Bought a jazz today :)

Not the most astounding purchase of the century, but nonetheless I just felt compelled to write a post about it. I was at the guitar shop today with my drummer, and I was A/B-ing this used 95 MIM standard jazz bass with the new limited edition white epiphone thunderbird through a solid state Ampeg head going into a cheap Hartke 4x10 cab (not an ideal amp setup, but it was the only one that was plugged in). The thunderbird definately had a ballsy sound that I really liked, but my drummer didn't like that it was a bit lacking in high-end definition and pick attack (I didn't 100% agree with him in this area, I quite liked the pick attack I got from the T-bird). But the jazz neck felt so nice, and though we were both apprehensive at the considerably smaller amount of low end it had compared to the thunderbird, I felt confident that a pickup change and playing it through my normal amp (Peavey T-Max & 410tvx) would easily remedy that problem. I picked it up for $285, not a bad deal. After reading numerous glowing reviews, I think I'm going to pick up a Dimarzio Model J set (the store only had the ultra jazz set in stock, and I'm not sure those are quite what I'm looking for), I'm still undecided on whether I want to go with a tortise shell or black pickguard on the black body & rosewood fretboard (please feel free to post pics that might sway me in either direction ). As for the thunderbird, I'm sure that somewhere down the line (once I have a ton more cash) I will pick up a real Gibson t-bird, but until then I'm sure that the jazz will do the trick quite admirably.

 

As soon as it's all prettied up, you guys will be the first to see it .

 

I do like the aluminum pickguard look, but I think for the jazz I'm going to go with a more vintage-flavored look...

So bad news about the bass: I don't know why I didn't check on this in the store before I bought it, but the strings fret out on the high frets. I've tried adjusting the string height and the truss rod, but the only way I can get those upper fret notes to ring out is by setting the strings up uncomfortably high . So rather than throwing antoher $100+ at this bass for a fret leveling, i think I'm going to take it back and see if they have any other used jazzes I can look at. It's really too bad, because other than that the neck feels great and it was a good deal, hopefully they'll be nice enough to give me a deal on another bass...