I have an Aerodyne and while it's a good bass every single one of them plays differently. I bought one, then I had a student buy one and hers is like a baseball bat p-neck compared to mine, same bass, within a few months of each other. Great sounding pickups, great weight but you really should try before you buy just in case you don't like the neck. I like mine, but hated the other one I tried, and I have a friend that has one (we're like an Aerodyne club!) and his again plays totally different.
Durability vs. my Mexican Jazz FSR is another story though. Jack is always loose (tighten it etc still finds a way to loosen up), I had the screws that hold the machineheads in place fall out and the washers come out on two with the other two really lose (from playing in my house), I had a problem with the nut groove for the A-string (string always pops out), and I got a ding from barely hitting an amplifier on the back. Basically, it was sitting in a cheap old guitar stand in the lesson room and I hit the stand sitting down half a foot away, it hit the amp (didn't fall out of the stand mind you) and dinged it. Not very big but kind of sucks. I'm not the type of person that thrashes gear though. My FSR has a few scratches and that's it (after 5 years), and none of my guitars have been abused and I don't have any of the above problems with any other gear. Everyone raves about Japanese Quality but I seem to have gotten a lemon because Mexican quality has treated me far better. I'm not even saying it because I'm knocking the bass, I love the sound that comes out of this beast with no mods, but I've never had so many problems with a bass. The jack is small and the ding was not a factory problem, but I shouldn't have to tighten things like the strap screws and machine head screws and need to work for one string. Maybe I've just been really lucky with gear?
Good bass, would be great to find used IMO if it's your thing, but really make sure you try before you buy in my opinion.
Durability vs. my Mexican Jazz FSR is another story though. Jack is always loose (tighten it etc still finds a way to loosen up), I had the screws that hold the machineheads in place fall out and the washers come out on two with the other two really lose (from playing in my house), I had a problem with the nut groove for the A-string (string always pops out), and I got a ding from barely hitting an amplifier on the back. Basically, it was sitting in a cheap old guitar stand in the lesson room and I hit the stand sitting down half a foot away, it hit the amp (didn't fall out of the stand mind you) and dinged it. Not very big but kind of sucks. I'm not the type of person that thrashes gear though. My FSR has a few scratches and that's it (after 5 years), and none of my guitars have been abused and I don't have any of the above problems with any other gear. Everyone raves about Japanese Quality but I seem to have gotten a lemon because Mexican quality has treated me far better. I'm not even saying it because I'm knocking the bass, I love the sound that comes out of this beast with no mods, but I've never had so many problems with a bass. The jack is small and the ding was not a factory problem, but I shouldn't have to tighten things like the strap screws and machine head screws and need to work for one string. Maybe I've just been really lucky with gear?
Good bass, would be great to find used IMO if it's your thing, but really make sure you try before you buy in my opinion.
