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Squier Vintage Modified Jazz 5er????
- Thread starter natw42
- Start date
Hi all, this is my squier vm j bass v. When i first bought this bass, i was so impressed by the sound. besides the poor wood matching on its body, everything else bout this bass is awesome. But when i showed to my friends, they just went 'nothing spectacular. It's a squier afterall..'. Makes me wonder if the label 'squier' or 'fender' will make a diff impression. So i mod my bass (only cosmetics) making look like a different 'fender' bass, and my friend went like 'woah... This is one hell of a bass'. -.-
Very nice looking bass! Can you give the details... what type of hardware, etc. I was thinking of doing the same to my VM5. I have already routed a side input barrel jack and plate, installed Fender SCN pickups, built a jazz pickup plate/knobs with an Aguilar OBP3, and routed out and installed a battery compartment for one 9v in the rear of the bass. Pics to follow. Next will be all black hardware!
I got all my black hardwares from ebay.. But the
Most challenging part, would be the bridge. The screw holes spacing is a lil uncommon. At least i think so. Anyways,I just got my j east preamp! Will be installing it soon
Most challenging part, would be the bridge. The screw holes spacing is a lil uncommon. At least i think so. Anyways,I just got my j east preamp! Will be installing it soon
fauzi_bassir said:
Nice!! How much does it weigh? Can you share ypur impressions on the JRetro?
the bass is heavy.. Not sure how much it actually weighs though. The jretro is so sweet. It has an individual PU gain preset which is very useful to get the desired balance output from both/individual PUs. Thats how an afternarket preamp shud be, to suit any kinda stock PUs
The j retro comes with an active/passive switch just like an american deluxe. makes no noise while switching. For the passive mode, only the volume knob and the pu selector switch functions. It only selects the brdge PU or both PUs, and it produces one hell of tone. So warm yet still retaining its lows n highs. And for the active mode, it's like having an equalizer on it. Haha u have so much control over ur tone. The jretro is 9v powered but u might wanna do ur own routing for a batt box for better convenience. I wish the j retro can be cheaper though.
The j retro comes with an active/passive switch just like an american deluxe. makes no noise while switching. For the passive mode, only the volume knob and the pu selector switch functions. It only selects the brdge PU or both PUs, and it produces one hell of tone. So warm yet still retaining its lows n highs. And for the active mode, it's like having an equalizer on it. Haha u have so much control over ur tone. The jretro is 9v powered but u might wanna do ur own routing for a batt box for better convenience. I wish the j retro can be cheaper though.
Just throwing an FYI up here. I just got a VM Jazz V yesterday, extremely nice. String spacing is 18mm and mine weighs 10lbs.
Bob
Bob
Picked one of these up today, myself. Used for less than $200.00 at a local shop, still in awesome shape. The Squier decal had been removed but other than that it's in basically new condition.
Fauzi bassir, I'm thinking of modding mine out with the black hardware like you did, as I think yours looks awesome!
Fauzi bassir, I'm thinking of modding mine out with the black hardware like you did, as I think yours looks awesome!
D
Played a Squier Vintage Modified 5 string Jazz Bass last Sunday; a friend brought it over for me to try out at a Gospel church service. At first touch I thought it felt/played decent. The fairly wide string spacing at the bridge(about 18 or 19mm) and at the nut. Pretty typical J Bass layout: 2 single coil pups, Clover tuners, Blk pg, passive V/V/T controls. The Natural Finish is a point of contention for me. Squier could have done a better job of matching the grain of the hard Maple neck with the (alleged)Soft Maple body; this overlooked detail just screams 'CHEAPLY BUILT'. A matching tinted finish of the Neck and Body would have been better, but this is lower price point after all. Unfortunately things went left when I plugged it in. Granted the sounds were usable and the bass had some of the tonal character you would expect from a J Bass. But by far the biggest negative for me was the B string: Its one of the worst I've ever played on a bass under $500. The B string was somewhat muddy and floppy, which is pretty typical for a 34"scale in this price range. But the dealbreaker was the the low B had virtually no sustain or resonance when played open or up to around the 7th fret. It was like a trap door: I'd play a note and the bottom/sustain would almost immediately drop out regardless of whether I plucked hard or soft, slapped or with a pick. Making things weirder was that sustain was actually better on the other four strings. And this bass had brand new strings on it. After the first tune I pretty much lost interest in playing the bass anymore, another major negative because after all a good instrument should inspire you to play. It could be the construction, pickups, setup, or a combination of the three, but this bass definitely lived up the the title of 'cheap import'. One good thing was that getting a chance to play it in a real-world environment reaffirmed my initial suspicions. I would recommend similarly priced 5 string basses by Ibanez, Peavey, Schecter, or ESP before getting this bass. I think Squier should just limit this model to 4 string only; the 5 string is crappyworthy.
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Opposite experience for me. I got one in Olympic White (so no wood matching issue) and mine sounds and plays like I'd expect a passive jazz bass to play, including the B string. In fact, I was really impressed at the fret work for such a cheap instrument, leveling is good and no sharp ends whatsoever. The bass could be gigged right out of the box.
Is anybody actually bothered by an extra ten lbs around their neck??? Anyway, the general consensus seem to be that this instrument is a great buy for the price point, like many other CV and VM Squiers. Has anybody modded the pickups, bridge, or nut?
I changed nothing other than the pickguard, but just for cosmetics. The stock bass works just fine.
I actually like my basses on the heavy side, 9.5 lbs and up. Anything lighter feels like I have a cheap toy in my hands...but that's me...
I've had mine for about a year now. The only mod I did was to install a generic 2-band preamp. With this, I had to route a 3/4" side-jack hole and a rear battery compartment. I thought about changing pickups, but the Fender-designed singles mine has are fantastic. I wish they were a bit higher-output, but then again they are meant to be "vintage". I am very happy with the bass. Neck is super stable, stays in tune and sounds great. I do want to one day install a high-mass bridge. But the one it comes with works fine.
I also really dig the glossy neck finish, it is not sticky at all - extremely smooth.
I bought her this bass to function as a "beater"....but I have grown to like it too much and now need to get another to serve as a "beater"....
Hi! I just bought this and think it is a really good bass, with a good punch and definition, specially for the price!
How did you do the cosmetic change?
I dug my Squier Matt Freeman so much, I happened to grab a Vin Mod Jazz 5 off the wall, and was so impressed!
Now it's home! Yikes!! We shall see!
Now it's home! Yikes!! We shall see!
Question bump!
I noticed on my new Vin mod Jazz v - it does not say duncan designed on them ....... weird? other p-ups? Any other folks NOT have that on their pickups?
thanks!
I noticed on my new Vin mod Jazz v - it does not say duncan designed on them ....... weird? other p-ups? Any other folks NOT have that on their pickups?
thanks!
