Signature J-Bass

A typical Jazz - Everybody has played or owned one,. I love Jazz basses for their tone. You can play everything with them - Funk to Hardcore Metal, Blues to Folk,Its simply the most versatile bass out there.The body wood is alder with a rosewood- maple neck and mother of pearl block inlays This one has a string thru body bridge,

The sound of the Bass is fantastic.
Being the owner of now 3 basses, this has accomplished exactly what I wanted it to. Of course the sound of any bass is in the ear of the beholder. This is loud and has punch!! .I play thru Trace Elliot , Carvin and Ampeg amps, with a Carvin 18". I normally add a Carvin 15" and/or a Carvin 2X10" cab if I need to but not with this bass. I need to turn down to keep my levels constant. The rosewood- maple neck adds some warmth to what I would consider a real punchy in your face sound. The roll of could be more defined but I will change the cap with an orange drop and have it fine tuned to my liking.There is nothing wrong with the one that's in there it's just what I like.

Everything about this bass guitar emphasizes love and attention to detail/quality when it was being crafted and set up.
Buy the parts you like from BuildaBass.net and pay to have it set up professionally by his Luthier, You won't be sorry!!!
Everything fits perfectly,(No sloppy neck or pocket)
The action on the guitar I bought from them is very low with no buzzes or rattles, but I had to let it sit for 4 days, for the truss rod to finally settle in.

I have it now for 3 month and I have played it endlessly and the bass seems very solid and I will definitely be gigging with it.

They went out of business in the early 90's ,and BuildaBass is only selling the parts, but going by the contact I had so far, BuildaBass will back up the product 100%.

This is a great bass, and if it would get stolen I would try to get another one immediately, if they are still available.I would take this bass over any Chinese or Japanese import they are selling on eBay anytime, and I can not see any resemblance of the afore mentioned SX or other Chinese imports
Even the new Mexican made Fenders and the Squiers couldn't measure up to it, especially for that price,
You could get a lower priced neck and you would have a bass for around $450 that looks and sounds awesome.
To bad they are out of business, so who knows how long those things will be around, because I don't see a used one for sale on eBay.

I had the misfortune to buy one of Mr Slonk18's bass bodies. My main complaint about this item is that he is misrepresenting them as old Fender stock. NO NO NO. It's a no-name Fender type body which probably cost him about 5 bucks from a sweatshop in China. Superficially the quality looks ok but it is nowhere close to a Squier or about half a dozen other budget bass manufacturers. His Ebay listings are a pack of lies. Made in the early 1990s, made in Japan, original list price $1300, NOS. This guy must have a bigger nose than Pinocchio

I could knock up something better than this in my garage.

I didn't get so far as to put a neck on and set it up. I took one look at the quality and sent it right back.

Don't care. I wouldn't play this POS

This guy is a scammer. I can't believe there are enough gullible people in the world to write all these glowing reviews. They have got to be written by the seller

Junk. Don't be scammed by this liar. Buy a Squier or an SX and you will get a far superior instrument for less money

I just recieved my new Signature Jazz Bass, "Felicia Funk" from Goerdt Lambert. She's a beautiful deep red with a maple neck with MOP inlays and antique off white pick guard. This bass made me remember why I started palying bass years ago. This thing is an 11!! The G-man was a dream to work with, we kept in contact thruout the process and he even shipped before I could get his cheese to him-------WOW now that's a pimp move for real.
Fat sounds from the passive Jazz Bass style pick ups,strung thru the body for some good sustain. The bass is a dream to play!!

I play funk, R&B and Gospel was mainly using my 6 string "Bassia" but now she has a lil sis-Felicia. I wish I could post a picture of her and the sound is off da chain------This thing reminds my of a cross between a Music Man and the Jazz rolled into one. I love the settings and it was cool and thre gang right out the box. He did tell me to wait a week or so before I do any tweaking of my own, so I waited.
I'm using an SWR Working Man's 15 for stage going to the house and this things a beast.

Bass was setup great from thr git go, good packing b y him. I didn't have 1 single issue and I was concern4ed coming from his climate to ours in the midwest, it's been a lil nipply:)
The neck is tite, the body's done right and I'm gonna funk and roll all nite, cause that's what I do.

