J5 Custom
"Katana"
Series
Bassworks' "Katana" series of basses owe some of their inspiration to Leo Fender's bold asymmetric design in the 1960s.
​
Despite their design influences, our instruments strive to improve on what has gone before. Our chambered body being supremely light but strong and resonant.
​
This custom J5 sports hand wound Aero Instrument quad coil pickups. From "Jaco to Jamerson"in an instant.
​
Our proprietary heel joint is very special and unique to us. It enhances sonic coupling and neck-to-body alignment.
​
30+ years of playing and our skilled manufacture deliver the tone, playability and reliability that all bass players deserve to enjoy in the Katana series.
​
The quality and tonality of this instrument is in our humble opinion at least the equal of those from the "premier bass custom shop in Brooklyn, New York", but far more competitively priced.
​
Crafted in small batches and entirely in our own shop, every instrument is built with the same painstaking attention to detail, using stable tonewoods and world-class electronics and hardware.
5 String
35" scale length (889mm)
22 frets, finished with my "Aero" fret-end bull-nosed treatment
Hipshot 0.750" (19.05mm) piezo bridge, with ferrules to rear for string-through-body stringing option (super long scale strings required)
10-13" compound radius fretboard
Oil finished body comprising a Franquette Walnut drop top on a chambered Swamp Ash body, with a thick Wenge veneer contrast strip
Birdseye Maple headstock plate over lightly chambered headstock
Neck profile: Custom slim "J" influenced
2 carbon fibre re-inforcement rods
1 piece Canadian Rock Maple neck, oiled finish
Fingerboard: Birdseye Maple (Luminlay side markers, block inlays)
Aero Instrument quad coil, custom string spacing for perfect pole-piece alignment, hand wound PUs in custom cover from the same bookmatched top wood. PU wound by Larry Pollack in Hawaii. This pickup set is worth £600 alone!
John East 18V, 3 band Pre-amp with magnetic/piezo signal blend circuit
Neutrik locking side jack
Hipshot (USA) Ultralite tuners, Hipshot string trees
Brass nut
2-way truss rod, heel access
"Narrow/Medium" frets with "Invisible Fret Ends", fret ends finished esquisitely with my bull-nosed "Aero" fret end treatment
Hiscox custom hard case included
