Bacchus Junior Series Jetsons Offset Black 2003
Bacchus Junior Series Jetsons style, satin black, made in Japan 2003. Bacchus were doing some excellent work in the early 2000s, building guitars by hand in their Nagano workshop to an exemplary standard. The Bacchus Junior series, all badged with a quirky 'BJ' logo on the headstock (heck), were only made for a year or so and don't seem to have appeared in the mainline catalog of the time. We've had a superb purple sparkle Jazzmaster style guitar through from the same series; it was very cool stuff. This one appears to share some curves and lines with the Airline '59 model from their Jetson's series, although it's not an exact copy of either their vintage or recent offerings. Being a Bacchus, it's well made: the slim maple neck has some gorgeous tight grain and a streaky dark rosewood slab fretboard; it feels fantastic. The body is nicely finished in a satin black that's aging nicely, and it holds tune nicely thanks to some sturdy hardware. The pickups are awesome: pretty firmly in the P-90 genre, and very convincing. The tone is angular and expansive, with a slicing treble balanced by a warbly, warm and assured low end. It's a fun guitar to hit hard: give it some nasty power chords or stanky riffs and it will growl back at you with gusto and glee. I've never seen another one of these, so you've probably got one shot. Probably.
Model: Bacchus Junior Series Jetsons Black (exact model unverified)
Made: Japan, 2003, Headway workshop
Serial: 122963
Finish: black, satin poly
Body: mahogany
Neck: maple, rosewood fretboard, 25.5” scale, 12" radius, slim C shape
Weight: 3.580kg
Mods: none
Pickups: Bacchus soapbar single coil x2
Accessories: basic gig bag
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has dimples on the end, top edge and front near the BJ logo and some scuffs on the bottom edge. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor rub wear and dimples on the back only. The back has scuffs on the top horn, belly carve, elbow area, middle of the body and the back edge and some dimples on the bottom edge. The sides have dimples on the top horn, dimples in the elbow area and some rub wear and scuffs near the jack and on the bottom horn. The front has scuffs in the elbow area and around the bridge and tailpiece, scratches on the guard around the knobs and some play wear on the guard and horns.
Overall: very good condition (7.5/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 11/49 Moonshiners strings.
Fret life: 8/10, minor wear only