This is my back up bass and while I become re-aquainted with her she'll be used alot espacially on the more funky James Brown and Prince material we do. I'm going to put strap locks on her as I had an issue once with Bassia and will NOT go thru that again. As I've had her for 2 weeks I really can't say one way or the other about lasting hardware, finish etc, except to say if you take good care of them, they'll take good care of you----------nuff said

Man working with G was the bomb, dude man was on his GAME. As soon zas I contact him about the bass, he answered all of my questions. His 1st contact was great and I can only imaging that if there were a problem, he'd be just as quick to resolve the issue.

Been playing over 30 years and if this bass were stolen or lost , I'd get another one quicker than a cat lickin its hind end cause the bass is sweet.Played a Fender Jazz at GC with the rosewood neck and tho it was sweet, Like Mc Hammer said " Can't touch this" cause Felicia Funk is the bomb.

volume,tone,blend
passive electronics
alder body
maple neck
stock open gear tuners
cheap bridge
thin neck i think probably medium jumbo frets
seafoam green finish
tortoisse shell pickguard
j bass p.u

sounds great! lots of growl and punch. im playing through a hartke 3500 head, hartke hx410,and a hartke hx115. i play mostly funk and some metal (maximum the hormone, red hot chili peppers). its very bright, and warm, and basically anything you want. my only dislike is that the stock p.u's are only slightly thin but im also used to mm pickups.

i had it setup after recieving the neck and body from ebay.
the pickups are actually setup better than the ones on my new fender american jazz bass.
my only complaint is that the bridge is like a cheap slab of steel so i replaced it with a hipshot b style.

the finish is strong and thick, no chips. \
my only complaint is that the neck doesnt fit perfect so i had to have the body shaved down a little.

the company went debunked after a lawsuit from fender.

ive been playing for about 7 years since i was 12.
if it was stollen i would deffinitely get it again butin the swamp ash finish.
i like it better than my $600 p bass but i have to admit that my active fender jazz bass gets crisper, brighter tones because of the active electronics but for the price it cant be beat.

The seller of these on Ebay is lying to customers saying they are US made when in fact they are not. I bought one a few years ago and complained at the time about the cheap hardware. It wasn't until I bought an SX bass through Rondo music that I realized THESE BASSES ARE BOTH FROM THE SAME FACTORY IN CHINA BUT GOERDT CHARGES THREE TO FOUR TIMES AS MUCH!!!

Sounds like the tune of getting ripped off.

Not terrible, but not good either, just like an SX bass, except you get overcharged and lied to about country of origin.

Nice, solid piece of Chinese wood with Chinese electronics, at American prices.

Basically, if Goerdts lips are moving, he is lying.

Now I m pissed because I could have bought 2 ENTIRE BASSES through rondomusic SX line for the cost of one body through signature, and they are the SAME.

The guy selling these on Ebay is a bold faced LIAR (user ID Slonk18 )! He claims that he bought all of the old stock from a small company that went out of business in the 90's after Fender threatened them with a law suit. NO TRUE. I bought one of these and right away I noticed that it seemed like a cheap import. So I looked on the net and found this info ---> http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=554064 .

So I went to check it out myself. I bought an "SX" bass from Rondo Music and took it apart. Guess what? SAME BASS! The loser on Ebay (user ID slonk18) is buy parts from China and telling the factories to make them without any markings then putting in his own fake date stamps in the neck pocket.

He then jack the price up to double or triple of what you can buy an SX for. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! This guy is lying and ripping musicians off!!!!! It's time that he got called out!

Sound? I don't know how a liar and con-artist sounds?!?!?!

Fit and finish you ask? Not bad for a Chinese bass, but why buy from this liar?

Customer support? HAH! forget about it!

Don't waste your time and most of all, don't give this liar your cash!

Signature Jazz bass circa 1989, 20 frets 4 string. I saw the body for sale on ebay from Goerdt Lamberts at Buildabass and had the idea of buying and fitting the neck at home, decided to let Goerdts luthier Jim fit the neck. Glad I did, I opted for the Signature Jazz Bass neck with Mother of Pearl block inlays. I own a Fender jazz deluxe so wanted to try the Signature neck. Very glad I did. Since getting this bass I've not used my fender at all.

I play mainly funk and jazz and this bass covers all the sounds I need, great pickups, powerful and warm yet they have that growl from the bridge pickup that I wanted. The neck pickup is great for slapping and with the tone down it's a great double bass warm round sound. They are incredibly LOUD!

Finish on this bass is immaculate, a very deep gloss hard wearing finish, like a grand piano! I've fitted strap locks as I never want to drop the bass and put a mark on it. Action needed doing a week after it arrived (as Goerdt said it would) I've lowered the action and adjusted the truss rod and I have a GREAT playing great sounding, great looking Jazz.

