LeftyBassist.com

I think a few of you have Epi Jack Casady basses. What do you think of them?

I played the Casady @ NJ Guitar &Bass Center last week. Jay is asking $750 for it.
It was light around 8 lbs. and I didn't experience any neck dive sitting or standing. Sitting down it was very comfy to play.
Standing was somewhat awkward. I'm a Fender player so the body shape threw me a bit.
The reach to the lower frets was pretty long since the strap button is positioned on the back of the body.
Tone wise it was very impressive. The single low impedence pickup produces a fairly growly tone and you
can dial in good lows with the sort of "varitone" control. I also found depending on where you pluck/pick
in reference to the pick up you can get a wide variety of sounds.
Not really my cup of tea but it does replicate that Casady Jefferson Airplane tone very well.

Thanks. I wonder how it sounds when compared to a bass like a Hofner. I swear that the Hofner can get orchestral bass sounds.

It has the same kind of organic tone that comes from a hollow instrument, but it has more sustain and more growl than a Hofner. To be fair, I've yet to string it with flats so a proper A/B will have to wait, but I'm sure those aspects will remain, just sound better than the rounds.

Way more versatile and useful than a Hofner. Hofners are a 1 trick pony, IMO.

The one trick pony thing depends on the pickup configuration on a Höfnerr in my experience. The ones with cavern spacing have so many more useful sounds. If you throw tapes or rounds on them, they really open up. But yeah the Casady is definitely still more versatile. And at this price, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one if I didn’t already have mine

My review. Epiphone and the Chinese factory they’re using have their shitz together. Superb workmanship, sound, and feel. Slightly important to me, they have the correct pots on it for lefties. It’s beautiful too.

Sound-wise, it’s closer to my Explorer bass than to a hollow body like my Höfner. The pickup is powerful , and the varitone switch is incredibly useful for a range of tones.

For now, I don’t know why I’d mod it in any way. Too, I already have flats on my Ric, fretless Jazz, and Höfner, so for now, I’m going to play it with the excellent sounding round wounds.

I also have the Epiphone Korina (solid, not laminate) Explorer bass and a Casino, surprisingly excellent Chinese guitars. I owned three Epiphones before that had so much poly on them, the bodies looked like they had thick glass encasing them and the pickups sucked butt. Now, Epiphone has redeemed itself. I’d put them slightly above the quality of Epiphones in the golden years of their Korean builds.

The factory Epiphone uses in China has gotten very good at building guitars. I haven’t noticed any differences in quality with the Korean instruments of 20 years ago I own.

Good review, and I agree on most points. The mods I did (tuners/bridge) definitely added a lot to the bass. The 3 point bridge in my experience is generally garbage, on par with a RIC bass bridge. I can’t always get them to intonate properly when setting up. The Hipshot replacement adds infinitely better adjustment because the saddle height can be individually adjusted. I can get obscenely low action on mine. The Grover tuners are definitely smoother turning but the stock tuners are passable for sure.
Glad you’re digging it!

I might try modding it later, but right now, I’m really digging it the way it is. I’m playing it every day.

I live in a small Tennessee town, and even the bigger town next to me—3 types of bands: country, hard core metal, and Christian rock. Not my thing, but I’m itching to play in a band again. I’m dying to try out the Casady and a few I bought during the covid lockdown that haven’t yet seen a jam.