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My First Jazz Bass (Did I Do the Right Thing?)

alexlocurto

alexlocurto

Guest
Nov 17, 2011
377
51
Jacksonville, Florida
#1
This was a TOTAL impulse buy, so I need some reassurance from my excessively extended TalkBass family!

I done bought a Jazz Bass! The Squier VM '77 4 string in black. Upgraded (sort of) with MIM Fender pickups. The bass cost me the princely sum of $100.
I've heard some nasty things about Agathis and about Fenders and Squiers and Jazz Basses in general.

Would you have pulled the trigger? (Pics later. Bass arrives on Saturday.)
 
#2
i would've. Although i'm guessing the pickup swap wasn't your doing, i wouldn't of changed them since they sound fine as is. But yes for 100$ i would bite the bullet. And yes people bash on agathis because it's not the best of woods to make a guitar/bass with, but Jazz basses are just the under rated and misunderstood younger brother of the Precision bass which is the champion and foundation of bass tones since the 1950's. But i like the versitility of a jazz bass, and for the longest time i was with the haters of jazz basses since i couldn't stand the necks nor how the body felt while sitting down. But i played my friends old jazz copy and i loved it. It was heavy which i like, and the neck profile was chunky like a precision bass with the slim nut width of a jazz. To me, that's the best of both worlds on a neck.
 
#3
See, I have a basswood MIJ P Bass, and it's fantastic. Seriously the best Precision I've ever played (And I'm that kid at Guitar Center who likes to play all the expensive instruments because THEY'RE THERE!). Now, GC isn't saying much considering some people have been playing P Basses for twice as long as I've been alive, but I'm just saying that basswood (another eeww wood) has done me no wrong.
 
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#4
Sounds like a good buy to me. I have a 77 maple and enjoy playing it. I especially like the neck with the binding and inlays - feels and looks like a more expensive neck.

If you enjoy it then that is all that matters.

I think agathis wood tends to get a bad rap, but my squier vm fretless has it which I have no complaints about it other than it would have been nice if squier used wider peices of wood instead of the smaller strips. I think the agathis would look nice if it was a 2 or 3 peice body. Agathis kind of looks like a combination of pine and maple. The way they use it makes it look like a bowling alley.
 
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#7
Yes. I love boutique basses. I'm an enormous snob. I love plopping down thousands of dollars on a bass. The Squier VM 77 is an outstanding bass. With a good setup I'm convinced I couldn't tell the difference between it and basses more than 10 times its cost.

Good snag brugh.
 
#8
For 100 clams, that Jazz could consist of compressed, petrified dino-poop and I would rock it! If Agathis can be used for wooden boat hulls, I see no issue with a guitar or bass. Just keep it out of water, I suppose. :smug: Notwithstanding, that '77 VM jazz has all that mapley-necked-block-inlayed goodness going for it!

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#9
BazzTard said:
really? nasty things about Fenders and Jazz basses? like what?
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I've been on TalkBass long enough to know that we all collectively hate everything. :P We hate Fenders for not being as good as Squiers, we hate Squiers for being cheap versions of Fenders, we hate Jazzes for not being Precisions, and we hate Precisions for not being Jazzes! In general, I've heard this bass hums like every other average Jazz that Fender has ever produced (which doesn't bug me too much, yay noise gates!), and I've heard that Agathis is unsuitable for existence, let alone being used for an instrument. It's all probably just TB clamor, but with such an impulsive decision on my part (I'm pretty sure I bought this thing 30 minutes after it was posted,) I just wanted to make sure I didn't buy a hundred-dollar doo-doo.
 
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#10
TheAnalogKid said:
For 100 clams, that Jazz could consist of compressed, petrified dino-poop and I would rock it! If Agathis can be used for wooden boat hulls, I see no issue with a guitar or bass. Just keep it out of water, I suppose. :smug: Notwithstanding, that '77 VM jazz has all that mapley-necked-block-inlayed goodness going for it!

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Haha, hey don't knock it (no pun intended). It's how they caught the killer of the Lindberghs' baby.
 
#13
You'll hear nasty things about every brand, material, or combination thereof here on TB, often from people who've never touched that gear.

If it sounds and plays and sets up well, then it's well worth the hundred. People say the same thing about basswood.

I feel obligated to remind you, though: no pics, no bass. ;)
 
#18
If I was in the market for a Jazz, I would consider $100.00 a wise investment in that bass. I have noodled around on lots of agathis, and I don't get the extreme criticism. The VM series is when the Squier line turned things around and became quality basses at that price point. Barring any unforeseen manufacturing or twisted gummed up issues requiring heroic tech attention, someone probably did good.

Next time, do what the majority of us here do: Shoot first, ask questions later.
 
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