This Bass looks and feels a 1000 dollars, If i had one gripe it would be that the bridge is not up to spec, it seems a tad cheap and flimsy, thing is the bass strings through the body so it's not a real problem. I'll change the bridge anyway as I always do on my basses to a bridge with at the very least slots so the strings stay alligned. This is really a minor gripe. I hav gigged this bass and I would deffo use it without a backup bass.

Well Signature are no more unfortunately, but dealing with Goerdt has been brilliant! The man is a total diamond, He actually listens to you and no matter how many e mails you send he responds with the answers you want! I must have sent 20+ e mails and never did I feel I was getting on his nerves. I highly recommend dealing with this man.

I have been playing bass since I was 18 years old, I'm now 45 and have played in umpteen bands. I now play mainly with a songwriting guitarist mate and a 70's party band, I have owned virtually every type of bass thats been made and out of all of them, if this one was stolen it would annoy me the most! I would definately buy another one... In fact i'm thinking of buying another one in a few months (if he has the right body and neck left)

Playing this bass is, to me the easiest bass I've ever played, the action is so low that if a fly landed on the string it would produce a note.

It's what I've been lookig for for a very long time. I would NEVER sell it and if it got nicked i'd be totally gutted!

Four strings Signature Bass. 3 pieces Signature Alder body finished in translucent Red burgundy. Signature Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and mother of pearl white block inlays and binding. The natural maple tone of the neck has a nice/gorgeous toasted tone which I love.
Buyed from Goerdt Lamberts at Build-a-Bass. Excellent job made from Jim to match body, neck and the final set up.
The parts (body and neck) were made around 1989 but, like a good wine, these woods seems to achieve and transmit a better tone/sound with the pass of time. And the best of all, you have a new Bass which parts were made 20 years ago. Also 3 ply White pearloid pickguard.

Pickups also from Signature, the Standard Axis JB ones. Bridge pup placed in 70's position. What to say ... incredible delivery of sound for a pasive pickups! I own several amps and, in general I have to switch the Bass in the Active input, not in the Pasive, (to reduce db in the input signal) because the amount of dbs this pups delivers are like if you were playing with an active preamp installed on the Bass.

Controls: Volume neck pup, Volume bridge pup, Tone. Enough to dial any kind of sound you want.
Bridge: you can choose to strung the Bass directly from the bridge or through body, which I prefer.
Strings: They only recommend and work with the DR fat beams (Marcus Miller) and really they are perfectly balanced against the pups.

Man, I have to put here a 10 because after around 20 e-mails, always with a great communication and (IMHO) sincerity and honestity from Goerdt and Jim, I had the pasive Bass I was searching for, with the body and neck woods I wanted, and with the kind of pickups and the position of them I was searching for.

The result of all: a Bass which you feel comfortable since the first moment you play it, and the sound ...

It's a pasive Bass. I have played Fenders, etc. I own several good or excellent basses included Status, Warwick, Spector, Fender, Ibanez, etc, and I only can say that at the moment, I only use my Signature basses to play live. Yeaahhh, I wrote 'basses' because I was so impressed and comfortable with my first one that I asked for a second one only two months after receiving the first one.

I combine this Bass with a Sadowsky external preamp/DI and, I feel like playing a Sadowsky bass but with more punch, and extremely comfortable. But I can play perfectly without the external preamp and the sound is nice, defined, well balanced between strings, and you can dial between both pickups and the tone control to achieve the sound you want.

I play all kinds of music, and I play actively in several bands, with regular live shows. Rock, Pop, Soul, Funky, Reggae, Jazz ... you name it, you can play all with this Bass. It's like a Fender sound on steroids, but, IMO a better axe. I currently own also a Fender JB Deluxe, is a good Bass, but it's inside its case since I have the Signature basses. The same with the rest of my basses. After playing the last years with 5 string basses I returned to the 4 strings and, the guilty is the Signature Bass.

Nothing more to say!

I live in Spain and the shipping from USA made necessary some extra setup job with the E string that, fortunately I could solve myself.
The Honestity from Goerdt and Jim arrived to refund me some money due to this fact. Excellent people and a pleasure to deal with !
The rest, simply perfect. The perfect standard low action I wanted, enough to slap if you want. Hipshot HB 7 tuners.
Gigging with this Bass regularly and ... perfect. I feel absolutely comfortable with it.

