preorder from sweetwater, or buy now from zzounds?

Sweetwater will tell you how much the instrument weighs, & you can choose the lightest one, ZZ doesn't.

 

I've had nothing but good luck with zzounds and frankly am not ordering from Sweetwater anymore for a host of reasons. Never had any issue with getting what I needed from zzounds. I've see a number of examples here of people buying from SW and wondering how what they got, passed their inspection.

 

I have ordered 2 instruments and an amp from ZZounds and had great service. I have only ordered a few pedals and small things from Sweetwater, great service there too. My basses from Zzounds were great out of the box, but still needed a little tweaking.

 

You're buying new and a mid-priced bass from a reputable manufacturer, so you can have the expectation that the bass will be in good and playable condition. I've ordered new instruments from Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, Music 123, heck even Amazon and have had no problems with the playability. Any adjustments that needed to be done were minor and based on preferences more than anything, like adjusting the string height. If memory serves me correctly, one bass I bought from Sweetwater, I ended up adjusting it anyway to my preference. Liked the candy though. lol
If zzounds has a return policy, I would just buy the thing if I were in your position. No need to wait.

 

A month can feel like an eternity sometimes. And if you don't have a bass currently I am sure sooner is better than later. Zzounds has a lot of happy customers here on the boards. Some folks are big fans of the play as you pay program they offer, which admittedly seems like a nice way to postpone the "pain" of some of those larger purchases. I believe you mentioned in a previous thread you recently completed a post grad degree, so that might be pretty helpful.

 

One thing I should mention to be wary of in the case of ordering through Guitar Center.
Sometimes, they ship you a "new" item from a store if they don't have it in stock at the warehouse. Problem with this is they consider store displays as new, so if that's the only one in stock, they'll box it up and sell it at full price. Store display basses of course have been used by people at the store, the numerous "Higher Ground" plays on it.

 

Order the one from Zzounds, if you don't like the condition or it's not to your satisfaction, return it and get your money back, then perhaps buy it from Sweetwater. It could also up to snuff and you're happy with it. You won't lose either way except time if you decide to wait. That's just my opinion.
Reputable sellers have for the most part, good customer service so will work with you on any issue. Zzounds has a pretty good reputation.

 

I would have no concerns ordering from either place. If Zzounds has what you want in stock, I don't see a reason not to go with them.

 

Just FYI - there are some new capri orange FP Jazzes on Reverb too. Very easy to message the seller and ask about weight, etc.

 

Also– the 55-point inspection that Sweetwater boasts is not a setup by any stretch of the imagination. It simply is (mostly) visual QC of the bass before packing and sending out to you.

If I were you I’d go with zzounds if you want the bass now.

 

I just bought a new amp from Motor City Guitars - family owned, brick and mortar - great service so far! And look what they have in stock...
Fender Player Jazz Bass - Capri Orange w/ Pau Ferro Fingerboard

Free shipping and if you're outside of MI, you pay no tax!

EDIT: And it appears their return policy is same as SW, and the others.

 

I was in the market for a U-bass at one time. I had contacted Kala about whether or not they had truss rods in the U-bass I was interested in. They told me at that time that, ALL the U-basses not older than a year old, had truss rods. When I asked the sales rep at "SW" if the ($600) U-bass I was looking at had one. He told me that the tech told him that no U-bass had them. I asked if someone could possibly peek in the hole and see. They weren't really interested in "going to the warehouse to check".

So I agree with jaxon5. I don't think their "55 point inspection" is really all that. Obviously for a year (at that time) nobody at "SW" had noticed a truss rod in any of other U-basses they had sold...

I still do business with "SW". But don't put a lot of stock in their "inspection". I also do business with "ZZ". And have never had a problem with them. If one or the other had what I was looking for in stock, I'd buy it...

 

And that’s what matters- is that you get to enjoy it on the nearest weekend!

 

usually buy stuff from SW ... but , have a couple friends , from the old days , that work there ... we all worked at a local Akron , OH area music store ...

they will take care of things for you ...

on another note ... go Sunburst ...!! never been a big fan of painting wooden instruments ..!!

 

Pictures and NBD post or it didn't happen.