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Types of J Basses

H

Hypnotaize

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Apr 10, 2014
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#1
I'm getting a new bass in October, and I really like the J basses. But there's so many different kinds! Aside from name and price, and some basic cosmetic stuff, I can't really seem to find a difference.

Why is a Blacktop Jazz Bass better/worse than a Modern Player? Why is the Affinity Series J better/worse than the Vintage Modified 70's?

Why are there so many types of Fender/Squire J's? What should I look at when choosing one?
 
#2
I'm pretty new at this, so if it's wrong, someone will surely step in to correct.

But I think that 'jazz bass' refers to the neck width and body shape.
I've seen all kinds of pickup types in different configurations on basses that are called jazz.
 
#3
A J bass is (traditionally) a bass that has a slim neck, two single coil pickups that are passive and wired with volume/volume/tone controls and have an offset body usually made of alder or ash.

Nowadays many of those requirements have changed. You can get a jazz with split coil pickups (blacktop). You can get a jazz with active electronics (deluxe). You can get a Jazz with a Precision-style (wide) neck. Those options are there to cater to specific crowds, and none of them are wrong or bad just because they aren't traditional Jazz Basses.

Your second question is both less and more complicated. It mostly boils down to build quality, parts quality, quality control, and also partially the name. That's what you'll have to research on your own.
 
#4
felis said:
I'm pretty new at this, so if it's wrong, someone will surely step in to correct.

But I think that 'jazz bass' refers to the neck width and body shape.
I've seen all kinds of pickup types in different configurations on basses that are called jazz.
Click to expand...
This is all it means to me. The Jazz pickup configuration is traditionally two single coils, but I think the blacktop jazz and the power jazz count. I have two active jazz deluxe.
 
#5
Persona87 said:
A J bass is (traditionally) a bass that has a slim neck, two single coil pickups that are passive and wired with volume/volume/tone controls and have an offset body usually made of alder or ash.

Nowadays many of those requirements have changed. You can get a jazz with split coil pickups (blacktop). You can get a jazz with active electronics (deluxe). You can get a Jazz with a Precision-style (wide) neck. Those options are there to cater to specific crowds, and none of them are wrong or bad just because they aren't traditional Jazz Basses.

Your second question is both less and more complicated. It mostly boils down to build quality, parts quality, quality control, and also partially the name. That's what you'll have to research on your own.
Click to expand...
I've never bought a bass before. My current one was a birthday present when I was little. I think I've got my heart set on a Fender (or Squier) J, but unfortunately, I don't have a variety of basses at my fingertips to try out.
 
#6
Hypnotaize said:
Why are there so many types of Fender/Squire J's? What should I look at when choosing one?
Click to expand...

Part of the reason there are so many is Marketing (signature models that primarily differ by color), but also part of it is cost / build location. When looking at name brands there are often 2-3 locations that the gear can be manufactured all with different cost, then there are material preferences. So if you take your basic Ash Body + Maple Fretboard or Alder Body + Rosewood Fretboard, then multiply that config by number of build locations and features (usually hardware upgrades) you have a wealth of options. Now the options are usually not drastically different but it gives you some choices, typically wood combination, colors, nut width, bridge type and active/passive.

When choosing a bass, I use woods as my first filter. Then appearance as a 2nd filter. Appearance could be an excellent first filter too since if you don't like the look of the instrument your not gonna pick it up ;). My 3rd filter would likely be features like # of frets, pickup configuration, active/passive, nut width, bridge type...

All of these things are personal preference. There are some Ash/Maple basses that sound virtually identical to Alder/Rosewood but then there are also cases where same materials sound totally different just because the instruments are made from materials where variations naturally occur.
 
#7
First of, figure out what your budget is.
Squier is technically the "budget" line of Fender although a high end Squier VM or CV is equal to, or almost equal to a Fender Made in Mexico (debatable on that :) )

In order of quality and relative price for new in progressive order good to best.
Squier:-
Affinity< $179.99
Vintage Modified< $299,99
Classic Vibe $322.99 (current sale price at GC)


Fender
Made in Mexico $599.99
Made in America $999.99 (Fender American Special) $1349.99 (Fender American Standard)

Now there are variants too that are different from the standard Jazz design - could differ because of pickup configuration or being an active bass. Too many to list, just covering some.

Model
Fender Aerodyne : $799.99 (jazz pickup and pbass .light bass/slim - Made in Japan)
Fender Blacktop : $499.99 (2 sets of P-bass pickups - Made in Mexico)
Fender Geddy Lee " $899.99 (hey, it looks like Geddy Lee's bass! - better bridge, pickups, block maple fretboard - Made in Japan)
Fender Modern Player: $499.99 (dual Modern Player humbucking Jazz Bass pickups - Made in China)
Fender Deluxe Active Jazz:$ 749.99 (active 3-band EQ combined with the standard volume and pan- made in Mexico)

There are many more but these are just to get you started. I do recommend looking at the Fender website for more detailed descriptions etc.
Used prices are much cheaper (obviously) and that's where you can get some really good deals. For example, I picked up a Made in Mexico Jazz bass used in excellent condition for $200.
 
