Marcus Miller Jazz - Best Bass in Class

[StyleOverShow]

Over the holidays, played all my basses at various gigs, playing a little on friends axes too. Came to Sam Ash Sunday after X-mas, sales staff chained to the registers, I wandered into the bass section. Found an Ampeg head with a matching 4X10 and just starting pulling basses off the wall.

You would think that they would have a tech go through the display models and just do a cursory setup but many of the basses were off intonation and the action was horrible on a few.

Played quite a few including the precision and the jazz, the new Epiphone and even, the Dan Electro. The Sterling's unfinished neck felt raw in my palm, nothing like my well oiled/used 2003.

Action and some cheap strings aside, nothing came close to the Marcus Miller Jazz. I was riffing Motown with just a hint of slap and found it to be a superior instrument in design and performance including a mini switch that toggles active/passive pickups. Would have taken the pick cover off if I would have had a screwdriver on me, but other than that, it was rich in tone and still had enough treble cut to it to be respectable. The C neck was a thing of beauty with nicely finished frets.
Fender simplicity, V1-V2, T1-T2 with reasonably good components, and a workman's attitude. This is a great bass, IMO.

Searched Craigs list the next day and found one for sale for $700, natural finish, my favorite. Suffering through a slow retail year and not being a seasonal business type, I just painfully watched it float on by(e).

Only 'con' is the 20 fret thing, but those big blocks make up for a lot of things.

What do you think? The best of '09 was the Fender Miller, natural finish my preference, for somewhere between $700 to $1200 bucks. My birthday is coming up though.....

 

[sps500]

Definitely a sweet bass.... a couple in the classifieds..

 

[Kipaste]

I have been drooling over a friends miller for a long time. Just brought my new one home yesterday. I would've actually preferred a white one, but wen't with natural since this one is the best miller I've ever played, and I have had my hands on several.. The action is unbelievably nice, the fret work is best I've seen on any production fender. And this one is surprisingly quiet too as these basses are prone to hiss. Not this one. Sure there is a bit of hum, but less than in my other single coil J's even with the pre on. I'll still be replacing the stock pre with the M-retro just like my friend did just to get the midrange pot and the passive tone control.

And the 20 fret thing is a plus, one of the biggest reasons I ended up buying yet another fender type instrument. One thing that is often overlooked: just like where you pluck the strings effects your tone when playing fingerstyle, the position of the last fret affects your slap tone. I've never heard a 24 fret instrument that would get that fat, twangy slap sound. 24 fret instrument can sound big when slapped, but they'll never sound the same as a 20 fret bass.

There was one in the classifieds that had the M-retro pre and upgraded pups. It's a staggeringly sweet deal if it hasn't been sold all ready. I would've been all over it if I lived in US..

 

[zachbass02]

Controls are V1-V2, Treble (boost only) - Bass (boost only)...no tone controls.

great basses nontheless. wish I'd have hung on to mine a minute longer.

 

[Valerus]

I got to play one extensively two years ago. It's a sweet bass for sure. Just make sure to get it for a good price.

 

[natw42]

Controls are V1-V2, Treble (boost only) - Bass (boost only)...no tone controls.

great basses nontheless. wish I'd have hung on to mine a minute longer.

if we're gonna nitpick here...

just because they're active tone controls doesn't mean they aren't tone controls. :scowl:

 

[SixString]

I absolutely love the Marcus Miller signature. Despite the fact that they've gone way up in price (nearly double what i paid) i still think they're worth every penny.

Looking for a change however and somewhat just because i was bored i put a few upgrades in mine. Delano pickups, m-retro pre, and new pickguard. Bridge and tuners might be next haven't decided. All changes can be reveresed back to stock though that was my main concern (and doing all upgrades myself).

 

[PortugalWillie]

My next bass will be a Marcus Miller.


The funny part is, I didn't really listen to him much until I realized how much I loved his bass. heh

 

[Mark Wilson]

i LOVE the Marcus Miller basses.

but that finish on the neck is like molasses!

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I traded mine... I don`t regret it either to be honest. It`s a fast bass and great looking too, but I found its tone to be lacking for me. A lot of people suggest modding it with new pups or a new preamp, but I traded mine for something I liked better stock.

 

[chuck3]

I played Fender Js for years, never had a Marcus Miller tho. I still have a '62 J reissue, but I'm using a EBMM SR HH 5 over it, because I like the active and I like the 5.

