Brazilian music has had a profound influence on the entire world, and quite significantly, here in the US where we hear the roots of funk, and disco in the beats of Samba, and Bossa Nova. In the realm of bass players, the country has its own tradition, going back to the great Luizao Maia, considered by many to be the “James Jamerson Of Brazil”, to current Brazilian bass ace Michael Pipoquinha, who has been blowing people away with his fluidity and prodigious abilities. But when it comes to Brazilian bass builders, not many brands have been able to establish a foothold in the US market—D’Mark Guitars intends to change that. D’Mark is a small, family-run shop that custom builds several different models, all using indigenous hardwoods, eye-catching finishes, and their home-grown pickup/preamp combination. I was sent an Omega 6 Exotic, a beautiful single-cut style bass, and their new JBX8 Exotic, a souped-up 5-string, J-type axe that cuts a distinct path for itself in a crowded field. 

JBX8 Exotic 5-String 

The 5-String J is undoubtedly one of the most popular formats in the electric bass world, and like opinions (and certain body parts), everyone’s got one. D’Mark starts with some of the basic parameters like a bolt-on neck mated with an offset body, two single-coil pickups, and that’s about it. The 24-fret neck extends the “Jaco zone” for soloing with great access to the upper frets thanks to the nicely-sculpted neck heel. Five countersunk bolts firmly join the neck—made of Marfim, a cream-colored dense hardwood, to the Brazilian Mahogany body. The Hard Maple fretboard has a 22″ radius, and while I was initially concerned the 19mm string spacing at the bridge might feel too wide for a 5ver, it tapers down to a svelte 46mm (1.81″) at the nut, which made the entire playing surface feel totally manageable to me—someone who is acclimated to G&L’s 17mm spacing and 44.5mm nut. Speaking of the nut, I was surprised to learn that what I thought was graphite is actually brass, but dyed black to match the rest of the hardware. The Mahogany body is capped with a luscious burled Noguiera top (Portuguese for Walnut), and the satin finish gives the top that “almost naked” feel under the hand, while still being protective. The clear pickguard lets you enjoy the beauty of the top without potentially wearing through it from slap or pick damage. The Gotoh GB707 tuners work well—as you would expect, and for me, the straight post is definitely preferable to a tapered design. The matching headstock cap ads serious sex appeal to this already head-turning instrument, the overall presentation is very high end custom. In fact, D’Mark essentially operates as a custom shop. The choice of woods, finishes, tops, are all customizable, making each D’Mark bass a unique statement within the parameters of the model.

While the physical plant of the JBX8 is beautifully designed and built, The big story here is in the pickups—both the construction, and placement. D’Mark moved the two J pickups closer together, as well as closer to the bridge, giving the JBX8 a more aggressive stance, while managing to maintain a J-Bass tone profile. Both pickups together sounds like a J with more bite, but still a J. The neck pickup is positioned roughly 1.375″ closer to the bridge than a standard J, resulting in a more focused version of the open, throaty tone a soloed J neck pickup gives. I found myself getting very attached to this tone, it has girth, but with an articulate grind that grabs your attention. The bridge pickup is crazy close to the bridge, almost a full inch closer than on a typical 60s J. Soloed, it’s tight and clean, and perhaps a little thin—at least in passive mode, but the preamp has the power to change all that. The D’Mark electronics package as a whole sounds fantastic, and the pickups are where it all begins. The SN510 pickups are alnico single coils, but through a process that is currently being patented, they operate noise-free when soloed. They have the balanced, “organic” quality I associate with passive pickups, but they also have a smooth, extended high frequency response that gives the bass an “expensive” tone. Listening to playback of the instrument in passive mode, it has the attack and punch I want from a Fender-style instrument, but with a little more icing on the cake. My one wish list item would be to have a passive tone control.

