Gettin' Jaggy Wit It

My new SX "Jaguar" bass arrived today. I had ordered a sunburst a few weeks back that came through with misaligned pickups - which I returned. Thankfully this one (in red) was QC'd much better. The color is not a true Candy Apple, but rather a metallic red. The fit and finish is on the money, though. I'd go as far as to say that it is better than my 92 MIM Jazz (part of the earliest runs). The smaller body will take some getting used to, and yeah, the expected neck dive is there. I think a fair portion of that is due to the big headstock, which is noticeably larger than that of a Fender. It's not an insurmountable problem, though. The neck falls somewhere in between a "true" P and J size-wise, but actually feels like a beefed up Jazz profile. After a cursory truss rod and bridge adjustment, it was off to my trusty Ampegs (a B50R and B100R fed by a tube preamp). Here was something of a surprise - instead of a Jazz Bass flavor, the bass had a midrange-y, dirty growl that was a more akin to my '76 Gibson Thunderbird. This is a good thing, because the 'Bird doesn't get out of the house too much anymore. Those who know me know that I've been after an affordable sub for the Thunderbird sound for years - one that I can take to jams and whatever. This might do the trick. In all honesty, outside of the concessions made to the ergonomics, about the only thing on the bass I can truly fault is the bridge, which feels a bit flimsy. All in all, great bang for the buck.

 

It's the long scale model (I'll post pics soon...)
The misaligned pickups bothered me so much aesthetically that I never really got to accurately gauge the sound - although I THINK this one sounds cooler (which, as we all know, is half the battle). My MIM Jazz Basses are a little off also, but the Jag's was at a slight angle to boot! As I said, much better QC on this one. Initially, I thought I was fooling myself about the TBird thing, so I flew through some original stuff that I used the Bird on in the studio - it's not EXACTLY like it, but it's closer than I've ever gotten - including with the newer Gibsons and Epiphones. The Jazz Bass core sound is a growl, rather than the bark of a Precision, and these pickups are a little rattier sounding still - me like!

 

So here it is. One other thing I noticed is the resonance of the body - that combined with (I guess) the pickups makes for some real nice sustain. I just have to break it in some...