- Sep 5, 2014
- 5,455
- 4,234
- Disclosures
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So I am not sure what happened to my post about this from last night. I guess I must not have submitted it or something.. But I digress...
Yesterday I went to pick up my Ibanez SR500 from the guitar shop, I was having the setup redone. After all the years sitting in a closet, with humidity changes etc... the setup was just messed up. And I found there were some wiring mistakes made when the EMGs were put in, and it never quite sounded right.
I got there as the luthier was putting on the final touches, so I had a few mintues to blow in the showroom (BAD IDEA!). So naturally I headed over to the electric basses. And they had a fair selection. Mostly Fenders, Squiers, a few Ibanezes (is that the plural of Ibanez?), and one or two Jacksons and similar type basses.
So I figured I would see if they had any PJ Precision basses in stock, they didn't. SO I noodled around with a Squier Jazz Bass for a few minutes. I can see how folks could like that slim neck, but it's not for me and my sausage fingers... Down the row I went when I saw something that just kept grabbing my eye. P/J style pickups, Precision neck, but a distinctly different cutaway body shape...
My first laid eyes on a Fender / Squier Jaguar bass in person. They had them in both 4 and 5 string.
So I picked up the first one, not noticing the extra string, I usually play 4 string, plugged it in to the demo amp, and hit the low B.... then looked at the neck / fretboard, yeah I am slow like that sometimes... Okay a 5 stringer, I can hang... Got my bearings on it, and started playing... Setup on this thing was to die for, action wasn't too high, or too low, no fret buzz even with my clumsy fretting, string spacing was spot on, just like I expect out of a P bass. Everything was like a P bass, except that body shape.. No lower horn of the body to get in the way of fretting way down low (and there are a few times I have needed to).
So anyway, here is the quick rundown of the good, and the bad...
The good. Squier / Fender P bass / Vintage modified P bass neck. Overall pretty good, nicely finished rosewood fretboard, well finished frets. String spacing was spot on.
Action was dead on for me.
Tonal variation from P to J and mix of the two pickups was awesome. Added kick from active electronics helped it along.
Beautiful translucent red finish to the body.
Body shape reduces / eliminates the parts of the traditional P bass design that, well interfere with my playing. The upper corner of the body is all but trimmed away, and as a bonus the overall styling of the bass is unique in its look. Not as pointy and edgy as the Flying Vee types, but very cool in its own style.
The adequate.
Tuners were there, and held tune fine. I have never been a super big fan of Fenders open gear tuner system. It works, just not my fave.
The finish on the back of the neck isn't bad, but it is far from silky smooth. This thing could use a few skilled minutes of 600, 800, then 1200 grit sandpaper to polish it down... Both of my Ibanezes are silky smooth on the back of the neck, this is smooth, ish. Far from silky, but far from being a problem playability wise. I would bet that given sufficient wear from working the neck, it would easily wear smooth anyway...
The P/J pickup configuration, with active electronics is far above and away from the typical Squier PJ setup I am used to, better tone range, but still, a bit tinny / bright for my taste. Might have been the demo amp (Rumble 25 I think it was...). I would have to plug it into something a bit beefier to be sure...
The simple, but effective Chrome Bridge. It anchors the back of the strings well, allows for good height adjustment, but I just don't care for this type of bridge. HOWEVER, at this price point, it is a fantastic unit!
Overall.
I want to go back, and get access to a beefier test amp to try this out again. At the price tag ($249.99), if it sounds as good as I think it would through a better amp, I think I will end up with this, without any mods, instead of a PJ modded... I suspect my case of GAS just spun from a PJ to a Jaguar...
Yesterday I went to pick up my Ibanez SR500 from the guitar shop, I was having the setup redone. After all the years sitting in a closet, with humidity changes etc... the setup was just messed up. And I found there were some wiring mistakes made when the EMGs were put in, and it never quite sounded right.
I got there as the luthier was putting on the final touches, so I had a few mintues to blow in the showroom (BAD IDEA!). So naturally I headed over to the electric basses. And they had a fair selection. Mostly Fenders, Squiers, a few Ibanezes (is that the plural of Ibanez?), and one or two Jacksons and similar type basses.
So I figured I would see if they had any PJ Precision basses in stock, they didn't. SO I noodled around with a Squier Jazz Bass for a few minutes. I can see how folks could like that slim neck, but it's not for me and my sausage fingers... Down the row I went when I saw something that just kept grabbing my eye. P/J style pickups, Precision neck, but a distinctly different cutaway body shape...
My first laid eyes on a Fender / Squier Jaguar bass in person. They had them in both 4 and 5 string.
So I picked up the first one, not noticing the extra string, I usually play 4 string, plugged it in to the demo amp, and hit the low B.... then looked at the neck / fretboard, yeah I am slow like that sometimes... Okay a 5 stringer, I can hang... Got my bearings on it, and started playing... Setup on this thing was to die for, action wasn't too high, or too low, no fret buzz even with my clumsy fretting, string spacing was spot on, just like I expect out of a P bass. Everything was like a P bass, except that body shape.. No lower horn of the body to get in the way of fretting way down low (and there are a few times I have needed to).
So anyway, here is the quick rundown of the good, and the bad...
The good. Squier / Fender P bass / Vintage modified P bass neck. Overall pretty good, nicely finished rosewood fretboard, well finished frets. String spacing was spot on.
Action was dead on for me.
Tonal variation from P to J and mix of the two pickups was awesome. Added kick from active electronics helped it along.
Beautiful translucent red finish to the body.
Body shape reduces / eliminates the parts of the traditional P bass design that, well interfere with my playing. The upper corner of the body is all but trimmed away, and as a bonus the overall styling of the bass is unique in its look. Not as pointy and edgy as the Flying Vee types, but very cool in its own style.
The adequate.
Tuners were there, and held tune fine. I have never been a super big fan of Fenders open gear tuner system. It works, just not my fave.
The finish on the back of the neck isn't bad, but it is far from silky smooth. This thing could use a few skilled minutes of 600, 800, then 1200 grit sandpaper to polish it down... Both of my Ibanezes are silky smooth on the back of the neck, this is smooth, ish. Far from silky, but far from being a problem playability wise. I would bet that given sufficient wear from working the neck, it would easily wear smooth anyway...
The P/J pickup configuration, with active electronics is far above and away from the typical Squier PJ setup I am used to, better tone range, but still, a bit tinny / bright for my taste. Might have been the demo amp (Rumble 25 I think it was...). I would have to plug it into something a bit beefier to be sure...
The simple, but effective Chrome Bridge. It anchors the back of the strings well, allows for good height adjustment, but I just don't care for this type of bridge. HOWEVER, at this price point, it is a fantastic unit!
Overall.
I want to go back, and get access to a beefier test amp to try this out again. At the price tag ($249.99), if it sounds as good as I think it would through a better amp, I think I will end up with this, without any mods, instead of a PJ modded... I suspect my case of GAS just spun from a PJ to a Jaguar...
). I ended up suggesting he buy the Jag. I like Jazzes (Jazzi?) a lot and have owned many, but that Jag was very nice and I thought the playing comfort and versatility would suit a beginner very well and take him all the way up to gigging. A really nice axe; he ended up buying it.
