Recommend me a Jazz w/ Block Inlays

[TLW]

So I've been gasing for a jazz with block inlays on a maple fretboard.

My requirements:

It can be active or passive.

It can be 4 string or 5 string.

It must have a fast neck.

It MUST SOUND AWESOME.

My price range is around $1,300



GOGOGOGOGOGOGO

I know TB can recommend me some pretty awesome ****.

Also, i did a search on block inlays and came up short on my kind of post.

so inb4 "search"

 

[FatherDH]

Lakland Darryl Jones skyline series. 4 or 5 string Passive bass with block inlays and the fastest neck I have ever played. I got mine for around $1000 new. If you do a search you'll find some good pics.

Oh yeah, and it sounds "AWESOME"!

 

[arjune]

A Geddy Lee hits pretty much all of your requirements. Fast neck, block inlays on a maple neck, great sound, and in that price range. Cheaper if you go used.

 

[TLW]

A Geddy Lee hits pretty much all of your requirements. Fast neck, block inlays on a maple neck, great sound, and in that price range. Cheaper if you go used.

would totally get a geddy if it were not only offered in black.

And i would be more comfortable getting a MIA jazz from fender than a geddy which is made in japan if i remember correctly? I don't know

Lakland Darryl Jones skyline series. 4 or 5 string Passive bass with block inlays and the fastest neck I have ever played. I got mine for around $1000 new. If you do a search you'll find some good pics.

Oh yeah, and it sounds "AWESOME"!

Yeah I was looking at the Darryl Jones skyline. Itd be cool to get a white DJ with rosewood or a natural dj with maple neck.

Anyway, anymore suggestions?

 

[LanEvo]

Last time I was at Ludlow Guitars in the lower east side, I saw a very sweet [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. It was a 6-string made in a 70's Jazz style (ash body, maple neck, pearloid block inlays, white neck binding, neck pickup cover in place). Hot stuff. I have no idea how much they cost.

I was also blown away by a Pensa Custom I saw years back at Rudy's Music. It was a 5-string with rear routing (no pickguard or control plate) and a bound-n-blocked neck. Again, I don't know the price (but I'm sure it's a ton).

Anyway, just thought I'd mention some makes that you might not have been aware of. I'm sure everyone else will jump on in with the typical TB suggestions: Sadowsky, Lakland, Alleva-Coppolo, Valenti, etc.

 

[arjune]

From what I've been hearing, there's a possibility of a Geddy in 3TS at some point, but if it didn't show up at NAMM this year, I probably wouldn't keep my hopes up. CIJ basses are generally pretty highly regarded on this site and elsewhere in the bass kingdom.

Anyway, those Lakland Skylines are definitely sexy too.

 

[LanEvo]

would totally get a geddy if it were not only offered in black.

That's easy. Buy a used Geddy Lee for $500. Buy the body of your choice from Warmoth (generally under $400 even with a fancy wood top and crazy finish). Transfer all the parts to the new body. Easy.

EDITED TO ADD... Here's a link to give you an example of what's available: Invalid Link Removed

This one's pretty damned hot for just $325 bucks:
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Or go with swamp ash (classic choice for a '70s style Jazz):
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Anyway, anymore suggestions?

Off the top of my head, KSD (Ken Smith Designs). No one's mentioned them yet.

 

[GeneralElectric]

2 used Geddy Lee Jazz basses with Lindy Fralin pickups.

 

[zagralin_arf]

Fender Marcus Miller Jazz.

 

[serein2j]

Fender Jaguar

 

[TLW]

more more more.

I don't like the controls on the jaguar.

I don't like MM because of the pickguard.

do warmouth parts put together make a good bass?

 

[LanEvo]

do warmouth parts put together make a good bass?

Depends on how you choose the parts. Lots of guys simply string together a bunch of exotic wood parts without really thinking about how the final product will come together.

You can't take a walnut body with zebrano top, bolt on a purpleheart neck with bloodwood fingerboard, throw in some Bartolini hum-canceling J/J pickups, connect it to an Audere preamp and then expect it to sound like a 1963 Fender Jazz. But that's the kind of thing many folks seem to do.

If you stick to traditional wood combinations, you'll generally be quite pleased. For example, go with an alder body, maple neck, & rosewood board or an ash body, maple neck, & maple board. Don't be tempted by zirciote, canary, pau ferro, bubinga, wenge, koa, bocote, padouk, etc. etc. just because they look pretty.

 

[GregC]

Another vote for the Skyline DJ--it's an excellent bass (I have one in the discontinued CAR). Some well-respected TBers with far more experience than me have called it the best J bass under $2k. Also, Lakland's customer service is top-notch.

 

[Hagelslag]

I've been looking for a block inlaid Jazz too, only problem is I'm a lefty... Which pretty much puts that idea to death. Lakland doesn't make lefty skylines and pretty much any company doesn't do 'exotic' finishes on their more affordable (read < 2000) lefty models.

The more i'm looking, the more i find even the standard models are severely limited in finish options for a left handed. (Should have become a drummer...)

Any help for me finding a block inlaid lefty jazz for less than 2000?

Thanks

 

[basadam]

I vote for Lakland DJ. I admit I am mainly a P player and not much into Js. But Lakland DJ is the best J I've ever played IMHO/IMHE.

 

[Higgie]

I have a DJ4 (white with tort guard + maple fretboard with pearl blocks - can't post pics as photobucket is blocked at work!!) and used to have a DJ5 in black with the same neck config. 2 of the best J basses I ever played.

Lakland Skyline ftw.

 

[millsbass5]

If you are into absolutely stunning block inlays,check out the jazz Adam Clayton was playing at the Obama bash.There is a thread on here somewhere.Doubt you`ll be getting it for $1300.00 though.Forget the blocks,spend that hard earned money on Fenders "deal of the century."Drumroll please.........The Fender Roadworn Series!!

 

[polsab78]

A Fender Custom Classic Jazz. Very sexy. A used one should be in your price range.

 

[BioDriver]

Slap a USA Customs neck onto a Warmoth body and you're set. Warmoth only makes their necks in one size, but USA Customs can slim it down.

 

[mrhardy]

would totally get a geddy if it were not only offered in black.

And i would be more comfortable getting a MIA jazz from fender than a geddy which is made in japan if i remember correctly? I don't know

Yeah I was looking at the Darryl Jones skyline. Itd be cool to get a white DJ with rosewood or a natural dj with maple neck.

Anyway, anymore suggestions?

I can see your point about not wanting a black bass. If black does not do it for you ok. However, your next statement leaves me puzzled.

The Fender CIJ products are very highly regarded for their attention to detail, and overall quality. You thumb your nose at a Geddy, but would consider a lakland skyline that is made in Asia as well? Are you prejudiced towards japan in general but not the rest of Asia. How do you feel about Mexican-Americans? Fender MIA is staffed with a large workforce of Mexican-Americans. Don't look at Sadowsky metro series basses as well. There made in Japan as well.

I dont think your racist, but your statement does leave a "?" as to your thought process.


The blocked and bound basses are for the most part 70's specs with the wider pickup spacing. If you switch bodies are you still going to have the tone your after, or is this totally a visual thing?

Fender American vintage series 75 reissue bass. Available in maple blocks and rosewood blocks. 1900 new, look for a used example. See the link for some specs.

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If pickup spacing is not the issue for you, then you could always just put a good aftermarket blocked maple neck on a jazzbass of your choice. You could even get a new MIM 70's classic and do that as well.