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Fender Vintera Jazz deal at Amazon

#106
vokain said:
manufacturer? I've heard great things about Moollon, but I see some corrosion in some used listings
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Sorry, I don't know anything about Moolon, but Bacchus, Atelier Z and Momose make some of the best Jazz basses in the world.
My Bacchus wasn't even their top-of-the-line model, but it was definitely better than a Vintera Jazz bass.

Other than that, too bad they didn't send you a 40th-Anniversary Vintage Jazz by mistake, you would've been set.
 
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#107
My red ‘50s P bass came and had some issues. First of all my cable wouldn’t go in. I removed the pickguard and found a wire to the jack was obstructing the input, so I just moved it aside and it’s fine. The action was really high, but that involved saddle height adjustment which is not a problem. I’m kind of a klutz and pulled on the neck in an attempt to make a slight alignment adjustment. I think it helped a little (and may not have needed it) but the neck pocket is very tight and I caused a tiny stress crack in the finish at the heel.

I later noticed some slight scuffing along the edge of the lower bout. I might have thought of returning it, but had to own the little ding I made, plus with all the setting up, it was starting to feel like mine anyway.

I put a used set of TI flats on it. There is a lot of play in the D string tuner and bringing that string to pitch is kind of frustrating, but it does tune up and hold pitch.

At this point I imagine some might have returned it already, but here’s the thing: I LOVE the neck! I have another P bass, but this is my first full 1-3/4 width nut and maple board neck with the vintage radius and it feels amazing. I’m already spoiled for anything else.

Had I spent much more than $539, the rather disappointing first impression might have caused me to consider my options more carefully, but as it is, the color scheme (red, maple, gold anodized pg) is visually striking and the playability is great, it sounds great, so on balance I’m quite happy.
 
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#108
jd56hawk said:
Sorry, I don't know anything about Moolon, but Bacchus, Atelier Z and Momose make some of the best Jazz basses in the world.
My Bacchus wasn't even their top-of-the-line model, but it was definitely better than a Vintera Jazz bass.

Other than that, too bad they didn't send you a 40th-Anniversary Vintage Jazz by mistake, you would've been set.
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Even the cheapest one, close to my Vintera 50s P build quality.

YAP_3477.jpg
YAP_3514.jpg
 
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#109
consectaneus said:
My red ‘50s P bass came and had some issues. First of all my cable wouldn’t go in. I removed the pickguard and found a wire to the jack was obstructing the input, so I just moved it aside and it’s fine. The action was really high, but that involved saddle height adjustment which is not a problem. I’m kind of a klutz and pulled on the neck in an attempt to make a slight alignment adjustment. I think it helped a little (and may not have needed it) but the neck pocket is very tight and I caused a tiny stress crack in the finish at the heel.

I later noticed some slight scuffing along the edge of the lower bout. I might have thought of returning it, but had to own the little ding I made, plus with all the setting up, it was starting to feel like mine anyway.

I put a used set of TI flats on it. There is a lot of play in the D string tuner and bringing that string to pitch is kind of frustrating, but it does tune up and hold pitch.

At this point I imagine some might have returned it already, but here’s the thing: I LOVE the neck! I have another P bass, but this is my first full 1-3/4 width nut and maple board neck with the vintage radius and it feels amazing. I’m already spoiled for anything else.

Had I spent much more than $539, the rather disappointing first impression might have caused me to consider my options more carefully, but as it is, the color scheme (red, maple, gold anodized pg) is visually striking and the playability is great, it sounds great, so on balance I’m quite happy.
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There are Vintera 50s P neck but roasted on Fender site.

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or this over price roadworn neck...

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#110
othefool said:
Ok it actually arrived yesterday in a comically oversized outer box.

It is really beautiful! Like everyone else I much prefer rosewood to Pau Ferro, and the fingerboard does seem a little lighter shaded than I would like - but it does look dry and this will probably change when I hit it with some Howard's feed n' wax. It has the potential to be beautiful wood and a good match for the gold/tort

Otherwise it came out of he box just like every poor bass on the wall at GC - not set up and with horrible action! I have put it through 1 round of truss rod adjustment and think it is due for another half turn and a little more setup attention before I really get a sense of how well it feels. I do tend to prefer basses where I don't have to pull the neck to adjust the truss rod, but these Fenders do seem to stay put once adjusted!

It does seem solidly made and feels and sounds like a J bass should. I love the looks of it. I mentioned that I have never been a "gold" person, and this last couple of weeks I have gotten 2 golden basses: this Vintera Jazz as well as a CV Squier Late 50s P. The Squier came out of the box, I tuned it up, and it has played like butter ever since. The Fender will need a bit more TLC - but I am sure that once set it will be exactly what I was needing in my collection.

here is an early family portrait of my 2 newest basses. I paid $558 (Fender) and $266 for the Squier, so $824 for both (I saved a little more as I had 5% cash back deals from my bank), and filled 2 holes in my collection: for a "standard" P and J. My next bass phase will be my Golden Years...

