabba HF 5 from Mayones, out of Gdansk, Poland. Above all, it’s the bass they built with the French virtuoso Hadrien Feraud. Basically, he asked for one bass that could do everything, from pop sessions to straight-ahead jazz. Therefore it had to have punch, clarity, sustain and comfort.

This one is the aged version. In fact, for me personally it’s one of our favourite Jabbas on the wall. For example, you get a relic’d Monolith Aged Yellow nitro body and a caramel birdseye maple board with white pearloid blocks. On top of that, it’s gold hardware all over.

Looks vintage, plays modern

We’ve had this exact spec through the shop before, so we were really happy to see another one arrive. From across the room it looks like a well-loved 60s J-bass, right?

However, everything underneath is modern Mayones. For example, you get a graphite-reinforced neck, 24 frets and noiseless Delano humbuckers. At the same time, there’s an active 3-band preamp and even a headphone amp built right into the bass.

Body, Neck & Woods

Swamp ash in thin nitro

The body is swamp ash, the classic J-bass wood. Because of that, it’s open and airy with a strong fundamental. In addition, it has that slightly scooped midrange, which means a J just sits naturally in the mix.

It’s finished in thin nitro and then aged by hand. As a result, the edges and forearm area are worn to bare wood. Similarly, there’s fine checking across the top. Because the nitro is this thin, the ash can move, and you can actually feel it resonate against your body. Likewise, the headstock has the same aged yellow finish.

T.E.W. maple neck and fingerboard

The neck is one piece of maple with two graphite rods running through it. Furthermore, both the neck and the fingerboard are Mayones T.E.W. (Tonally Enhanced Wood). Consequently, they get that deep caramel colour, and more stability as well.

On a 5-string that matters, because the relief stays put through Danish winters and summers. The fingerboard is 5A birdseye maple with a white binding and white pearloid blocks. In addition, the Luminlay Super Green side dots glow on a dark stage, which is really handy.

Maple gives you a brighter and snappier attack than rosewood or pau ferro. Meanwhile, there are 24 Ferd Wagner nickel silver frets on a flat 20″ radius. Therefore the whole board feels fast and even.

34.25″ scale and neck joint

The scale is 34.25″, which is a quarter inch longer than standard. Honestly, you won’t notice it in your hand. However, the extra tension tightens up the low B and gives it more focus and definition.

The neck is bolted on with 6 screws in ferrules and a contoured heel. As a result, the upper frets are easy to reach. Besides, the energy goes cleanly from the neck into the body.

Electronics, Sound & Feel

Delano JMVC pickups

The pickups are Delano JMVC 5 FE/M2, German-made twincoil humbuckers in J-bass housings, in the 60s position.

So you get the growl and the bite of a J-bass, but without the single-coil hum. The neck pickup is round and woody, whereas the bridge pickup gets tight and nasal when you dig in. In fact, you can solo either one on a noisy stage and it stays quiet.

Musashi Nitōryū preamp

Furthermore, the pickups go into Mayones’ own Velvetrone Musashi Nitōryū preamp. You have the volume with push-pull for active/passive, and then you have the balance. In addition, you have separate middle, treble and bass.

The mid control is where this bass gets its range. For example, you can go from a scooped slap tone to a forward fusion sound. In fact, that one cuts right through a horn section. And if you pull the volume, you basically have a straight passive J-bass.

Headphone amp built in

The Musashi also has a trick most basses don’t have. In fact, there’s a headphone amp with an aux input built in, running on a rechargeable battery. Therefore you can plug in your headphones and your phone and practise, or warm up backstage, without an amp.

What’s not to like?

At 4.17 kg it sits well on a strap. Moreover, the gold hardware looks really warm against the aged yellow. Specifically, that’s the Bigfoot bridge, Hipshot Ultralite Clover tuners and Schaller security locks.

In my opinion, this one’s for the player who loves the J-bass sound but needs a modern 5-string underneath it. In short, you get a tight B, quiet pickups and a preamp with versatility for days. Finally, it’s hand-built in Gdansk and comes in a Mayones Hybrid Bass Case. So, what’s not to like?