What have I done?

madbassplaya · #1 05-02-2011, 07:41 AM

I've been playing long enough and bought/sold enough gear to know what works for me and what doesn't. I have found that a Jazz bass strung with nickel rounds with 19 mm spacing is exactly what I like. Having come to this decision, I decided to order my Carvin SB5000. I was down to one bass and when I ordered the Carvin, which I sold, so I needed a bass to play until the Carvin came in.

I began looking for a suitable bass that would become the Carvin's back up once it arrived. I never thought I'd do this...but I bought a Squier. A Squier Deluxe Active Jazz V to be exact.
I bought it because:

1. It's a jazz bass
2. Giggable as is
3. Endless upgrade options
4. Price
5. Reviews on TB

I never thought I'd buy a Squier, but after reading the reviews on here, I'm pretty excited about getting this black beauty.

Ibanez Bassist · #2 05-02-2011, 08:37 AM

I love my two Squire's.. I love the great tone's, the way they feel, the set up.. definitely not as expensive as the Carvin but for me its all about how it feels and plays for me..
Nice Bass..

mmbongo · #3 05-02-2011, 09:03 AM

I bought one of those too! God it was a piece of crap. The neck shape is awful, it feels like plastic, and the pickups are not even wide enough for the strings. There was literally zero output from the B string. I bought it new from Musicians Friend and sent it back the next day. I don't think it was a lemon, the build quality was fine for the price, I just think it's a poor design. It definitely was not a good fit for me, maybe you will do better with it.

madbassplaya · #4 05-02-2011, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmbongo

I bought one of those too! God it was a piece of crap. The neck shape is awful, it feels like plastic, and the pickups are not even wide enough for the strings. There was literally zero output from the B string. I bought it new from Musicians Friend and sent it back the next day. I don't think it was a lemon, the build quality was fine for the price, I just think it's a poor design. It definitely was not a good fit for me, maybe you will do better with it.

Hopefully I will have a better experience than you.

This thread is one of the reasons I took the plunge on this one.

Squier Deluxe Jazz Active V -- Unbelieveable Bass!

Ibanez Bassist · #5 05-02-2011, 09:20 AM

@madbassplaya.. I had that exact bass in my hands on Saturday in GC and I put it back on the wall because, I felt for me it was too big ( the neck) mostly, but I thought the overall bass was very nice, great tones, played very well.. I went for something a little smaller, comfortable for me.. I cant see having something you hate to play or cant play just to say you have it, that to me doesn't make ay sense so thats the only reason I put that one back, but I thought it was nice.. also looked at a few Schecters 5 string but they had nothing new in the box for me to take..

mmbongo · #6 05-02-2011, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madbassplaya

Hopefully I will have a better experience than you.

This thread is one of the reasons I took the plunge on this one.

Squier Deluxe Jazz Active V -- Unbelieveable Bass!

Yep, me too. I wanted to ask those guys what they were smoking at the time

I think they need to venture outside of the Fender world and see what a good bass feels like

LiamPodmore · #7 05-02-2011, 09:20 AM

I play the same bass in sunburst regularlly without problems, when your strings start to get abit old you can lose some oomph in the B string but it seems to be fine as soon as they are changed.

Liam

madbassplaya · #8 05-02-2011, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmbongo

Yep, me too. I wanted to ask those guys what they were smoking at the time

I think they need to venture outside of the Fender world and see what a good bass feels like

I wouldn't say that. The guy that started the thread has and has had some of the best basses made. He's definately not into "cheap" basses.

spz8 · #9 05-02-2011, 09:32 AM

It's interesting that you purchased the Squier while waiting on the SB5000, as I'm now looking into purchasing an SB5000 myself. The Squier grabbed my attention first on looks (Olympic White), and when I tried one at GC, was pleasantly surprised with how good it felt and sounded. Unlike mmbongo's experience, I think the neck feels great! While this bass is far from perfect, for the price paid: $295.00, it was an incredible deal. Of the two pre-amp toggle switch options, I usually leave it on the 'slap' setting which has deeper, punchier lows. It is a bit scooped sounding, so I usually leave the bass and treble flat (or less), and crank the midrange for some more growl/grit. Good luck, it's a great bass!

