Bass Lab – Brubaker Guitars JXB-4

Who doesn’t dig an all-black J-style bass? It’s a tuxedo or a leather jacket, depending on how you dress around it. Blacked-out from edge to edge, this Brubaker 4-string has great choices everywhere you look. The unique swappable active/passive control modules are an unusual and very clever option from Brubaker. The carbon fiber pickguard with matching electronics cavity cover and all-black hardware is a great way to round it all out. 

Being totally black, I had to refer to the documents provided to discover it has a poplar body with a maple neck and fingerboard. All of the woods are painted or stained black. I don’t often see poplar in basses, but it certainly works here.

The pickups are a great modern choice from Howard Ulyate. These are great-sounding pickups that give a very open and clear tone. The control circuits are fascinating. They can be swapped out with the removal of three machine screws. One is a typical Fender Jazz Bass 3-knob passive setup (volume, volume, tone) and the other is an Aguilar 3-band active preamp. 

What is fascinating to me is that the pickups sound very different with the passive module. Clear and open, but they reveal how disparate their shapes are. The “Precision” coil is short and fat, and the “Jazz” coil is tall and thin. Mixed together passively, the two pickups sound very distinct from each other. However, if you swap the controls for the Aguilar preamp, the pickups themselves seem to behave differently. Even with everything flat, the two pickups blend better and sound very similar as you sweep the blend. I have no idea why this is, but I find it interesting.

With regard to shielding, there is shielding paint in the cavity on the sides and presumably on the bottom, although I couldn’t verify that. There is a strip of foil under the pots of the active circuit, but that strip doesn’t connect up with the sides and back in any way; as such, the shielding is incomplete. There isn’t anything under the passive pots, but that isn’t really needed; it’s the active side where shielding can make a difference in noise. Outside that, the wiring is very well executed; intentional wire runs, lots of shrink wrap. Very tidy. At any rate, this is a very quiet bass, with either module.

[Manufacturer’s Response: Regarding the shielding in the module, the copper strip that was noted is there to connect the controls to eliminate handling noise and is grounded. The carbon fiber control plate is conductive and highly resistant to EMI, so it forms the shielding to the top of the modules/control cavity. The entire cavity, including the pickup cavities and battery box, is shielded with the nickel-based paint we use. We take great care with the design and implementation of our electronic system and are grateful for the time and attention you gave to this new system.]

The tuners are Hipshot® Ultralite® models with the smaller clover tips; very light and accurate. The bridge is another unusual choice. The Ray Ross™ saddle-less bass bridge does away with the typical tailpiece string ball anchor and some kind of saddle for the strings to cross to create a takeoff point away from the string balls. Here, the ball is located where the bridge saddle would be. The string takes off right from a pin inserted into a movable anchor area that makes the tailpiece the “bridge” and removes a point of contact and string bend. 

A bold and brave choice that I’ll admit I was dubious about. Mostly, not because of the maker’s choices, but for the lack of precision that string makers often put into the wrapping the portion of string that secures the ball end. Usually, that area is out of the field of play, and so it has minimal sonic impact. But here, it’s right in the mix, meaning a string maker needs to make sure not to punt in construction at that end. Of course, they should stand behind their strings, and if you get a bum string, the manufacturer should replace it. Even though this bridge is an uncommon idea, I’m open-minded enough to consider that it might be a better mousetrap. I don’t have enough experience with it on known instruments to have an opinion about the differences it provides, but I know it sounds pretty darn good, here.

Construction is quite good on this bass. The joinery is great. The bolt-on neck has a cool body enclosed joint that makes the whole thing super strong. My only issue with this bass workmanship is the fret ends. They are not clean and straight. They are inconsistent and seem to have random file marks. It’s rather unexpected, given the excellence and attention to detail I see over the whole rest of the bass. It’s like the frets were done by another person…

In testing for dead spots, I notice diminished fundamental on the G string from A to D, which is the typical “dead area” associated with Fender-style bolt-on instruments. It may be a little more noticeable because of the piano-like nature of this bass’s sound everywhere else, but don’t misunderstand my nit picking; this bass sounds great and plays better than most Jazz-style basses you’ll find. 

The finish is a strong black matte finish that’s usable in a metal band or on a wedding gig. The only hint to its industrial nature are the carbon fiber appointments that from a distance are sort of unnoticeable. Design-wise, this is in the same ballpark as a Jazz Bass, and it wears like one. Very familiar and comfortable with the strap button at fret 12, where everyone expects it to be.

This bass sounds clear and clean with slightly truncated lows, but pronounced midrange. That’s a great combination when fed through a preamp like the Aguilar, where the mids cut and the bass can be kicked up to give solid low end without mud.

The bass plays really well and the truss rod works as it should. The unusual Ray Ross bridge is surprisingly easy to adjust, given how “out of the norm” it is. This is certainly a well-designed beast.

Overall, it’s a fantastic bass; light and well-balanced, and feels great when playing. It sounds great and has lots of range paired up with the preamp module. Priced under $3,000, it’s a big bang for the buck bass.