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- Thread starter GodPablo
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Well whaddaya know?! I have an M series bass of my own - a 1996 Jazz! And it is nice to play, although it does suffer from the infamous G string/5th-6th fret dead spot that many Fender basses have.
Welcome, Pablo. The only advice I'm gonna offer is whatever you do, DON'T look at, research, inquire about, ponder, briefly consider or (for Pete's sake) PLAY an old boat anchor Peavey T-40! It will lead you down a rat's hole of unending and hopeless addiction to old Peavey T20s, T40s, T45s, Patriots and early Furies. Kodiakblair will back me up on this warning as well! Have fun!
Hi everyone, so my USA 1997 Precision Bass Special California Series arrived yesterday. From what I understand, Fender made this USA California Series only 2 years, '97 & '98. This series was made in Corona, sent to Ensenada for paint, then back to Corona for completion. The unique feature is a Jazz Bass neck on a Precision Bass Body. I'll do my best to describe my initial thoughts here in a few paragraphs, with pictures!
I did a quick set up on it and noodled for several hours....It has far exceeded my expectations. Besides being drop dead gorgeous, the 1st thing I noticed was a satin neck and headstock as I wasn't expecting that, but super happy about it. 2 piece alder body. Vintage Fender bridge. Anodized aluminum pick guard (which I've never had) that literally gives a distinct string tone. To my surprise & liking, the neck seems to be a bit thicker than most Jazz Basses I've played before. The frets and fretboard have really smooth rolled edges and is way more comfortable than I had imagined. They call the pups Vintage Spec and they sound very thick & snappy. I was happy & very surprised blending the Jpup into the Ppup....it is a very usable tone for my style. I don't think I'll be using the J pup on its own, as it sounded very thin by itself. The P pup sounds good by itself, but combining both of them is where it's at to my ear. The build quality is top notch along w/ the fit & finish and this bass is definitely rock solid and will travel well. After my inital set up and tune, I did not have to touch a tuner again.....it stayed spot on for hours.
I bought this bass strictly as a back up, mostly for my home studio. But I can already see this bass gigging w/ me very soon.....I'm truly amazed how quickly I've bonded w/ this instrument in such a short time frame, perhaps the quickest w/ any instrument I've ever owned.
I have a full band rehearsal this afternoon and I'll be playing this bass thru my Ampeg V-4B w/ 2x12 cab. I play a lot of classic honkytonk country & bluesy rock, and I'm curious to see how this bass sounds w/ my band. I'll circle back later w/ my thoughts on this bass in a real band mix. Have a great day and I hope this post is useful to anyone looking at one of these obscure basses. GP
I did a quick set up on it and noodled for several hours....It has far exceeded my expectations. Besides being drop dead gorgeous, the 1st thing I noticed was a satin neck and headstock as I wasn't expecting that, but super happy about it. 2 piece alder body. Vintage Fender bridge. Anodized aluminum pick guard (which I've never had) that literally gives a distinct string tone. To my surprise & liking, the neck seems to be a bit thicker than most Jazz Basses I've played before. The frets and fretboard have really smooth rolled edges and is way more comfortable than I had imagined. They call the pups Vintage Spec and they sound very thick & snappy. I was happy & very surprised blending the Jpup into the Ppup....it is a very usable tone for my style. I don't think I'll be using the J pup on its own, as it sounded very thin by itself. The P pup sounds good by itself, but combining both of them is where it's at to my ear. The build quality is top notch along w/ the fit & finish and this bass is definitely rock solid and will travel well. After my inital set up and tune, I did not have to touch a tuner again.....it stayed spot on for hours.
I bought this bass strictly as a back up, mostly for my home studio. But I can already see this bass gigging w/ me very soon.....I'm truly amazed how quickly I've bonded w/ this instrument in such a short time frame, perhaps the quickest w/ any instrument I've ever owned.
I have a full band rehearsal this afternoon and I'll be playing this bass thru my Ampeg V-4B w/ 2x12 cab. I play a lot of classic honkytonk country & bluesy rock, and I'm curious to see how this bass sounds w/ my band. I'll circle back later w/ my thoughts on this bass in a real band mix. Have a great day and I hope this post is useful to anyone looking at one of these obscure basses. GP