New Bass - Squier Deluxe Active V Jazz

madbassplaya · #10 05-02-2011, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spz8

It's interesting that you purchased the Squier while waiting on the SB5000, as I'm now looking into purchasing an SB5000 myself. The Squier grabbed my attention first on looks (Olympic White), and when I tried one at GC, was pleasantly surprised with how good it felt and sounded. Unlike mmbongo's experience, I think the neck feels great! While this bass is far from perfect, for the price paid: $295.00, it was an incredible deal. Of the two pre-amp toggle switch options, I usually leave it on the 'slap' setting which has deeper, punchier lows. It is a bit scooped sounding, so I usually leave the bass and treble flat (or less), and crank the midrange for some more growl/grit. Good luck, it's a great bass!

New Bass - Squier Deluxe Active V Jazz

yes, i need a fill in bass til it gets here and a back up bass when it arrives.

i love the white ones!

mmbongo · #11 05-02-2011, 10:29 AM

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it! I'm with Ibanez Bassist...the whole thing is just too big. The neck has such an odd shape...flat on the front AND back with no beef at all to it. It's shaped like a 1x4 board. The outer strings sitting outside the magnetic field of the pickups is what really did it for me, though. I have no idea why they chose to use two SHORT Jazz pickups in it.

AgIdoc · #12 05-02-2011, 11:32 AM

thats my exact bass & absolutely I love it. everyone is different & has different opinions but for me:

- i love that neck. its awesome. very thin & fast, especially high up. i never liked a p-bass neck. one of my fav things is that its "flat" necked.
- i think the p/u's sound great
- the ebonol fretboard is my fav feature. super smooth. unique feel & i love it

hopefully when it gets here you will like it...but don't judge it til you get it. its not for everyone but few would say that it just sucks.

i just put flats on mine for the 1st time last night & now i REALLY REALLY love it.

madbassplaya · #13 05-02-2011, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgIdoc

thats my exact bass & absolutely I love it. everyone is different & has different opinions but for me:

- i love that neck. its awesome. very thin & fast, especially high up. i never liked a p-bass neck. one of my fav things is that its "flat" necked.
- i think the p/u's sound great
- the ebonol fretboard is my fav feature. super smooth. unique feel & i love it

hopefully when it gets here you will like it...but don't judge it til you get it. its not for everyone but few would say that it just sucks.

i just put flats on mine for the 1st time last night & now i REALLY REALLY love it.

thats great to hear!

selftitled907 · #14 05-02-2011, 04:14 PM

I recently played on a Squire P bass. Or maybe it was jazz....either way, it sounded freaking amazing. i was talkin to the guy at my guitar store and he said he just bought one himself. and we both agreed that for all the crap that squires get....they can be amazing basses if you give them a chance. i was throughly amazed that a 300$ bass sounded as good as my $700 neckthrough washburn. its making me think about trade-ins for sure.

BigOldHarry · #15 05-02-2011, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmbongo

I bought one of those too! God it was a piece of crap. The neck shape is awful, it feels like plastic, and the pickups are not even wide enough for the strings. There was literally zero output from the B string. I bought it new from Musicians Friend and sent it back the next day. I don't think it was a lemon, the build quality was fine for the price, I just think it's a poor design. It definitely was not a good fit for me, maybe you will do better with it.

*ouch*

BoomingBass · #16 05-02-2011, 04:24 PM

I tried one out once, and I thought it was great. Never did I think it was too big.

madbassplaya · #17 05-02-2011, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoomingBass

I tried one out once, and I thought it was great. Never did I think it was too big.

I'm a big guy and I actually prefer larger basses, so I'm still looking forward to receiving this one.

ric stave · #18 05-02-2011, 07:01 PM

It looks really cool. If it doesn't sound great, you can change that, and if it doesn't feel good, you can return it and get something else.

FunkMetalBass · #19 05-02-2011, 07:33 PM

My only complaint with the Squier was the 20mm string spacing. For a 5-string, it seemed unnecessary. I've debated buying one, doing a 6-string conversion, and keeping it for a "Fender-like Instruments Only" gig.

mmbongo · #20 05-02-2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

My only complaint with the Squier was the 20mm string spacing. For a 5-string, it seemed unnecessary. I've debated buying one, doing a 6-string conversion, and keeping it for a "Fender-like Instruments Only" gig.

Just plan on routing out for wider pickups. The pickups in it are not even wide enough for 5 strings.