join where the neck broadens into a heel,
which then extends into a paddle-shaped
spar that matches a corresponding route in
the body. Two bolts are located in roughly
the same position you’d normally find a
traditional neck plate, and the other two
bolts are located in the middle of the back,
just slightly closer to the butt of the bass
than where the neck pickup sits on top.
Mimicking a set neck, the neck joint is
effectively over six inches long—impressive!
Brute Slap
The JJX- 4 features a dual, J-bass-style
pickup configuration with proprietary
a very gratifying way—and this proved
true while standing, too—and 2) that
the neck played impressively well directly
out of the case, with low action and well-
executed fretwork. The string height was
at the point that if you were really pulling
(think right-hand attack on an upright
bass), you’d get some slight buzzing, but
My first two impressions were 1) that the bass
balanced in a very gratifying way—and this proved
true while standing, too—and 2) that the neck
played impressively well directly out of the case.
Brubaker-designed pickups that use ceramic
8 magnets. Electronics include a 2-band
active preamp with knobs for Volume,
Blend, Treble (centered at 15 kHz), and
Bass (centered at 40 Hz). The preamp is
accessible by removing the pickguard, so the
only route on the back of the instrument is
for the 9V battery compartment. Finishing
off the list of appointments, the JJX- 4 has
Gotoh-style tuners, a solid-feeling die-cast
bridge, and a graphite nut.
When I picked up the Brute and threw
it across my knee, my first two impressions were 1) that the bass balanced in
probably not enough to come through
the amp. In my book, this meant it was
set up excellently for slap bass and very
good for rock or fingerstyle funk. For
more aggressive playing, the action can be
brought up with a few quick and simple
adjustments of the saddles. And while
some players might not think the JJX- 4’s
medium neck profile isn’t the fastest or
the slickest available, I found a lot to like
about its playability.
At Home with the Tone
Plugging the JJX- 4 into an Ampeg B5R
head and Schroeder 1212L cab, I was
impressed by the flexibility of the electron-
ics. They’re simple to use, and it was easy
to get a wide variety of nice sounds with
precise adjustments of the EQ and various
blending ratios between the pickups. The
soloed neck pickup produced a big, open,
bell-like tone, and when I dialed in lots of
bass frequencies I was able to crank out fat,
rumbling tones like you’d expect from a
Hammond organ player’s left hand.