Before he started working as a luthier, Pereira had a background in electronics and audio, and it shows as soon as you turn on the preamp. The D’Mark 3-band eq circuit runs on 18v, the two 9v batteries are stored in the control cavity. It’s not a huge pain, but it would be nice to have easier access to them in the event they go down. As great as the pickups sound in passive mode, the preamp turns the JBX8 into a completely different, magnificent beast. The preamp’s frequencies are set differently than anything I’ve run into. Lows are centered at 67Hz, Mids are switchable between 540Hz and 930Hz, and the highs are focused at 10KHz. The low and mid frequencies were a big surprise for me, but they perfectly complimented the D’Mark’s pickups. The lows plump up the sound without sacrificing definition—you can add a lot without it becoming overbearing. Other high-end preamps focus the highs at 10K for “sparkle”, and the D’Mark really shines in the highs while avoiding any shrillness. Rolling off the highs leaves you with a warm texture that thumps but still articulates. I’ve never encountered 540Hz and 930Hz for the mids in an onboard preamp before, but now I wonder if more people shouldn’t try it. 540Hz was perfect for filling out the low mids for a full, round finger-style tone on all pickups, but especially useful for pumping up the bridge pickup when soloed. 930Hz proved to be a perfect cut frequency to chill out the slap tone, or boosted to add more definition to bass-heavy eq. Listening to playback of the JBX8 in active mode, it has that big, track-filling sound you hear on well-produced records.

Omega 6 Exotic

The Omega 6 was the first D’Mark instrument I got my hands on, sent over from the Bass-Spot in Downer’s Grove, Ill. As the only US dealer for D’Mark, owner Randy Riley filled me in on the brand, and how it is truly a family-run business with Marco Pereira, his wife and sons handling all aspects of production. The Omega 6 is their version of the now-classic single-cut design seen in the high-end custom world. I myself have never owned a single-cut, but I always figured the extra mass of wood attached to the lower side of the neck would give the low B incredible clarity and solidity. I can’t say if that is true for all single-cut 6s, but in the case of the D’Mark? Hells yes! At 34″ scale, the Omega 6 had a low B string with depth, and character. The harmonics were clear, and playing it all the way up the neck, the notes delivered a pure fundamental without choking overtones. 

This particular Omega has a Brazilian Mahogany body, with a Premium Cedar center block, and a thin layer of Wenge lurking beneath the gloss-finished exotic Mappa Burl top. The 3-piece neck is Hard Maple with a Brazilian Muiracatiara (Purple Heart) center stripe, and has 24 stainless steel jumbo frets. The Hard Maple fingerboard has a 22″ radius, with Abalone dot inlays, and the neck-through construction is bolstered by two carbon graphite reinforcement rods. Combined with the inherent sturdiness of the single-cut design, the neck is confidently rock solid. The monorail-style bridge has 18mm string spacing, that tapers to a 54mm (2.13″) brass nut.

Frankly, the Omega 6 is kind of big for me. My personal preference is closer to 17mm or even the 16.25mm string spacing of my old Carvin 6 from the 90s. But the D’Mark’s dimensions did not prevent me from falling in love with the sound and playability. At this point, all D’Mark 6s are equipped with monorail bridges and 18mm spacing, while the 5-strings have a proprietary bridge with 19mm spacing. High Brazilian import taxes on US hardware makes it difficult to source a wide range of bridges, but Riley says they are working out a way to get different hardware templates to the factory so other string spacings will be available. While I felt a little hampered doing my guitaristic-chords-with-alternating-basslines-across-all-6-strings schtick, what I was able to squeak out had a balanced tone with low and high registers nicely complimenting each other. 

The electronics package is essentially identical to the JBX8, but the Omega’s SN610 pickups use the classic soapbox form factor, which initially led me to think they were humbuckers due to the lack of single-coil hum. I was wondering “how did they get these humbuckers to sound so open?” When I found out they were single-coil, I was even more impressed that they devised a solution to hum without sacrificing tone. I totally vibed with the passive palete of the Omega, it has a full-range profile with lots of high frequency “air”, balanced with a firm fundamental, a stout attack, and a pleasing overall eq  curve—I could play this bass happily without ever turning on the preamp. But, the preamp is there, and once again—it gave the Omega a fuller, rounder waveform.

