Farida FJB-20 - NBD

[smarthound]

Few of you will be familiar with Farida but they used to build good quality basses (they now concentrate on very nice acoustic guitars). This was their flagship jazz bass, the '70s-style FJB-20. Swamp ash body, maple neck and fingerboard, handwound alnico pickups. Although it's unmarked, I think it must be at least 12 years old because I believe they stopped making them around 2012; previous owner took great care of it. Nicer than any Fender Jazz I ever played, and only equalled by a Tokai "Jazz Sound" I once tried about 15 years ago. It feels absolutely top-notch quality, but the downside is that it's something of a porker at 11.3 lbs. Yikes!

 

[Killing Floor]

Looks nice.

 

[selowitch]

That lower horn looks like it’s a little smaller than is found on a typical J-Bass. Cool instrument.

 

[SulzerType2]

There was a spell where Farida basses were everywhere in the UK, pegged somewhere below MIM Fender but somewhere above most Squier basses in terms of pricing. The rounded off lower horn was their signature look. A bit odd as they otherwise copied Fender to the letter, right down to block inlays on some Jazz Bass models and various colour pairings that were lifted straight out the '60s catalogs.

 

[smarthound]

Thanks - yes, I think that lower horn is a little Jaguar-esque!

The lower models in the range like the FJN-6 and FPB-8 were common, but despite the low pricing were still considered at least on a par with MIM Fender. The more expensive ones like the FPB-18 and FJB-20 were prized for their build quality. Prices went up drastically once people caught on how good Faridas were, but the company never followed it up.

I bought it because our studio engineer likes 'em so this will just get used for recording. Good thing too with that heavy swamp ash body.

 

[smarthound]

The Farida has had its first outing in the studio and performed well. To me it sounds more like a Precision than a Jazz, but as long as it has presence and definition I don't need to pigeonhole it! Have a listen and see what you think (although our engineer often uses an Ampeg rack preamp, this is just DI into the desk).