Alternative to Fender?????

<a href="http://www.reverendmusical.com"><img src="http://www.reverendmusical.com/reverend/images/logo.gif"></a>

 

if you love the american ones all that much, why not just save up for one and buy it? but yes there are other brands out there, quite a few companies companies makes jazz clones

 

Reverends are sweet (I own one, as well as Fenders) but recent price increases make them as expensive as US Fenders.

Get a used Fender! I own two US Fenders I bought used, a P ($200!!!) and a J reissue ($500) both came with cases, too. Cosmetic wear and mods (like the DiMarzio pickup and Badass bridge on my P) lower the prices a lot.

Do the math: Mexican Jazz Bass is $350 new, add $75 for a case ($425 total) or get a used US Fender with case for $450-500 any day of the week.

Try this link to a search engine for online used dealers:

http://www.gbase.com/gearlist

I entered "Fender Jazz, top price $500 with case" into the info fields and got 4 hits on US Jazz Basses along with another half dozen Japanese basses including a Geddy Lee sig model (and a zillion Mexican basses of course).

Here's a couple of them:

http://www.gbase.com/gearlist/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=290027 (US)
http://www.gbase.com/gearlist/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=262142 (US)
http://www.gbase.com/gearlist/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=116972 (Japanese)

Here's an example of a modded bass going for cheap money:

http://www.gbase.com/gearlist/guitar_picture.asp?guitar=238888 (US P-bass for $375)

 

Those are cool, brianrost - maybe I'll grab one before relman does .

Seriously, though, I went to GC recently and played every MIM Jazz bass I could find, and I think they are worth the money, if you're buying new. The Deluxe Active model was especially nice, and I may get one. Or I may buy a used MIM Jazz. I haven't yet played one that sounded bad, though some are better than others.

brianrost is right, if you can get a used MIA Fender for under $500, grab it.

And if you're looking for something really inexpensive, I've heard that Fernandes jazz clones aren't too bad. They often sell for under $200 used.

 

I suggest that you would be pleasantly surprised if you try the following:
1) Try various moderatley priced Fender-style jazz basses at your favorite friendly reatiler(s).
2) Find one that you basically like: overall tone, style of electronics (active/passive), balance, aesthetics, cost, etc.)
3) Buy it and replace the neck with a graphite neck (about $310.00).

You will end up with an awesome axe for alot less than buying a 'fancy' upper class bass.

 

Is this man biased in any way

 

Relman,

I'm in the market for a low cost fretless right now and I thought I was going to have to settle on a Mexi Jazz. Don't get me wrong, the MIM jazz is a decent bass for the money. Then I tried out a couple of MTD's (Kingston and Heir) yesterday. These basses are in a very similar price range and I think they are superior to the MIM jazz. In fact, the likelihood is that I'm going to order a 5 string lined fretless MTD within the week.

Definitely give this bass a try.

Happy Hunting,
Bones

 

Another vote for MTD! The Heir would probably be the better choice since you are looking for a jazz style bass.

 

If there are any more MTD Beast clearance models available those are a great buy. If you are looking for a bass in the American Jazz price range (I couldn't tell if you were looking in the American or Mexican price range) an MTD Grendel might be comparable.

 

"Da Beast"!! craigb are there any left? BTW, I love that blue pearl color that you got!

 

Try here to get one sent to Winnipeg.

http://www.access-bass.com/

Here's the person to contact:

[email protected]

 

I don't know if any are left - when I got my blue one I had three options in 4 strings (red/wenge, ivory/wenge and blue pearl/maple) but don't know how many of each they had. It would be worth an email/call to check I'd think.

The blue pearl is growing on me. And it's just so darn comfortable and sounds good, too.

 

Tradition and familiarity weigh heavily on our collective consciousness. Regardless, I do agree that wood is good too.

As an aside, keep in mind that many of our 'traditions' are being re-created by sweat shop labor off-shore at the expense of U.S. workers.

It appears that there are plenty of opinions being expressed in this thread, many of them for purchasing basses that are made entirely in the Chech Republic, Mexico, Japan, and China. Undoubtably this desire for inexpensive instruments is due to the undervaluing of musicians, who have not seen much increase in wages (income) since atleast the 1970's. But buy internacional, and surely watch your jobs go away. Lemmings over the edge, eh?

I stand by my bias.

Cheers.

 

Hey Steve, of course you're biased, I mean, grephite necks are what you do (well), since years! No offence intended.

I fully agree on the "buy local" stuff (what's the name of that luthier around the corner, again?).
And that goes for non-americans as well!
Meaning that europeans should buy european stuff, chech, german, french, italian, finnish, swedish, what ever is nearest! (Which makes a lot of texans best off, buying mex.... )
Anybody mention tone, quality et al, in a doubtful tone?
Don't. Most europan stuff is as good as or better than US made. US tradition is about 400 years. How long is european? I mean, my family has at least 150 years of tradition in making musical instruments.
I haven't mentionedd environmental impact yet, have I? Well, having done that, I think I made my point....for now

 

Anybody heard of global economy or did you all drop high school before they taught that?

 

You took the thoughts right out of head!