NBD!!! Modern Player Jazz V!!!

[gustobassman]

Well, the FedEx guy dropped off something to me today!!! My Modern Player Jazz V! It's going to be a little bit before i can do a full review. It needs a setup, the stock strings [DEL]are garbage too.[/DEL] are D'addarios.

First impressions....

Build quality - Pretty solid! The satin finish is smooth, no rough spots... it feels very even. The 2TSB is more subtle than i thought it was going to be. I'm impressed! I have a 1 piece neck, not sure if 1/4sawn or flatsawn. The gloss neck may need a slight sanding down.. i have to play it more to really get an idea. Tuners feel solid and turn rather smoothly. The Hi-mass bridge is nice! There is sustain for days. No scratchy pots, everything feels right.

Tone - I can't really get into that yet, [DEL]the strings suck[/DEL] it definitely needs a setup (i play 1/2 step down) to keep the B from flopping. One thing that i wish was made clear was what position the 4-position rotary knob is in. There are no markings and i havent been able to crank it so i can't tell much between the settings. That will come later.

The weight.. no scale here at home but i would say it's on the heavy side. If you've owned HEAVY Fender's than i'd say you know what i'm talking about. My old Jazz V was at least 11 lbs, this bass is probably right around there.

And onto pics! I'm no photographer by any means, but i know the rules.. No pic, No bass

 

[gustobassman]

A couple more...

 

[madbassplaya]

Congrats man!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I think I am not in the market for one, but I certainly want to get a better idea about this bass.

 

[gustobassman]

SO- i was wrong about the strings. They are D'addarios and all i needed was a setup. I just dropped the bass off at the shop and will have it back in the morning.

My tech gave it a run through... there are a ton of tones in this baby! I can't wait to really put it through its paces. I was amazed at how the tones changed with the rotary selector and tweaking the tone knob itself. Kudos to Fender on this electronics layout!

 

[rojo412]

I didn't even know this was in existence! SWEET, congrats!

 

[gustobassman]

Congrats man!

I didn't even know this was in existence! SWEET, congrats!

Thanks! Once my tech got me straight on the rotary control i was really digging the sound. The tone with both pups on full and the tone knob rolled back a bit was THICK. I can't wait to really throw everything at it and see what comes out.

 

[Salamenster]

You're feeding my GAS...

I'm thinking about buying this bass to complement my 4-string P-bass/flats. I mostly play funk/fusion and blues, and I just got the idea that the combo of these two basses might be perfect.

Btw, does the bridge humbucker sound Stingray-like? With that nice trebly edge and bite?

 

[gustobassman]

Btw, does the bridge humbucker sound Stingray-like? With that nice trebly edge and bite?

No not really. Actually not even close. I just brought her home from the shop and have been exploring the tones.

First thing i noticed is ZERO hum! I owned an Am Std. Jazz V for 15 years. I never really played with different pickup settings because i couldn't stand the single coil hum.

So.... onward. Both pickups on full with all 4 coils selected is just HUGE. Soloing the back humbucker and drawing the tone knob back sounded like Jaco but with some freakin balls behind it! Soloing the front humbucker and totally rollling off the tone knob creates some big dubby tones. This would be great for some heavy riddims mon! The lack of hum when soloing a pickup is just fantastic. Drawing the vol back on either pickup in this mode really opens up the bass to more tonal options.

Regular single coil mode (front pup/front coil - back pup/back coil) really has that airy J-bass tone. the other 2 selections (front coil/front pup - Both back coils and both front coils/back pup/back coil) are great too, the option of adding a little bit or taking away from each pickup is really cool.

So far my favorite is all 4 coils, tone knob back about 30%. Or either pup soloed. I've only had about an hour to play with it, but so far me likey!!!

 

[Hank Scorpio]

I've got the 4 string model, and my favourite setting so far is;

Middle humbucker, full volume
Bridge singlecoil, 3/4 volume
Tone knob rolled off a little (maybe a quarter)

Gives a real full tone with a bit of bite to it, almost like a PJ setup. As you said, zero hum at all, cuts through the mix and is very articulate even with a couple of distortion pedals on.

This is my setting for my punk/hardcore band at the moment anyway, I'm looking forward to trying out other settings for different projects!

 

[gustobassman]

I've got the 4 string model, and my favourite setting so far is;

Middle humbucker, full volume
Bridge singlecoil, 3/4 volume
Tone knob rolled off a little (maybe a quarter)

Gives a real full tone with a bit of bite to it, almost like a PJ setup. As you said, zero hum at all, cuts through the mix and is very articulate even with a couple of distortion pedals on.

This is my setting for my punk/hardcore band at the moment anyway, I'm looking forward to trying out other settings for different projects!

Do yourself a favor and try 100% front pup soloed (both coils)/ tone knob rolled all the way off. Pure dubby goodness.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Do yourself a favor and try 100% front pup soloed (both coils)/ tone knob rolled all the way off. Pure dubby goodness.

I have actually tried that at home, sounds huge! It would just get lost in a band setting for all the styles I do haha.

Part of the reason I bought it was the variety of tones you can get easily. I honestly don't remember playing a passive bass with this kind of tone sculpting available.

 

[gustobassman]

I honestly don't remember playing a passive bass with this kind of tone sculpting available.

+1000 to that! I can't wait to get into rehearsal and really let her rip.

 

[Thrash3r]

I have actually tried that at home, sounds huge! It would just get lost in a band setting for all the styles I do haha.

Wouldn't work for me either, way too muddy to cut through two distorted guitars,

Since mine hasn't shown up yet & I've only been able to borrow one for a gig, I only got a 5 minutes to play with the setting before we started, ended up with the bridge pickup soloed, both coils, tone 100%, sounded great and easily cut through the guitars.

 

[LeopoldBoom]

Agh I'm so jealous! With any luck I'll be picking one of these up in the near future!!

 

[gustobassman]

Wouldn't work for me either, way too muddy to cut through two distorted guitars,

I used to be in a reggae band, i just had to see if it could get "there".

 

[nukes_da_bass]

Anyone know if theres a drop in replacement for the pups, that will work with all the coil splitting options? Nordstrand fat stacks maybe?

 

[Salamenster]

Alrigh, so no MM. That's okay. But I suppose that there's a lot more 'bite' and fingeredge in humbuckermode, than there is in single coil mode?

 

[rojo412]

Delano makes a similar pickup.
MEC made one for the Warwick Masterman and Dolphin series, but harder to find, I'd imagine.

 

[gustobassman]

Alrigh, so no MM. That's okay. But I suppose that there's a lot more 'bite' and fingeredge in humbuckermode, than there is in single coil mode?

Id say thats about right.