Here a mention apart to the Signature neck: to these who ask for the Fender one ... far better the Signature. At least for my taste. It would be easy for me to ask the Fender, which I know, But prefered to discover how the Signature feels and I can be more happy with it. Excellent neck! And I played, owned and own Fender basses.

Well build and, if you take care of it, an axe to keep with you.

Buffff, I believe I have already explained in enough way the kind of people Goerdt and Jim are.
They always suggest the best way you have the Bass you were searching for. Combining body and neck finishes, the pups, ...

I'm 45 years old. Playing Bass since I was 13. Playing all kind of music styles. Lots of stuff on my hands, boutique basses included, and finaly, ... finaly I return to the simplicity of a pasive four strings Bass which has the essence that all of us seem to forget but, curiously, always are searhing for with our GAS list: the pleasure to enjoy playing a comfortable and nice sounding Bass.
A Bass which you can play all and you feel comfortable and happy gigging with.
I own some very very expensive basses but, apart from the 'money value', I would really miss more my Signature basses than the others.

IMHO the price/quality ratio has no equal. With another logo on it, it would cost three or four times easy. I always received cumpliments in the way I played and my bass sound, and nowadays my mates say 'how good this bass sounds' and they have to read twice the Signature logo (that nobody knows).

THANKS Goerdt and Jim! A pleasure to find people like you nowadays and a pleasure to play your Basses.

Complete Bass by Goerdt Lambert's Build-a-Bass. Signature/Fender Hybrid. I had the Sig. Natural Swamp Ash body mated with a Fender Jazz neck, all maple with black block inlays.
The body was made in 1989, old growth Swamp Ash with a gorgeous grain. Deep transparent finish. It's actually made of 3 pieces but you would be forgiven for mistaking it for a single piece. (a lovely bit of work).
The Sig. pups are passive but the body is routed out ready for a preamp. In my opinion, a preamp is not needed at all as the passive pups are as loud as any Bass with this enhancement.
The Fender neck was bare bones but Jim did a top job on completing it all, nut, fret job, tree, Machine Heads. Very thin and narrow at the head, slick finish. I love it! The Machine Heads are Gotoh Vintage Style Marcus Miller Reverse geared long neck. Well constructed, very smooth.
The bridge is string-thru body but has thru-bridge option. (hex key included).
All this, topped off with Marcus Miller DR Fat Beam strings.
The reason for using a Fender neck over a Signature is simply due to my unfamiliarity with the Sig neck, I know and really like Fender necks.
As you will have read from others, this Axe is heavier than most. It is 1.3kg heavier than my Fender P Bass. You know you are wearing this beast. No problem though, use a wide strap, Bob's your Uncle.

The sounds that this thing can make are excellent. With small variations on the 2 Vols and the 1 tone, you can find the tone you want to suite whatever style you are playing. I play a wide selection of stuff from C&W (under sufferance) to Metal to Jazz/Funk/Slap. And, yes this thing really does have that excellent growl that we all seem to look for. Has a great sounding slap tone that punches a hole in you.
I am currently using Marshall Amplification and have noticed that you need less amp volume with this axe. I am very impressed with the pups. Goerdt believes (and I tend to agree) that the combination of the pups, old growth timber and the DR strings give this Bass such a punchy clear sound.
There is no noise at all when both vols are full on and only minimal otherwise. I am overall very impressed with what you can get out of this thing.

When the Bass was finished and shipped, Goerdt recommended that I touch nothing on the setup for 1 week to let the instrument acclimatize to the conditions here in Australia, as it was setup in summertime USA at 80% humidity and traveling to the coldest downunder winter in 20 years. After the week of settling in the only adjustment needed was the truss rod to lessen the neck relief and minor tweaking of the intonation. End result was a nice low action with loads of bridge and rod adjustment left and no fret buzz whatsoever.
Pup height needed no alteration.
The neck to body fit is excellent, no noticeable gaps.
During the construction, Jim discovered 2 tiny cracks in the body finish, one on the edge of the neck pocket and one the back contour edge. Goerdt gave me the option of a full refund on the deal or accept a very reasonable discount, as he deemed the body to be now "less than prefect". As this was to be a "working" Bass I knew that I was only going to eventually add a few more myself. I accepted the discount and Jim reinforced the imperfections (which are barely noticeable anyway).

