I love white basses! I have enough Sunburst basses anyway. Plus my bands wear a lot of black and I like the contrast.What, nobody likes the Sunburst one?
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New Squier Jazz Bass Deluxe 5 String... Pics Inside...Review
- Thread starter lostrings
- Start date
I played a beautiful sunburst Squier Jazz Deluxe V today, and I sm totally impressed. The tone is pure active jazz. The neck is wide with full 19mm spacing spacing. I did not like the location of the trussrod access, but everything else was wonderful.
Bottom line: If you want a really nice active jazz for a bargain basement price, the new Squier Jazz Deluxe Active V is what you want. It won't make anyone forget highend boutique jazzes, but it will sure get the job done.
Bottom line: If you want a really nice active jazz for a bargain basement price, the new Squier Jazz Deluxe Active V is what you want. It won't make anyone forget highend boutique jazzes, but it will sure get the job done.
+1Bottom line: If you want a really nice active jazz for a bargain basement price, the new Squier Jazz Deluxe Active V is what you want. It won't make anyone forget high end boutique jazzes, but it will sure get the job done.
I know what I want Valenti to build me now! The same exact look with slightly smaller body (if possible) with a standard 2 band eq w/9V pre. No 18V action for me please! 10lbs or less, thank you!
Oh, and a pickup cover (i.e. Marcus Miller 5).I still need to tweak this bad boy and change the strings. I like the feel of the stock strings but they have no presence or clarity at all! And I know I'm vain about things but I gotta take that Squier sticker off and put a Fender sticker on there!
Keep the Squier sticker on. If you sound that good on a Squier, people will swear you're bad!
Yeah, keep the sticker! People will eventually catch on to how good these Squiers are anyway, it's nothing to be ashamed of!
I like it. What I would be bothered about is buying one sight unseen and being able to distinguish the body joints through the burst. White is a safe choice and would look cool slightly modded. It's really great looking, clean and simple, but it just lacks something. I don't know what. Maybe a better bridge for starters. Maybe even a custom pickguard...
What, nobody likes the Sunburst one?
I like it. What I would be bothered about is buying one sight unseen and being able to distinguish the body joints through the burst. White is a safe choice and would look cool slightly modded. It's really great looking, clean and simple, but it just lacks something. I don't know what. Maybe a better bridge for starters. Maybe even a custom pickguard...
I got mine this evening. The olympic white finish is flawless and looks really good against the ebonol fretboard. More low-end manufacturers should consider using ebonol; it's consistent and doesn't contract or expand with humidity.
At $300, there's little to complain about. The setup was fine out of the box, and the fretwork is excellent. No buzzes or high spots that I can detect. The nut is cut better than a lot of MIA Fenders. As others note, the tone is very "active" sounding. With the preamp set flat, it's instant Wooten or Marcus. In fact, if there's a deficiency in the instrument's sound, I'd say its an inability to get a more traditional J-bass burp out of it. The slap switch makes a big difference: it goes from thick to thin (more passive) sounding with a flick. I like the preamp, but boosting the mid and treble bands introduce noticeable hiss into the signal, which is something to think about if you're recording. The B-string sounds wimpy acoustically, but is even with the other strings through an amp.
The biggest construction niggle I have is the neck pocket; either the block wasn't cut completely square or the neck was seated a few degrees off axis, but there's a very slight angle between the edge of the neck where it meets the body and the edge of the neck block. Doesn't affect tone or playability, but it's a noticeable goof. And the tuners look cheap up close. But that's it - as I mentioned, nut and fretwork are as good or better than a MIA Fender. The bridge is fine and, of course, sturdier than the more typical stamped-plate affair.
For $300, you'd be hard pressed to find a more full featured instrument. It looks great and produces lots of usable sounds out of the box. Thumbs up for this plank from me.
At $300, there's little to complain about. The setup was fine out of the box, and the fretwork is excellent. No buzzes or high spots that I can detect. The nut is cut better than a lot of MIA Fenders. As others note, the tone is very "active" sounding. With the preamp set flat, it's instant Wooten or Marcus. In fact, if there's a deficiency in the instrument's sound, I'd say its an inability to get a more traditional J-bass burp out of it. The slap switch makes a big difference: it goes from thick to thin (more passive) sounding with a flick. I like the preamp, but boosting the mid and treble bands introduce noticeable hiss into the signal, which is something to think about if you're recording. The B-string sounds wimpy acoustically, but is even with the other strings through an amp.
