Usual chambered body with the Imola...mine weighs seven and a half pounds, if I'm not mistaken.
Never played an Ampeg but I've tried the Eastwood copy...didn't like it enough to buy.
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Looking for Epiphone Jack Cassidy soundalike.
- Thread starter Evildrwallace
- Start date
Never played an Ampeg but I've tried the Eastwood copy...didn't like it enough to buy.
No opinion on how they might sound compared to the JCB, but the Fender Player Mustang, Squier Mustang, Squier Affinity Jaguar, Squier Rascal, & Squier Contemporary Active Jazz (all have a 1.5"nut) might be worth considering. All have hum-canceling neck pickups and I'm sure you could find a TON of reviews, clips, and demos of each before you consider making a purchase.
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I agree with those saying that you can get a JC very close to a P sound. I’ve owned a few JCs over the years since buying one in ‘98 when it was first released. I have found the neck profiles were quite different from one another. Some clubby, some quite slim. Unlike the OP, I prefer clubby. I still have the ‘98 which I have 10s of thousands of hours touring, recording, rehearsing with. The TSA did a number on it a few years ago and I still need to glue the fretboard back on. I’ll get around to it 
My suggestion to the OP would be see if you can play a few JCs to find one with a slimmer neck. They’re out there. Or, if you are feeling more adventurous, drop the JC electronics in another bass. Semi-hollow or solid body shouldn’t matter much, just make sure that the new bass is long scale and the pickup is in the exact same location. I’d say that much/most of the distinct sound comes from scale of the bass and location of the pickup. The impedance switch has a lot to do with it as well. Set to low is where it sounds most P bass like.
Also, there are a few other slim necked long scale semi-hollows out there with a single pickup in the midrange sweet spot, Ibanez artcore for one. Never played one, but I’ve seen it compared to the JC but with a slimmer neck.
Best of luck, hope you find the tone you’re after.
My suggestion to the OP would be see if you can play a few JCs to find one with a slimmer neck. They’re out there. Or, if you are feeling more adventurous, drop the JC electronics in another bass. Semi-hollow or solid body shouldn’t matter much, just make sure that the new bass is long scale and the pickup is in the exact same location. I’d say that much/most of the distinct sound comes from scale of the bass and location of the pickup. The impedance switch has a lot to do with it as well. Set to low is where it sounds most P bass like.
Also, there are a few other slim necked long scale semi-hollows out there with a single pickup in the midrange sweet spot, Ibanez artcore for one. Never played one, but I’ve seen it compared to the JC but with a slimmer neck.
Best of luck, hope you find the tone you’re after.
Many thanks for all the great suggestions so far. Much food for thought.
The Ibanez I mentioned is the ASB140BS (not my photo):