This Bass can withstand live stage performance better than most, it's built to be played by Pros.
All parts and fittings are well made and I see no reason that they wouldn't outlast me!
The finish is excellent, very deep and tough, seems to be Polyurethane (could be wrong though.) Not easily worn away by the looks of it.
I believe that I could gig with this Bass without a backup. But,I always use a backup though, in the unlikely event that something non-mechanical happens such as a lighting truss falls on it or I have to belt some ****wit in the gob with it.

The only Customer support available is Goerdt Lamberts who stands by his product 1OO% He stated that if I was unsatisfied with the instrument he would give me a full refund (Less shipping of course) I had no reason to doubt him and I have no intention af sending it back.
During the course of the entire transaction I must have emailed Goerdt more than 50 times and each email was responded to very quickly with loads of relevant information and photos. I also spoke to him for about 45 minutes on the phone and found him to be very sincere and honest. The man was an absolute pleasure to deal with in every aspect. I have a strong gut feeling that I will have no problems with this Bass, it???s a very robust unit.

I have been playing Bass since 1975, played professionally for 13 years but now play just beacuse I love it and have owned a variety of instruments over the years. I currently own a 1976 Gibson Grabber (which has been my main bass since ???76) and a Fender '76 re-issue P Bass. I use a Marshall Amp. This Signature/Fender hybrid has taken place as my main Axe and I would most certainly get another one if it were stolen or destroyed. Provided there were any left to be had.
There is nothing I don???t like about this instrument. I love the way it sounds and the grain in the wood blows me away. It is by and large the best looking and sounding Axe I have seen???.and it???s all mine, mine, mine???Muuuhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

This is a beautiful 3T Sunburst Ash J Bass body that I bought from Goerdt Lamberts at buildabass on Ebay. After talking with him, I decided to let him build me a bass. The high praise that has been given to these Signature basses is well deserved. I had him mate the body to a Signature maple neck with Rosewood board and MOP inlays (yes they are real MOP not Pearloid) add Hipshot HB 7 tuners and Marcus Miller DR strings and you have a real beast.

Wow!!! The pickups could start a fire, they are HOT. This thing has mad tone and is louder than my Marcus Miller with the preamp on!!! Sustain reminds me of my Steinberger XL and that is saying a lot. I'm comparing it to my Marcus Miller and the Sig is winning without question. Forget the F****r word, this thing is a beast and sounds better than the Sadowsky Vintage and 75 RI Jazz that I played at the LowEnd Bass shop a few weeks ago. It does have that 70s growl just like a vintage Fender but with clarity that makes it sound truly like a boutique J bass with big Balls. I think the fact that these parts were made in the late 80s or early 90s is like fine wine, you get a new bass with instant vintage tone and did I say the pickups are incredible!

Setup was nice, his guy Jim, who is in his 80s, does a good job. According to Goerdt Jim worked with Leo Fender back in the good old days when Fender actually made basses. It arrived with just a couple of minor blems on the neck (extremely small black mark on the white binding at the 12th fret and a very very small chip in the finish right around the neck joint area which knock it down from a perfect 10) but nothing at all to talk about and based on the fact that the bass has been in storage for so long its near perfect. The neck joint is tight and looks as good or better than my Marcus. This is actually better than advertised, Goerdt's pictures don't do justice to just how beautiful the wood is on this bass. The grain is better than most boutique basses and it looks and feels like a custom instrument. The neck profile is cool and feels like it is handmade, smooth frets, they had to be leveled but Jim did a great job. For an instrument and neck that have been in storage for more than 16 years this thing is the definition of NOS and just as advertised.

Seems J Bass tough and no reason to believe that it won't be around forever.

Since the company doesn't exist there isn't any. However, Goerdt is amazing to work with and a really nice guy. We exchanged about 20 emails and talked for almost 1 hour on the phone. If you really find out all that he can do and all of the stuff he has before you order you will be happy. I changed my mind several times and even decided to change the body and he was willing to do so without any drama. He sent me numerous pictures of various bodies with different necks and pick guards until I was totally happy.

Buying the Sig has turned out to be a great investment. This bass truly can compete with instruments costing up to 3 or 4 times as much. I wouldn't have believed it but its true, this bass blows the Fender 75 reissue away. For the price, there is no way to get as much or as nice an instrument. Best bang for the buck out there, for all of you who believe that a bass needs a certain name on it I feel sorry that you will never experience these wonderful basses. Buy a Signature bass you will not be disappointed but be sure to spend the extra and let Goerdt and Jim put it together with a neck that fits and you will be happy.