Ultra J5 Essence

Jahmal Nichols Signature Model

I met Jahmal Nichols at Winter NAMM 2019.  He visited the Anaconda Booth and was very impressed with the various Elite Series Basses he checked out.  We struck up a rapport and in 2021, he took delivery of his first Ultra J5 Essence Bass.  Jahmal was so impressed with the bass, that he decided he wanted to put his name on an Anaconda Bass.  Discussions began around specifications for his very own Signature Bass.  Jahmal is also a Bartolini Artist and he's a big fan of their Pickups and Preamps. We settled on the superb Bartolini B-Axis Pickups and NTMB Preamp combination, which really compliments Jahmal's playing style.  The Fingerstyle and slap tone of this bass, coupled with the other superb features of the Ultra J5 Essence Series Basses, makes this bass a real Tone Monster.


Jahmal Nichols is a Bassist, Composer, Producer. He is the Bass Player for Gregory Porter and has performed and toured globally with many artists for the past 20 years.

• Alder Body

• Arctic White Gloss finish and matching headstock with Jahmal's signature

• Bartolini b-axis Humcancelling Pickups

• Bartolini NTMB 3-Band Preamp (Volume, Blend, Mid, Stacked Treble/Bass, Active Passive Push/Pull, 3 Mid centres switch) 18 Volts

• Maple Neck - 6 Bolt, Bolt on

• Dual carbon fibre rods.

• 21 Frets

• 34.5" Scale length

• Maple Fingerboard (16" radius)

• Pearloid Block Markers

• White Fingerboard binding

• Gold Gotoh GB350 RES-O-LITE Tuners

• Gold Sung Il monorail Bridge - 19mm String Spacing

• Dual action Truss Rod

• White Pearloid Pickguard

• Hipshot string tree

• 48mm Nut width

• Tusq Nut

• Gig bag

• Approximate weight 4.0-4.4 Kg.


Bartolini b-axis Pickups:

(5-String Amer. Standard 19mm - J55J-19)

These Pickups are the foundation of the tone of the Jahmal Nichols Signature bass.

“b-axis pickups are super punchy and bright, but also warm. They have outstanding articulation, attack, and harmonic response. Musicians who play jazz, rock, country, gospel, and hip-hop are already finding their voice in b-axis pickups.  The b-axis pickups series is based on the very foundations of Bill Bartolini's initial pickup designs back in the early '70s. The guiding design principle was to provide a highly asymmetric magnetic field to fully capture string vibration.”


Bartolini NTMB Preamp:

(NTMB+F 3-Band EQ)

Bartolini's most popular preamp for decades.  "The NTMB+F is a 3-band tone control preamp with fully independent Bass, Mid and Treble controls has very low noise and wide boost/cut range for aggressive control. The sound is extremely clear and transparent. The high frequency treble response allows for a bright and sparkly tone when you need it."


Scale Length:

 The 34.5" scale length means that you get an excellent tight B string , which is balanced in response with the other strings and suffers from none of the floppiness that can be a problem with some 34" scale, 5 string Basses. The extended distance from the nut to the B string tuner also adds extra string tension, resulting in a killer B string.


Neck:

The neck profile is extremely comfortable. It starts with a C profile at the Nut and gradually blends into a flattened D at the Heel. This makes playing chords, soloing further up the neck effortless. The rock solid, 6 bolt attachment to the neck heel, allows for full energy transfer to the body, resulting in superb punch and growl and extended sustain. The lower horn cutaway is designed to provide easy access up to the 21st fret. The dual Carbon Fibre rods add extra stability and strength to the neck and further enhance sustain, dynamics and energy transfer to the body. Constant adjusting of neck relief, is a thing of the past.


Sung Il Monorail bridge:

The Monorail bridge minimises cross-talk between strings. The result is massive sustain, no discernible interaction between notes, no dead spots or wolf notes. Notes are clear and dynamically equivalent all the way up the neck.


The Essence series is designed to provide classic Jazz style tones, but with supreme punch, growl and note definition in the lower register, combined with even note dynamics up and down the neck, extended sustain in a familiar package.