The biggest construction niggle I have is the neck pocket; either the block wasn't cut completely square or the neck was seated a few degrees off axis, but there's a very slight angle between the edge of the neck where it meets the body and the edge of the neck block. Doesn't affect tone or playability, but it's a noticeable goof. And the tuners look cheap up close. But that's it - as I mentioned, nut and fretwork are as good or better than a MIA Fender. The bridge is fine and, of course, sturdier than the more typical stamped-plate affair.
For $300, you'd be hard pressed to find a more full featured instrument. It looks great and produces lots of usable sounds out of the box. Thumbs up for this plank from me.
+1 I'm giving them a chance to else I'm heading to Valenti to do a 'carbon copy'! I'd love to see a slightly smaller body and lighter (shave 2-3lbs off)! But weight is more my concern. The body size is fine.
I think that changing bridge is not necessary. I used to play one from previous series of this squiers and bridge was really good, great sustain.
Well, truth be told....I'm looking at these basses as a possible project. I'm thinking of modified it to a 6-string bass. Since this is a wide nut 5 (2.008"), I could modify this bass into a narrow spaced 6-string ala Ibanez and Carvin. All it'd take is a new bridge, nut & rearranging the tuners (+1, of course). Being that I'd need a new bridge, I'm curious as to which width I'd need.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,943
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
Not in a gazillion years did I think I'd ever be saying this:
"I bought a Squier today."
Never saw one of these things before. Wasn't planning on buying one. Went to GC to... A. See if they were giving any $1000 basses away for $300 for Columbus Day day. B. Have a go at a Jazz bass to get some slight gas I've been having out of my system.
Saw a black active Squier hangin on the wall and picked it up cuz it looked really cool.
Saw the price tag, $299, and started to sweat because I was likin the way it felt. Plugged it in and sweat more because I'll be damned if I'm gonna buy a Squier. I put it up against a Mexican and American Fender deluxe - and I ain't sayin it's a better bass - but I sure liked it a WHOLE LOT MORE. Liked the string spacing better, the sound seemed a bit more alive and open. PLayed it for about a half and hour and said screw it. What's $300. This bass is feeling and looking real good. Been playing it all day.
Didn't read all the posts here yet, but I agree with the 1st review. Only disagreement I have is with the neck dive. There might be a tiny tiny bit, but I think it balances almost perfectly. Waay better than some basses I've played that really have neck dive. I hate neck dive, and this thing seems totally fine to me. My only peave is the soloed pickup buzz. Didn't hear it at all in the store, must have been sitting in the sweet spot , but pickup buzz drives me nuts.
The true test for me is the gig test. I'll see next weekend.
"I bought a Squier today."
Never saw one of these things before. Wasn't planning on buying one. Went to GC to... A. See if they were giving any $1000 basses away for $300 for Columbus Day day. B. Have a go at a Jazz bass to get some slight gas I've been having out of my system.
Saw a black active Squier hangin on the wall and picked it up cuz it looked really cool.
Saw the price tag, $299, and started to sweat because I was likin the way it felt. Plugged it in and sweat more because I'll be damned if I'm gonna buy a Squier. I put it up against a Mexican and American Fender deluxe - and I ain't sayin it's a better bass - but I sure liked it a WHOLE LOT MORE. Liked the string spacing better, the sound seemed a bit more alive and open. PLayed it for about a half and hour and said screw it. What's $300. This bass is feeling and looking real good. Been playing it all day.
Didn't read all the posts here yet, but I agree with the 1st review. Only disagreement I have is with the neck dive. There might be a tiny tiny bit, but I think it balances almost perfectly. Waay better than some basses I've played that really have neck dive. I hate neck dive, and this thing seems totally fine to me. My only peave is the soloed pickup buzz. Didn't hear it at all in the store, must have been sitting in the sweet spot
, but pickup buzz drives me nuts. The true test for me is the gig test. I'll see next weekend.
Good looking guitar Gene. Forget what anybody else in the world likes...If you like it and it inspires you to play...then...Play. Really is sharp. Hope it treats you well.
I just can't get over the quality of these budget basses. Granted they may need something here and there, but overall they are simply great basses. For me I love the string spacing on this bass. It is very comfortable, as is the neck. Anyway, I'm also thinking about getting a sunburst...We'll see....
Now if I can get over having that Squier logo on mine, I may just play it out. I'm considering putting some steel wool to it!
