New York Bass Works Deep Jazz 6

I appreciate David Segal's instrument-making abilities. I enjoyed my Concert fretless 6 so much I bought this fretted Deep Jazz 6 within a month after buying the fretless. I should give Features a 10 because it has just the right features but it is a simple bass in a sense. The versatility is in your fingers not some onboard preamp! But he'll put one in if you want. Passive basses are quieter and my rack-mount Read tube preamp is all I need.

It is a superb piece of Alder for the body with a beautiful Sunburst, hard polyester finish w/matching control cavity cover. The neck is 3-piece maple with Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard and 24 very thin frets. Construction is impeccable. The headstock has a bird's eye maple laminate. The neck finish is a natural oil-like finish - smooth play and feel.

The pickups are custom Seymour Duncan/NYBW single-coils that hum cancel when both are on full which is how I always have it. Electronics are standard, passive, 'Jazz'-style, volume, volume, tone.

The hardware is Hipshot; light-weight, durable, and functional. The best there is, IMO. The body shape is like a more smooth and refined Fender Jazz without the obnoxious toilet seat plate and chunky horns. I'd call it sporty looking. If my NYBW Concert is a BMW, then this is a Ferrari. It has a balancing and ergonomic, long upper horn which is lovely in contrast to most other makers' long upper horns which are unattractive, IMO.

The extremely durable gig-bag is by Undercover who has made bags for other high-end bass makers as well.

Another cool feature is the truss rod access: You can hardly tell it's there. It's just a small 'sliver' of wood with one small screw ? an elegant solution I don't recall being used by others.

I play Jazz, Folk, Rock, and most everything else. I play slap and fingerstyle on this bass ? both with both pups on full. I can't make this bass sound bad. Even fingerstyle, it has enough mids with both pups on. For slap I boost lows and highs at my rack. This bass has a high C string that is my new 'acid test' for whether that skinny string belongs on a bass ? it sounds so thick and sweet.

The bass is alive and responsive. It sounds superb both with D'Addario Slow Wounds and Carvin (La Bella?) nickel-plated steels. This is the best sounding fretted 6 I have ever touched. I am BEYOND pleased I discovered David Segal and NYBW (thanks to the guys at Groove Shoppe). It has a rich voice in the mids that just sings yet it is never honky or nasally. The sound is perfect with just the right lows and highs as well ? nice edge but no harshness. What blows me away is that the low B is focused while the high C is thick. I have played high-end basses which so-so B strings (not on this bad 35.5? scale baby) or more common still ? weak C-strings. And a 6-string that actually sounds like a 'J' bass ? cool.

Amazing. Stable. Medium low action. Great playability but can still dig in when needed. Can't think of a single problem.

The construction on this bass is rock solid. Perfect neck/body joint. The neck is the most rigid I have experienced in a wood neck. I only adjust the truss rod if I change to strings with different tension. It has just a single truss rod (I wouldn't want the weight of two) and two graphite reinforcement bars. Perfectly installed hardware. I only take another bass if I need my NYBW fretless bass, too! (Coulda sworn I said that before...)

David answers his phone personally and provides the best support. He is knowledgeable, considerate, and helpful. I trust him. He'll take care of me if need be. He cares about his instruments and his customers.

I have played bass since 1977. I play this and a NYBW Concert fretless 6 into a Read Custom Bass Purity tube preamp into a Stewart World 1.2 power amp. I have owned and performed with Kramer (aluminum neck), Ibanez, Yamaha, Carvin, Zon, and Elrick. I expect to play my NYBW basses the rest of my life. I prefer its voice to the Zon I had while its playability is as good. It's tone is as good as my Elrick but it plays better. David knows how choose wood ? for stability AND tone. This Alder body just sings. It loves to resonate. If you ask me, he has a gift. And he's a great guy. Thanks for the great tools, David. They help me make my art.

see this link for pix:
http://www.thegrooveshoppe.com/Basses_In_Stock/NYBW_6.html