So, those who know, how does a Marcus Miller active 5 compare with the EBMM SR HH 5?

 

[fretster]

I had a nice MiJ Marcus Miller Signature bass. Loved it, mostly. I found it to be really sensitive to sting clatter, and I wished for more tone shaping. Bass and Treble Boost is nice to get that awesome slappy Seinfeld tone, but I wanted to be able to go the opposite way too, rolling off the highs and boosting the mids. Reluctantly I sold it (here on TB) to fund a Nordy VJ4. I'm very happy with that bass. I ALMOST installed an M-retro into the MM, and spoke via email with John East quite a bit. I have a J-retro installed in a Fretless Fender, so I know the potential of that pre-amp in the Marcus Miller bass. In the end I decided to leave the MM in it's original form for someone else to enjoy, and set out to get something new and wonderful that came equipped with all the tone control I could imagine right out of the box.

 

[blendermassacre]

Every time I go to my local gc, I pull the MM down from the wall. I love the passive tone a ton. It's probably my favorite 4 string I've played. The natural with tort guard looks killer.

 

[StyleOverShow]

great basses nontheless. wish I'd have hung on to mine a minute longer.

What did you get instead?

I got to play one extensively two years ago. It's a sweet bass for sure. Just make sure to get it for a good price.

The production quality was pretty darn good and I found one at $700 between the holidays. Seems like a reasonable price.

i LOVE the Marcus Miller basses.

but that finish on the neck is like molasses!

You say "but" like it isn't a good thing, although I must agree, it is like butterscotch dipped.

Thanks all for your comments.

-richard

 

[zachbass02]

What did you get instead?



-richard

well long story short, an SR5...or a Fender P5 depending on how you look at it. It started a series of trades/buying that landed me where I'm currently at.

Long story long....I got my Miller 4 in a trade deal. Shortly after that, I bought a DJ5. Took both the Miller 4 and Dj5 out for a week long gig shortly after I acquired both. For some reason, just couldn't get into the tone of either. Great J bass tones from both, just not what I was digging at the time. Shortly after I got back from that stint, went to a local shop and swapped both for a brand new Fender AV RI 57 P bass. Used that for a few more weeks. Wasn't digging the neck all that much on that bass. Swapped that for an '04 Warrior 5. Swapped that for a Valenti J5. Swapped that for a JO5 + cash. Bought my current Fender P5 outright and swapped the JO5 for my current Stingray 5.

I'm really happy with my P5. Haven't had the SR5 out on a gig yet, but have had 2 others in the past and have always liked the Stingray tone.

On a side note, I used to attend a local jam several times a month that was hosted by some of the hottest players in town. I would usually take whatever my newest acquired bass at the time was with me. The Marcus got the most compliments regarding tone than any other bass I took with me. Of course, I started slapping for one song and that bass killed it through the house players Eden rig.

 

[kerrycares]

The MM 4 and 5 appeal to me mostly because of the 7.25" radius fingerboard.
That being said based on your setup if your strings match the neck radius the G string can be a bit loud especially in active mode.
I prefer running the bass in passive mode unforunately the treble and bass controls do not act as tone controls.

 

[kerrycares]

speaking of MM, just played the mm 4x10 golight cab.................
light
punchy
focused

anyone else played one?

 

[bamba22]

I'd never played on it.
I need to see what you're talking about

 

[leofan]

My MM 4 upgraded with Hipshot tuners, SD Antiquity II and Aguilar OBP-3 is a jack of all trades (Just like Marcus!!!).

It is not the only Jazz I own but is one of my favorites especially live. Always getting compliments on how the sound jumps out of the mix.

I'm considering buying a 50th anniversary JB (more modern features like neck radius, string through posiflex reinforcement and also rosewood board) and with my Jaco fretless this must be the Trio of Doom I need as Jazz basses are concerned.

 

[LanEvo]

I'm also a fan of the M.M. sig bass...though mine is more of an "original" I suppose. It's a 1972 Jazz with a very light blond finish (the grain of the swamp ash peeks through), black pickguard, pickup cover, and maple neck with M.O.P. block inlays. Incredibly light weight. Very well balanced. Bright, punchy tone with slightly less midrange "bump" compared to '60s Jazzes. I adore it.