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#8
Budget: 300
Wood Type: Zero knowledge of the difference between woods when it comes to sound
Appearance: Very minimal requirements for me. I like the look of all the J Basses. Color is hardly important to me.
# of Frets: Currently playing with nineteen, and it works just fine. 20 is good, but I don't mind if it's 24.

I'm a major noob to what's going to affect the sound of my bass, build-wise.
 
#9
Hypnotaize said:
Budget: 300
Wood Type: Zero knowledge of the difference between woods when it comes to sound
Appearance: Very minimal requirements for me. I like the look of all the J Basses. Color is hardly important to me.
# of Frets: Currently playing with nineteen, and it works just fine. 20 is good, but I don't mind if it's 24.

I'm a major noob to what's going to affect the sound of my bass, build-wise.
Click to expand...
My Squier VM jazz is awesome. I've played since I was seven and am now 24.
 
#10
If you can, I would recommend a trip to a music store to try some out.
I would also recommend considering used basses, buy it from a music store or if you find one on Craigslist, take someone who can evaluate the condition of the bass if you're not too familiar with it. Also, don't forget a good amp will make a huge difference to the sound of the bass, any bass. Even the best bass will sound awful on an underpowered bad quality amp. 100-150w I would say is a decent enough amp for home, small location usage.
You can easily get a used Squier VM, Squier CV (the top of the line Squier models) or a used Fender MIM with your budget. Fender Blacktop and Modern Player, perhaps if you're lucky or willing to pay a little more. Any of these basses can be excellent instruments if set up correctly.
Currently there's a Squier VM used on Guitar Center's used database for $159. With delivery to your door for an additional $20 That's a great deal!
 
#13
Maxdusty said:
If you can, I would recommend a trip to a music store to try some out.
I would also recommend considering used basses, buy it from a music store or if you find one on Craigslist, take someone who can evaluate the condition of the bass if you're not too familiar with it. Also, don't forget a good amp will make a huge difference to the sound of the bass, any bass. Even the best bass will sound awful on an underpowered bad quality amp. 100-150w I would say is a decent enough amp for home, small location usage.
You can easily get a used Squier VM, Squier CV (the top of the line Squier models) or a used Fender MIM with your budget. Fender Blacktop and Modern Player, perhaps if you're lucky or willing to pay a little more. Any of these basses can be excellent instruments if set up correctly.
Currently there's a Squier VM used on Guitar Center's used database for $159. With delivery to your door for an additional $20 That's a great deal!
Click to expand...
I'm saving up for a new amp. Currently on a Peavey MicroBass. The thing is, the only people I know that can help me with bass shopping are the salesmen at the local music store. Which, only has a few at any given time. Usually there's a few Alembic 5 or 6 strings, some higher-end EBMMs and Js, occasionally the rare Rickenbacker, and those are all at least a thousand, and then they have a rack of six or so cheaper Js and Ps from Fender. The nearest GC is a 45-minute drive, not including the crapload of traffic.

I've been keeping an eye on the GC used stuff on their website. CL in my area has very little basses.
 
#14
A standard Fender Jazz bass clone has these features but there are many variations:

- Neck with 1.5 inch nut and 2.5 inch bolt on heel and a narrow range of neck profiles that feel like fenders.
- Maple neck with rosewood or maple fretboard.
- 34 inch scale
- block fretboard inlays if you want the vintage fender jazz look.
- 20 or 21 frets.
- 4 inline tuners, or 4+1.
- The standard Jazz bass body shape.
- Ash or Alder body, but to be fair today's Standard Fender Jazz bass (MIM) might actually be basswood or some other replacement wood very close in tone to alder.
- 2 single coil pickups with 8 small pole pieces on each pickup (groups of 2 per string) and standard simple winding to a certain ohmage (the value slips my mind at the moment)
- Fender has gone through several incarnations of wiring, but the old school traditional fender basses after the early stack knobs (from 1962 on) is passive Volume Volume Tone, still used today but with many other options even from Fender.
- Actually Fender has current models that break every single one of these rules except maybe the very general Fender Jazz bass body shape. Even those models have some slight variances on the body shape.

