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Squier CV 70s Jazz Bass: poplar or soft maple?
- Thread starter bass_Guest2022
- Start date
What a nice surprise!
Gotcha thanks, interesting I just grabbed a 70's jazz as well and the body has a bit more of a vintage tint to it, also an Indo...
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Back in the early 2010s when the VM only came in natural soft maple, Musicians Friend had an exclusive sunburst version that was 3-tone sunburst over soft maple.
They offered it for years and years but for some reason they are exceptionally rare. I've only ever seen a couple.
To my knowledge it is the only soft maple version that does not have a clear finish.
They offered it for years and years but for some reason they are exceptionally rare. I've only ever seen a couple.
To my knowledge it is the only soft maple version that does not have a clear finish.
I think the room lighting is also responsible for color perception. On the sunlight body looks too different from a neck, but with artificial lighting they look pretty similar
Yes I would say so, soft maple with a gloss polyurethane finish.
FWIW, I had a VM P that was soft maple, and have a Frankenfender that uses a soft maple J body, both in natural/trans. Both were solid, but quite heavy. My Frankenfender comes in at over 12 lbs, and I recall the P wasn't much lighter.
Always felt quality, though, unlike an older poplar MIM J I had that would dent if you looked at it mean...
Always felt quality, though, unlike an older poplar MIM J I had that would dent if you looked at it mean...
For example, just look at this. It's also a sunlight, but not direct. the body color looks almost like the neck. And it's the same bass from the photo I've shared before!
Attachments
I love the maple bodies. But the weight can vary by insane amounts.
I bought a solid quilt jazz body from Stratosphere that was just beautiful and wasn't selling. I didn't look at the weight as I have always liked heavy basses and it has never really mattered to me.
Holy lord!
The box this came in felt like an anvil was inside! My arms ached just holding up the box!!!
Seriously!
The body alone weighs almost 11 pounds!!!
Makes a T-40 feel like a ukulele!
But MAN does it sound great!
But I will NEVER be able to stand up with it!
lol
Here's a soft maple body with a Fender nitro finish neck (very pale), and the difference is pretty stark:
Granted, the neck hasn't been put in the Squier 'vintage' tanning booth like the stock one, but the redness of the body seems pretty obvious. I'm not sure if it's tinted to match the neck or if that's the natural colour of the wood...
My ex-girlfriend had an Agatha Christie body.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I don't quite understand the match, but then often 'clear' finish axes where the neck and body are two different woods usually are a slight mismatch in color. I'd think you'd have to have say, a closely matched maple body and maple neck shot at the same time to get a good match.
And a wood choice has other impacts:
I own one of the Contemporary Active Jazz Bass Fives. Tremendous axe that punches well above it's weight, but . . . It's an ash body, and for a lot of cats, it's too heavy. Tremendous tone in part because of the ash, but stout, and I'm sure it's cost them sales.
So guess what? This year, Squiers is offering the same axe . . . In a poplar body. Same with it's new PJ brother.
If you're Fender/Squier, do you proudly offer an ash body at this price point but worry about weight, or make the practical choice for a more manageable weight, but get a little flack for using 'cheap' poplar for a great bass with terrific hardware and electronics ?
Pick One.
And a wood choice has other impacts:
I own one of the Contemporary Active Jazz Bass Fives. Tremendous axe that punches well above it's weight, but . . . It's an ash body, and for a lot of cats, it's too heavy. Tremendous tone in part because of the ash, but stout, and I'm sure it's cost them sales.
So guess what? This year, Squiers is offering the same axe . . . In a poplar body. Same with it's new PJ brother.
If you're Fender/Squier, do you proudly offer an ash body at this price point but worry about weight, or make the practical choice for a more manageable weight, but get a little flack for using 'cheap' poplar for a great bass with terrific hardware and electronics ?
Pick One.
They used soft maple on the clear coated bodies. I’ve never heard of them using poplar on the clear bodies because it’s hard to find poplar sections big enough that don’t have areas where the wood is literally green in colour.
By the way poplar is quite a good wood to use for bodies, if you are going to finish them in a solid colour. It's cheap, it's not too heavy, and (if tonewoods are really a thing for solid body instruments; I believe they are to a certain, limited extent) similar to alder in tone.
I live here in Nashville and those type basses are purdy poplar.
