Nordstrand Nordy vJ5
I know what you may be thinking: Look, expensive Jazz-style basses … how exciting (yawn). It’s true; the J-bass branch of the bass tree may need pruning, and there are already an abundance of sweet luxury options, be they from Jazz Bass originators Fender, or one of the several high-end companies that specialize in the niche. In Nordstrand’s defense, the Nordy-series basses concoct the J-bass formula with unique flavor, so they’re worth a close look. California’s Carey Nordstrand is a smart builder: What began as a typical boutique bass shop has expanded to include a full line of carefully designed pickups and the new J-style Nordy Series, which includes his pickups and a variety of electronics options.
The two Nordys I tested, confusingly both named vJ5, represent the yin and yang of the Nordy line. On one side, there’s the Sherwood green 5’er, which goes for the vintage vibe with an alder body, Indian rosewood fingerboard, passive electronics, and single-coil pickups. Representing the spankity-funk hemisphere is the ash-body edition, which pays a not-so-subtle homage to Marcus Miller’s famed Fender Jazz Bass with its big black inlays, bound fingerboard, and sizzly active electronics.
The Nordstrands’ special take on the J-bass formula is best represented in two ways. First, each bass has a 34w" scale. This length is the right compromise between the standard 34" scale’s familiar feel and the tension benefits of the 35" length, which to me has always felt too long and made the strings too stiff. The Nordys’ other special quality is their pickups: Carey Nordstrand knows what he’s doing pickup-wise (check out my March ’06 review for more on Nordstrand J-style pickups), and as found in the vJ basses, his designs are exquisitely rich, punchy, and articulate.
Beyond the scale length and electronics, the Nordys come off like the familiar belly buddies they are. They were comfortable in all the right spots, with excellent neck profiling (the ash bass neck had a slightly softer V-profile, which I preferred), faultless fretwork, and lovely finishing. Bonus points for their killer setup on arrival, and though I had to tweak the ash bass’s trussrod a hair (due to weather, no doubt), I commend Nordstrand for its superior attention to detail. It was undoubtedly a big factor in why the vJ5 basses were the office favorites on arrival—there was something particularly inviting about them. To top it off, they’re quite light and well balanced.
The Green One
The beautiful passive vJ5 was super in every way, provided I didn’t expect it to sound like something it isn’t. The Nordstrand Big Single pickups may look like humbuckers, but they’re actually true single-coils with giant internals and giant tone. On my tester, the high-output Big Singles cranked out massive lows, growly and textured mids, and a barky treble that didn’t extend too far beyond what many consider the upper midrange. Soloing the bridge pickup made for an outrageously vicious midrange burp, and the neck pickup was woody and woolly, with more lows. With pickups blended, the green vJ5 sounded poised and balanced, with excellent dynamic response that communicated a connectedness between the instrument and my technique. The passive vJ5 sounds fairly dark—even with everything dimed—so if you’re after sizzle, read on. For straightforward J-style tone, though, it’s magical.
List $2,990
Street $2,300
Pros Superb, powerful J-bass tone; top-notch construction and setup
Cons None
Bottom line For an excellent-sounding J-style bass with a few neat twists, look no further.
SPECS
Body Alder
Neck Maple
Fingerboard Indian rosewood
Scale 34 1/2"
Weight 8.5 lbs
Pickups Nordstrand Big Single single-coil
Electronics Passive
Controls Volume, volume, tone
Hardware Hipshot tuners and bridge
Made in U.S.A.
Warranty Lifetime limited
The Natural One
Sonically, the other vJ5 is the inverse of the passive model. Its sophisticated Audere preamp and punchy ash/maple body/neck combination make it a modern-sounding beast, with tight lows, a flexible EQ, and stratospheric treble response. The Audere preamp alone warrants significant elaboration (fortunately you can get just that in the July ’07 issue of BP)—but in summary, it’s the bomb, if you’re an active-electronics sort of cat. In addition to its 3-band EQ, it includes a tone-altering pickup-load switch and an active-mixing blend knob for pickup-to-pickup ratios that accurately match the knob’s position relative to the center detent (passive blends don’t behave this way). Plus, it includes my all-time favorite feature on active basses: a high-rolloff tone knob, the quickest solution for real-time treble taming.
The active vJ5 was a wicked slap and funk bass, with enough clean booty and fundamental to make it versatile enough for pop and more. It doesn’t have the same note-to-note weight and gravity as its passive brother, but it’s quicker and more responsive in a way. My only complaint (and this is actually directed at Audere) is that the knob locations should be reconsidered. Putting the oft-accessed blend knob on a concentric pot under the tone-defining midrange knob and next to the load switch is a misstep. I found it frustrating on gigs to go gingerly after my blend knob, hoping I wouldn’t inadvertently brush all the other stuff.
List $3,390
Street $2,610
Pros Tight, active-preamp super-J tone; top-notch construction and setup
Cons Knobs could be better laid out
Bottom line A super-slick modern J-style bass. Slapper’s delight.
SPECS
Body Ash
Neck Maple
Fingerboard Maple
Scale 34 1/2"
Weight 8.5 lbs
Pickups Nordstrand Big Split humbuckers
Electronics Audere Audio JZ3
Controls Volume, bass, ±12dB @ 80Hz (shelving); mid, ±10dB @ 500Hz (wide bandwidth); treble, ±10dB @ 3.7kHz; passive tone
Hardware Hipshot tuners and bridge
Made in U.S.A.
Warranty Lifetime limited
CONTACT
(909) 790-2548 www.nordstrandguitars.com
