Jay Dee Music

JayDee bass guitars is a Birmingham UK based custom maker and repairer of guitars and basses, run by John Diggins.

JayDee basses achieved prominence in the 1980's through the playing of Mark King of Level 42. They featured complex ACTIVE electronics, capable of a wide variety of sounds in a number of combinations. However, the electronics were considered to be noisy. The Jaydee active circuit consisted of a 4-position rotary switch with an l.e.d. power indicator. It has a master volume, master tone,low, mid, high EQ controls, and a 2-way active/passive switch. On most models such as the Mark King supernatural, it also features a direct-out XLR output. The system runs on 2 9-volt batteries that are sandwiched tightly in a routed battery compartment on the back. The pickups are basically 2 P-bass pickups in mahogany wood housings and are anchored in place from the back by 4 hex screws.

Hardware came in chrome or gold-plated that consisted of 2 round string anchors, a complex bridge assembly, and Schaller bass tuners. The Mark King models contained a 7-piece wood laminate and mahogany configuration. The matching neck is a set glued-in neck. One drawback to this design is that the bass requires frequent truss rod adjustments from time to time. One option on these basses was the 'finger trench' between the neck pickup and neck. This allowed more room to 'pop' a string with out digging your nails into the body.

The most notable feature AbOUT this bass is the headstock which is The Famous "V" shape. It referenced the peace symbol of the '60's. These instruments are hard to come by if you're in the market for a used one. Ebay has them from time to time, mostly from England. Some of these basses have fetched over $3,000 USD on Ebay alone.

Jaydee is still in business today and are on a customer-order basis. Here is thier website: jaydeeguitars.com