Bacchus 02 Standard 5

This is a 2003 Bacchus 02 Standard 5, hand made in Japan. It features an ash body (Jazz shape) with a black oil finish, 34" maple neck and ebony fretboard with pearl blocks. Both body and neck are bound in mother-of-pearl. It sticks to the J bass template with two single-coil J pickups from Bacchus' Hand Made range. It features a Bartolini NTCT preamp - controls are Vol-Vol-Treble boost-Bass boost with a mid trim pot in the cavity. Tuners and bridge are high quality Gotoh units. The bridge is a two piece unit, similar to Warwick's design, and the saddles are fully lockable.

It is impossible to get a bad sound out of this bass. The Hand Made pickups are superb. It sounds like a J bass for sure, even though they are quite modern sounding, but it is easy enough to get a fat thump out of them. The Bart preamp can add as much sharpness or fullness as you could wish for. This bass has become my number one (out of 7 basses) recording bass, I've used it for blues, rock and metal and it is equally at home in any genre. It also sings in a live setting. The B is tight and defined. Really, it is hard to be critical of the sound of this bass because I wouldn't change a single thing about the sound of it.

I bought this bass second hand, so I can't comment on factory set up. When it arrived, it was set up comfortably but I am quite particular about how I set my basses up. It was easy to tweak to my tastes and I did file the nut a little to lower the strings slightly. The fretwork is immaculate. The woodwork is superb. It is immediately clear that they use premium woods, this bass projects sound acoustically like nothing else I've ever played. There are no dead spots, no flaws. As I said, I got it used so it had been played hard prior to me recieving it, so I think an 8 is a fair rating, even though I cannot really be critical here.

This bass will last longer than I will, it is built to shine through the hardest beating. The build quality is first class, the electronics are immaculately installed, the cavity is clear and tidy. It is apparent when you pick it up just how well made it is. Bacchus clearly take great pride in their instruments and it shows.

I didn't have a problem, but I mailed them with a question. Their representative was a true gent, helpful and also interested in my perception of their instrument and appreciative of my responses. I could see how much they believe in their instruments through through how he wrote.

I bought this bass mainly out of curiosity and to cover me while I was waiting for a custom 5 to be built. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as good as it is. I mean, I thought it would be a qualilty instrument, but I didn't expect it to be far better than every other bass I had, including the custom 5 I had made specifically for me. Given the price, about 1/2 the price of other "super jazz" brands, I wasn't expecting the best instrument I've ever played. They've taken the basic Jazz design and just refined and improved it in generally simple but entirely useful ways. Tonally it is excuisite. The build quality is stunning. Aesthetically, it is really beautiful. Really, this is the best bass I have ever played, a joy to play and a pleasure to own.