Squier Vintage Modified, vs Vintage Modified Jaguar

[ProDigit]

Pretty soon I will have the opportunity to A/B a Vintage Modified 5 string bass (the White Olympic version of the Marcus Miller bass), vs the Black Vintage Modified Jaguar bass (also 5 string).

At first I thought they were both identical, save for the shape.
Sadly that's not true.
The Jaguar is an active bass.
VM Jazz bass is a passive bass.

The Jaguar is PJ, the Jazz, is double J.

I chose the Olympic white for color purposes only.
I prefer a PJ, but perhaps the Jazz will be just as good for my purposes.
I prefer the Jazz being a passive bass, and from memory, prefered the tone of the passive over the active, although it appears to me that the active bass has better volume dynamics (sounds better slapping).

The pickup signal is also a lot hotter on the Jaguar. So hot, that on some amps I have to turn the gain almost all the way down.

I will A/B review it soon. Anyone has any questions, or things he'd like to be answered, or any input on these two basses, is welcome to share!

 

[eastcoasteddie]

If Squier came out with a Jazz-shaped version with the pickups of that Jag, I'd be all over it.
I really liked the sound of the Jag, but prefer how the VM Jazz V is built...

The Jag definitely has a chunkier neck profile, more like the Affinity JV. The VMJV has a super thin neck profile, which is also glossed. Some people hate the gloss, but I love it, along with the blocks and binding.

Sorry if it isn't PC of me to say, but to me the Jag body looks like an amputee Jazz body....which it basically is...

 

[ProDigit]

You're right.
My main issue was that the jag sounded different due to the active circuit, and I don't like batteries.
Perhaps I'm lucky the D-string tuner mechanism got damaged in transit, so I am eligible for returning the item.
I'll keep it for a week, until I can compare both.
I really like the olympic white version of the Marcus Miller bass.
It just looks awesome.

Also I would have preferred Squier to make a PJ out of the jazz bass. PJ is even more versatile than Jazz.

 

[pappabass]

I have a Jag special. 4 string. black on black. Pretty cool bass for the money. Sounds good, stays in tune, low action. Nice neck. I have noticed that the 'different' shape when I sit on a stool or chair to play. the bottom cut out does not center over my leg. The active pick up is more of a bass boost. The standard jag has the standard passive pickups. Unless its a good deal I would not buy a Squier again, not much resale value or demand like a Fender.

 

[ProDigit]

Okay,
Well I A/B-ed both, and the Jazz bass definitely has less low end, and sounds thinner.
I need to add some 60-200Hz (deep and punch) to make them sound similar.
But the Jazz sounds so much better for slapping than the Jag, though they both have about the same brightness.

Both sound good, but the jag has that classic P-sound that the Jazz doesn't have.
The Jazz also is a bit more versatile. Meaning, there's more tonal variation between front and rear pickup, and the rear pickup sounds a bit better.

The tone pot on my Jazz was broken, so I had to return it, however, if a standard 4,7uF capacitor is soldered to the pot, the tone should be very pleasing warm!
This is what I've been somewhat missing on the Jag, where the tone just dials in or out sharp.

On the Jag, you really want to keep the treble pot open all the time, because dialing it out, makes it sound like a low cost, budget bass with crappy pickups (think cardboard bass, or upright).
The brights are very muffled and the pickup sound quality suffers tremendously with the tone knob not maxed out.
If you do want to have a warmer sound, Markbass has a VLE and VPF knob, one of the two is a LPF that will reduce high frequencies and make the bass sound old school a lot nicer than the active circuit treble pot.

The low frequencies on the Jag are boosted somewhat at max setting. Sometimes I reduce them by 20-30% to match the lows of the Jazz.

Out of the two, the Jazz definitely beats the Jag in tonal versatility, and slap sound.
The Jag is for the 70's P-bass sound, while still very good on slap sound, warm sound, and still above average for that Jaco rear pickup sound.

Out of the two, I like them both, each has it's own flair.
I probably would choose the Jazz for I prefer the Olympic white color (looks really good), paired with the black plastic inlays on the white (is it maple?) fretboard; and it's a passive bass, meaning, no more batteries.

The Jag is a close second.
I have decided to return my Jazz due to the broken tone pot, and a broken tuss rod head, and will be getting a new Jazz bass soon!