A short review:
The bass looks and feels good. Gloss finish, open pore body, but the neck is smooth cos of the maple. I tried two. One had a two piece mahogany body and another was three piece. Not a problem, but just somethin I noticed.
Weight is okay. Not as light as an SG and not really heavy. It feels more robust than a normal short scale or an SG. Mustangs can feel a bit toy-ish to us bassists. balance is good due to the ultralight tuners, with classic clover buttons. The headstock is nice with just a black bell shape TRC and 'Les Paul Model' and Gibson on it. The three point is back. At the showroom was an SG Bass with the Babicz and it is just to big and modern. The new pickguard gives it a '70s ish cool look. A bit less friendly and more rock.
I like the neck, narrow, rounded. C. Nice!
I think a part of the succes of the JCS is that Fender players feel at home easily. Long scale, middle pickup. An SG or Rivoli/EB2 and especially a Tbird can be too strange for a Fender player. I know several people buying a Bird and selling it soon afterwards because it just feels Different. The DC feels 'normal' and I think this will be a part of the succes of the DC too. It feels more Fender'-ish because of the middle pickup and weight and dimensions don't make it too small.
With The SG Bass I always had both pickups open. Playing at the neck makes it warm and round and at the bridge almost Fender-ish. This DC has more one sound but a good one! A bit as you expect from a middle puckup in that bass. Mid heavy - middle pickup and maple neck - a good growly rock tone. The notes are very even sounding weith the typical attack and decay of a set neck. Less attack, so smooth, even tones. Not as round as an SG bass. A little bit less 'character' maybe, but also easier in a band. It has enough warmth. The second bass I tried had the pickup higher and it was warmer. So you can experiment. So definately no Fender sound. Warmer, wider, but still enough power to push through a mix.
Than the push/pull, which is a coil tap. In normal down position it's the mid heavy rock sound I just wrote about. Up, you use the whole humbucker and it's much warmer. Warm, open, wide, but never muddy. Same character as the down position, but you get warmt, width and low added. I think it will sound cool with acoustic guitars. In a rock band you might push the button down for a bit more push.
Tone down make it all a bit duller. Normally I like to use a good tone control, but with the push/pull you got enough sounds.
Of course it plays like a short scale, but the bass feels massive enough not to be a toy. I don't thinks it sounds really short scale, until you reach higher notes and you get that full, big sound only a short can gove you at the D and G. Love that. So it has the advantages of a short without any disadvantages.
Gibson has a matte 2015 sunburst SG bass, which they lended to artists. It's a bit 'relic' after five hard years. I might buy that, cos they offered it to me for a good price and I love the matte burst on the SG Bass. But what if I had to chose between DC or SG?
For me it's a money issue too, so I think of buying the SG. I had a red one, sold it and miss it. The SG is more Gibson. I have enough basses to cover rock sounds, so I'll get the SG for the warm SG sound. Would I still be playing with a rock band regularly, I would def. buy the DC. A great little bass!
I repeat myself, but I think it's a Fender-playuer-friendly model, which can make it a winner.