Here is a list of examples (of which there are many) for each rule broken:

- Jazz bass special has a precision bass nut width (either 1 9/16 or 1 5/8)
- Power Jazz Bass Special is neck through
- Fender has a medium scale jazz bass with 32 inch scale, and they have an artist 5 string with 35 inch scale
- plenty of Fender models don't have the block inlays. It was not standard in most models after sometime in the late 60s or early 70s.
- Fender Tony Franklin bass has an ebony fretboard.
- Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass 24 has 24 frets.
- Fender MB4 had a 2+2 headstock though I think this is a p bass. Was there a similar jazz bass model? I believe there was in the 90s.
- Fender Victor Bailey has a koa top on a rosewood and/or mahogany body
- Fender Modern Player Jazz has double wide jazz pickups though it wasn't the first, there was one in the early 2000s that I coveted.
- current Fender American basses are usually active, and there also have been knobs that you can push in for coil taps, stack knobs, and all manner of configurations in Fender made basses.
- the only consistent things from an actual Fender made bass is the general body shape with minor variations (and maybe the headstock, but that is usually not a requirement in a clone because Fender protected that design with a trademark, and so another manufacturer cannot clone the headstock without a license agreement with Fender like Warmoth, Allparts, Status and a few others have in place.)

Now you can get basses that have only a jazz shaped body and call it a jazz bass because it looks like one. Or one that just has 2 single coil jazz pickups and call it a jazz bass because it sounds like one. IMHO if it has only one of those 2 it can be called a jazz bass. You could take almost any bass in existence and either have the J body or the J pickups or both and you have a jazz bass.
 
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#15
waynobass said:
Forget all the Fender variations and simply get a Lakland 44-60 like this:

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/f-s...custom-limited-edition.1097508/#post-16285736

(no affiliation)
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Maybe if his budget wasn't $300. ;)

Man, I'd be hard pressed to recommend something outside of the VM or CV basses at that price range. I feel like those are gigging level instruments (especially the CVs) and will last you quite a while. If you can get up to a budget of around $350, go for a CV jazz. I can't imagine you'll regret it.
 
#16
Hypnotaize said:
I'm saving up for a new amp. Currently on a Peavey MicroBass. The thing is, the only people I know that can help me with bass shopping are the salesmen at the local music store. Which, only has a few at any given time. Usually there's a few Alembic 5 or 6 strings, some higher-end EBMMs and Js, occasionally the rare Rickenbacker, and those are all at least a thousand, and then they have a rack of six or so cheaper Js and Ps from Fender. The nearest GC is a 45-minute drive, not including the crapload of traffic.

I've been keeping an eye on the GC used stuff on their website. CL in my area has very little basses.
Click to expand...
Might be worth your time to make the drive and try out different jazz and p basses there to see what you like and then purchase used.
 
#18
WarriorJoe7 said:
A standard Fender Jazz bass clone has these features but there are many variations.

Neck with 1.5 inch nut and 2.5 inch bolt on heel and a narrow range of neck profiles that feel like fenders.
Maple neck with rosewood or maple fretboard.
block fretboard inlays if you want the vintage fender jazz look.
20 or 21 frets.
4 inline tuners, or 4+1.
The standard Jazz bass body shape.
Ash or Alder body.
2 single coil pickups with 8 small pole pieces on each pickup (2 per string) and standard simple winding to a certain ohmage (the value slips my mind at the moment)
Fender has had several incarnations of wiring, but the old school fender basses after the early stack knobs (from 1962 on) is passive Volume Volume Tone.

Now you can get basses that have only a jazz shaped body and call it a jazz bass because it looks like one. Or one that just has 2 single coil jazz pickups and call it a jazz bass because it sounds like one. IMHO if it has only one of those 2 it can be called a jazz bass. You could take almost any bass in existence and either have the body or the pickups or both and you have a jazz bass.
Click to expand...
I borrowed one once that had the two single coil jazz pickups, and a jazz neck, and a jazz body, and I liked the versatile sound, and was really comfortable to play. It was Mexican made, but I don't remember what type of J it was.

I can push to $350. I'll check out the CV. This'll be my first "good" bass (currently on a POS Bronco), so I'm still kind of discovering my bass style and feel.
 
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#19
Just for information overload, here's some light reading :).

"Tone Wood" charts for:
Bodies: Invalid Link Removed
Necks: Invalid Link Removed

I've got no affiliation with Warmoth, and have never used their product but I've used their site for research. Its all subjective and 'general' since there are variation in wood from piece to piece but it can give you an idea. You can also look at what types of basses your favorite players use, and get an idea of the tones you enjoy.

As others are mentioning, looking at used basses can get you a nice bass for not too much expense. You just need an idea of what you are looking for, to make a broad generalization most fender basses with maple fretboards have Ash bodies and basses with Rosewood fretboards have Alder bodies. Generally Ash/Maple is tighter and brighter; Alder/Rosewood is more mellow and has perhaps a little more mid-range.

If you can get down to a place like guitar center and play more types of basses just to get the feel for them that would be great (you mentioned its 45 min away). Gloss finished necks feel a lot different then satin necks and it helps a ton know what feels good to you.
 
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#20
I got a cheap but great sounding p/j. I love the versatility of it and the playability it has with the narrow neck thats longer than the jazz. that was always my biggest complaint was that the damn neck was so short on a standard jazz. ran 300 bucks.
 

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