The frequency centers are the same as the JBX8 preamp, but the different pickup placement and body construction of the Omega creates a completely different set of results. The neck pickup is placed much more in the classic P territory, while the bridge pickup hovers around 60s J position. The blended pickup texture is right in line with what you expect from a modern instrument, somewhat J-like, but fatter and more rich. The slap tone proved to be deadly, but it was just as easy to dial in a fatback thump, or a beautiful melodic jazz tone. The D’Mark electronics package is a well-matched pairing of amazing pickups with a studio-grade preamp. While the bass can stand alone in passive mode, the preamp imparts a “finished quality” to the sound, and is EQ’d perfectly to bring the best out of the instrument.

6-string basses cover a wide musical range, and making all of those registers speak evenly and clearly takes the right combination of materials, and expert construction. The Omega 6 had that rare quality one usually finds in instruments costing several thousand dollars more. Both D’Mark instruments I spent time with responded like thoroughbreds, I could tell they could handle a lot more than I could dish out. But former Chaka Kahn MD and bassist, and the undisputed Godfather of Contemporary Gospel bass, Andrew Gouché recently took a trip to Brazil and got his hands on a D’Mark Fusion 6, from what I heard, that bass came home with him. 

D’Mark is still very new to the US market, but is a well-established brand in Brazil. Marcos Pereira has been building since 1998, and his instruments are in a lot of hands. He is crafting unique instruments that rival the big boys of the custom bass world, but sell for a fraction of the cost. The aggressive tone profile of JBX8 would slay for funk, jazz, or metal, but the atypical position of the neck pickup makes it just as suitable for soul, R&B, country, blues, or Americana. The Omega 6 can deliver the goods in a wide range of settings, laying down the bottom, or as a solo voice. While both visually stunning examples of wood porn, D’Mark has customized finishes that are even more eye-catching, as well as standard painted bodies for the Fender lovers. If you’re looking for a custom instrument with top-notch build and electronics, but don’t have any spare organs to sell, take a serious look at D’Mark Guitars lineup.

D’Mark JB X8 5-String Specs:

Body: Brazilian Mahogany

Top: Exotic Nogueira

Finish: Satin

Neck: Bolt on, Brazilian Marfim

Neck Finish: Satin

Carbon rod reinforcement: Yes

Fingerboard: Hard Maple, 24 Frets

Fingerboard radius: 22″

Frets: Stainless Steel Jumbo

Inlays: Abalone Dots

Scale Length: 34″

Tuners: Gotoh GB 707

Nut: Brass, dyed black

Width at nut: 46 mm

24th Fret width: 78 mm

Pickups: D’Mark SN510 

Preamp: D-Mark custom 3 band

Controls: Volume, Volume, Bass, Midrange, Treble, Active/Passive mini switch, Midrange mini switch 

Frequencies: Lows 67Hz, Mids 540/930Hz, Highs 10Khz 

Bridge: Brass BB405

String Spacing (Bridge): 19 mm

String Spacing (Nut): 9 mm

Fret 1 Thickness: 20.5 mm

Fret 12 Thickness: 23 mm

Weight: 9 lbs

Case: Structured gig bag

D’Mark Omega 6 Exotic Specs:

Body: Brazilian Mahogany wings, Premium Cedar center block 

Top: Exotic Mappa Burl

Finish: Gloss

Neck: 3-piece Hard Maple/Purple Heart/Hard Maple

Neck Finish: Satin

Carbon rod reinforcement: Dual

Fingerboard: Hard Maple, 24 frets

Fingerboard Radius: 22″

Frets: Stainless Steel Jumbo 

Inlays: Abalone Dots

Scale Length: 34”

Tuners: Gotoh GB 707

Nut: Brass

Width At Nut: 54mm

24th Fret Width: 92mm

Pickups: D’Mark SN610

Preamp: D’Mark Custom 3-band

Controls: Volume, Volume, Bass, Midrange, Treble, Active/Passive mini switch, Midrange mini switch 

Frequencies: Lows 67Hz, Mids 540/930Hz, Highs 10Khz 

Bridge: Monorail

String Spacing (Bridge): 18mm

String Spacing (Nut): 9mm

Fret 1 Thickness: 21mm

Fret 12 Thickness: 23.5mm

Weight: 10.2 lbs