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Cheap, but good Jazz Bass ?

#81
Anyone have an opinion on the differences between the " ceramic " pups in the contemporary Squire jazz, and the " Fender Style " pups in the VM Jazz ?
 
#82
jnewmark said:
I've been checking around, and it seems like a VM Squier might be a good choice,
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EDIT:
I like them, but they are heavy. Bodies are made from maple.

I like the G&L Tributes, but they too are heavy, I'd put them over 9.5 lbs to near 10lbs.

For my money, a used MIM or new Player series Fender may scratch the itch. I love my Player series P.
 
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#84
jnewmark said:
Are they all heavy, or just the '70's models ? Also, what is " heavy " to you ?
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Heavy to me is anything approaching 9 lbs. I once found a MIM Jazz that was about 8, and kick myself for not buying it.
Also, I have found some Squiers to be light, but never a lightweight VM made from maple. I played a Squier recently that was around 8 or 8 1/2, but don't recall the model. I dislike the Affinty models.
Maybe if you troll Sweetwater and keep checking the weights?
 
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#85
indo vm jazz with the "duncan designed" pickups (pre 2013 i think)... very nice wood sound, especially the natural ones, where you can see the nice wood. the frets are cheap and will need a bit of work, and the hardware is basically awful, the bridge is cheap to upgrade (anything is better), and the pots and covers are bad (do the tone bypass hack while you are replacing the volume pots), the switch is also abysmal, get a switchcraft in there. that being said, as a guitar, they sound good, sustain well, and intonate nicely, and they feel like a fender jazz.
 
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#88
bdplaid said:
Heavy to me is anything approaching 9 lbs. I once found a MIM Jazz that was about 8, and kick myself for not buying it.
Also, I have found some Squiers to be light, but never a lightweight VM made from maple. I played a Squier recently that was around 8 or 8 1/2, but don't recall the model. I dislike the Affinty mod
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I just got in contact with Sweetwater. Apparently, they are waiting a shipment of Squires in the next few weeks. I guess that thing about the photos of the actual bass you would be buying they claim isn't what happens all the time.
 
#89
bdplaid said:
EDIT:
I like them, but they are heavy. Bodies are made from maple.

I like the G&L Tributes, but they too are heavy, I'd put them over 9.5 lbs to near 10lbs.

For my money, a used MIM or new Player series Fender may scratch the itch. I love my Player series P.
Click to expand...

The VM jazz is always heavy, especially the natural maple body ones... my solution was to heat gun off the poly coating, which was about 300 grams of unnecessary plastic. It's still not light, but it's nice to have the exposed wood and be rid of the shiny plasticky look which I don't like.
 
#91
ejaggers said:
I'm curious to know what you have against a P, because it sounds like that's what the ENGR is looking for.
Plus classic Blues/Soul screams out P.

057912
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Well, I don't really want to get in another P vs. J discussion here, but I will say that I just don't care for them. I have owned them before, and I much prefer the J bass sound. If there was one in the studio with flats, I would of course use it, but while I still have a choice in the matter, a Jazz it will be. If the producer doesn't like it, I'll tell him to bring in his own bass and I'll play that ! ;)
 
#94
I am a huge fan of jazz necks, not so much jazz pickups. all of my basses are P basses with jazz necks, and have one setup with flats for exactly this type of work. I built both of my main players from warmoth parts, which is a little higher than your price range, but you could probably find a MIM P body and pair it with a jazz neck in that range for sure, if you're comfortable building something.

IIRC, fender (and squier) made a few P basses with jazz necks out of the box as well, but I don't remember offhand which models they were.


The Bass Clef said:
I'd go with a used MIM Standard Jazz over a new Squier VM personally. About the same price, but better hardware and electronics on the MIM. I know you said you don't want a P bass, but honestly a P (maybe with a jazz neck since you're used to the feel of a jazz) with flats is gold in the studio. I've always preferred jazzes live, but I almost always record with a P and TI flats... or a MIJ Mustang with LaBellas.
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#95
upload_2018-10-26_13-55-46.jpeg
 
#97
jnewmark said:
Here's the deal. I already own a '98 MIA Fender Jazz, and a RW Jazz. Both have nickel rounds on them, and I use them both on live gigs, to the point where I don't want to change any mojo about them. The last couple of years, I've been doing more studio work, and have been asked to bring a bass that has Flats, for I do mostly Blues/Soul stuff when I'm there. So, I thought I would try to find a cheap, but good, playable, passive, Jazz , 4 string, Rosewood neck, for the studio stuff, and put some LaBella's on it.

I've been checking around, and it seems like a VM Squier might be a good choice, but I wanted to throw it out there to the Talk Bass community and find out what other choices might be better. I'm not opposed to buying used, as long as everything checks out on the bass, and I'm not necessarily stuck on a Fender, but I would rather find a Fender as I am used to playing them. Budget is right around $ 300 - $400. Before you suggest it, a P bass is not an option - been there , done that.

So, what else is out there ? What model/year Squires should I look for ? What other, cheap but good Jazz basses are you guys using ? Any inherent problems, issues, etc. with certain models ? All comments welcome !
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I would just change out the strings on the bass that you have..changing strings only takes a few minutes and it wont affect the "mojo"..as you say..on the instrument you have as you can just put your favorite strings back on..same thing as playing live on stage and breaking a string and having to make a change on the fly..I certainly wouldnt buy another instrument..
 
#100
Blaze Barlow said:
I would just change out the strings on the bass that you have..changing strings only takes a few minutes and it wont affect the "mojo"..as you say..on the instrument you have as you can just put your favorite strings back on..same thing as playing live on stage and breaking a string and having to make a change on the fly..I certainly wouldnt buy another instrument..
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Yeah, I go back and forth with this, it would be the easiest thing to do, but I guess I've got the GAS for another Jazz ! :)
 

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