Leo Jaymz DIY Electric Bass Guitar Kits - Roasted Ash Wood Body, Maple Neck and Laurel Wood Fingerboard - Fully Components Included

For my second home build I chose the Leo Jaymz IB5 Five String DIY kit. Saw a number of good reviews on Leo Jaymz products and the price was good. The kit arrived quickly in excellent condition, like my previous build I was mainly interested in the body, neck and electronics as I ordered higher grade hardware. The body is billed as roasted ash but looked, felt and worked more like mahogany. It sanded well, took stain and finish very nicely and the neck was straight and just needed the ends of the frets touched up a little. The head was easily sanded into a more unique shape. The neck fit perfectly, no shimming needed.Hardware mounted easily, the pre wired plug and play pickups actually sound pretty good after being set properly and the pots work smoothly with no crackle.The finished bass looks great, the grain pattern pops with the stain and finish. Sound works for me.The only thing missing is an instruction book like other Leo Jaymz products but assembly is pretty self explanatory.I may just build another at some point. Thank you for an excellent kit!

Updated review 2025: I'm happy with this bass. I was a whiny wimp complaining about a bass for 130 bucks. People always compliment it. The pickups ended up sounding fine when i hooked it to a good amp.See the pic, looks pretty cool right? Sadly there are some issues, but it is a good looking instrument.Build and assembly went pretty well, but unlike another Leo Jaymz kit I got, this one has zero instructions included. It's pretty self explanatory though, so not an issue.-Frets need some leveling (not flush with fretboard, so aren't fully installed. Ends need filed. Not unexpected, and this isn't my main complaint.-To ground it I had to scrape paint off the back of the bridge. I confirmed it was grounded with a multimeter. The paint on the saddles also prevents grounding, but it is thin and the strings themselves penetrated it. Their tech support couldn't help me with this, so I had to research it myself and figure out a solution.-After assembly and stringing I found the neck needed to be shimmed... another inconvenience.-The nut is super thick, will need to be adjusted, but guess that's probably to be expected.-They shipped it with the wrong pickup springs... They are too long, and can't fully compress like other pickup springs I've seen used. I luckily had some other springs that worked, but I would like a proper tapered spring that can fully compress.-My biggest complaint though: The output from the big E-string is super low. I tried each pickup individually, and together. I wonder if the string isn't lined up with the pickup optimally. The pickup is just a plastic box, so I can't tell how the magnets are laid out. I put the pickup as close to the string as possible and it's still weak output. Good output on the rest of the strings. I don't wanna have to buy new pickups :-(

The kit I ordered was the IB 4 string model. the neck fit perfectly into the body and the body was cut nice and accurate. I purchase these kits and make them into very nice professional playing guitars/bass's. I don't use any of the electronics, nuts or saddles. I consider those parts trash,, period. This body is nice except the grain is a bit tight. the neck is in need of lots of dressing. the fretboard although of nice rosewood had sanding grit marks against the grain. I had to oil and scrape several time to get it clean and smooth, ant the frets were unlevel and required blocking, crowning and polishing. The roasted maple neck and truss are fine. I will be installing an EMG active pickup set in this custom bass build. Also Polished brass nut and saddles, the tuners are fare and will be used for now.FYI,, the cutouts for the pickups is for 5 string (4 Inch) size.EDIT: The bass is completed and it finished up extremely nice. All went well for the assembly. I did change the tuners to Guyker pro's and they are not sloppy as the cheapo's that came in the kit. I also noticed that the neck is not roasted as advertised, but it is dyed to simulate a roasted maple neck. This Pissed me off as I was finishing the neck and gave it a light sand between coats, I got a little burn through the dye to the raw wood. I didn't notice until I was done with the finish, If I would have caught it I would have just sanded off the dye. Now you know before you go! LOL!I installed and EMG DE signature active pickup set, did a 2V +1T + 3 way switch setup and I really thumps good and strong. Also added a brass Nut and saddles. This color is Tropical Teal with a satin lacquer finish. Enjoy!