I've been thinking lately.....

[klocwerk]

Not crazy.
Play what speaks to you!

But then I'm the guy constantly defending the honor of sub-$400 basses...

 

[ElBajista]

You're not crazy.

I think what you like is a passive, single-coil Jazz bass sound. Your 55-02 and RBV will not give you that sound.

My advice is to try some other single coil Jazz basses. By all means, keep the SX, but you may want to look for a trade/sale on the other basses. You may find another single coil Jazz bass that does it for you even more than the SX, with better playability.

I had the same epiphany. I liked my Lakland DJ w/J-retro, but preferred the sound in passive mode, which is NOT the strength of the J-retro. I had a Bongo which I liked, but it's tone just wasn't my thing in the end. I found a used Sadowsky UV70 with single coils and it's the best sounding bass (to me) I've ever played, and feels like a dream.

Gotta love them single coils. Go try a Lakland JO or DJ and see if it floats your boat. Maybe you can arrange a trade for your 55-02 with someone headed in the opposite direction tone-wise.

At this point, I've decided to keep the 55-02. The tone and versatility is perfect for my "traditional Catholic hymn" gig. Plus, I just restrung it with TI flats, and I'm enamored. It's annoying to be so fickle....

Other than the 55-02, I have the 4 string SX with Model J's and passive V/B/T harness with a ser/par switch, and a 5 string fretless SX Jazz that's due to be strung EADGC with a J-retro I have lying around. (Now I need to start thinking of good aftermarket 5 string Jazz pickups for EADGC tuning.....)

 

[James_B]

I was playing a Squier jazz bass over the weekend. That baby felt and sounded awsome.