View attachment 5276854

EDIT: Ok I ran out of time last night and was super busy today, but after spending 10 more minutes on setup (1/4 turn truss rod, adjust saddle height) this thing has unbelievably low action. What a fantastic player! It looks much better with all the plastic off

It's almost enough to make me pick up the 70s Jazz (still $612 on Amz) - but the only Fender model I still can justify is a Mustang :D And I can't do the JMJ one for 890 right now, no matter how good a deal it is lol
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I snagged one of the Gold Jazzes during the sale, but cancelled the order an hour or two later. My main concern was the pao ferro rather than rosewood. But even more importantly, somebody said that the pao ferro has some type of coating over it so that you can't really condition it to make it darker. I'm a big fan of Howard Feed & Wax also, so I thought that would help a lot. But the "coating" caused me to cancel my order.

So my question to you is two-fold: IS there some kind of coating over the pao ferro? And did you try the Howard Feed & Wax? I really love the looks of that bass, so it kind of broke my heart to cancel the order. But the other reason I cancelled it was because I have this Lakland in Aztec Gold. Great bass, plus I like the J-Sonic pickups. Even so, I really kind of wish I'd have just bought the Fender... :D Here's my Lakland...

IMG_20521.jpg
 
#111
Jeff K said:
I snagged one of the Gold Jazzes during the sale, but cancelled the order an hour or two later. My main concern was the pao ferro rather than rosewood. But even more importantly, somebody said that the pao ferro has some type of coating over it so that you can't really condition it to make it darker. I'm a big fan of Howard Feed & Wax also, so I thought that would help a lot. But the "coating" caused me to cancel my order.

So my question to you is two-fold: IS there some kind of coating over the pao ferro? And did you try the Howard Feed & Wax? I really love the looks of that bass, so it kind of broke my heart to cancel the order. But the other reason I cancelled it was because I have this Lakland in Aztec Gold. Great bass, plus I like the J-Sonic pickups. Even so, I really kind of wish I'd have just bought the Fender... :D Here's my Lakland...

View attachment 5298696
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There’s no finish on the fingerboard, I was able to give it a light sanding and used a little wood stain and oil to darken it up.
 
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#114
Jeff K said:
I snagged one of the Gold Jazzes during the sale, but cancelled the order an hour or two later. My main concern was the pao ferro rather than rosewood. But even more importantly, somebody said that the pao ferro has some type of coating over it so that you can't really condition it to make it darker. I'm a big fan of Howard Feed & Wax also, so I thought that would help a lot. But the "coating" caused me to cancel my order.

So my question to you is two-fold: IS there some kind of coating over the pao ferro? And did you try the Howard Feed & Wax? I really love the looks of that bass, so it kind of broke my heart to cancel the order. But the other reason I cancelled it was because I have this Lakland in Aztec Gold. Great bass, plus I like the J-Sonic pickups. Even so, I really kind of wish I'd have just bought the Fender... :D Here's my Lakland...

View attachment 5298696
Click to expand...

I read that comment as well. My fingerboard had no coating and a light coat of oil left it dark and beautiful, complementing the gold well.

I posted this earlier but this picture has my 2 new Vintera 60s basses with Pao Ferro - the jazz (treated) and the mustang (untreated). The Jazz neck looked just like the mustang when it arrived.

I was going to post a separate thread about this very thing - but then I read a few posts and it seems like many from the luthier crowd don't suggest oiling the neck, and I didn't want to open a can of worms lol :D

PXL_20231214_174633712.jpg
 
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#115
Sorry to hear some of you got duds! The Fenders I received required a good amount of set up, but they are both playing and sounding great now; I haven't found a flaw in either one up or down the neck. I guess I was fortunate - 2024 is going to be my year of Fender :D

Happy new year everybody!
 
#116
othefool said:
I read that comment as well. My fingerboard had no coating and a light coat of oil left it dark and beautiful, complementing the gold well.

I posted this earlier but this picture has my 2 new Vintera 60s basses with Pao Ferro - the jazz (treated) and the mustang (untreated). The Jazz neck looked just like the mustang when it arrived.

I was going to post a separate thread about this very thing - but then I read a few posts and it seems like many from the luthier crowd don't suggest oiling the neck, and I didn't want to open a can of worms lol :D

View attachment 5299173
Click to expand...
Beautiful! Now I REALLY wish I'd have snagged it...
 

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