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Vintage "Brand" Basses by JHS.

JayJohnMason

JayJohnMason

Feb 13, 2014
9
0
Kidderminster, England.
#1
Hello, I wanted to to ask about Vintage basses (The brand from the UK) as I'm seriously thinking about buying one, I'm not the most skilled or wealthy bassist out there so I can't buy a Fender or a Musicman or a Warwick..ETC..

Vintage copy big brands with ALL their Products, Their guitars copy LP's and PRS (Called VRS) but I'm interested in their V96 (Musicman) bass, looks good and I played one ages ago and I didn't realize how cheap it was because it played and sounded soo good.

My question is, Has anyone had any Problems with Vintage Instruments before ? and are their any other cheaper basses I would be better off getting ?

Budget: £200-£500(At the very very maximum)

Note: I mainly play melodic death metal but I do play some older metal and rock.

Cheers,
Jay :)
 
#2
Vintage stuff is good quality. I believe they use all Wilkinson hardware, which is all pretty solid. I've played one of their Strat copies before and it felt good all around. If you played one before and you liked the sound and feel of it I don't think that there would be any reason to get anything else. I was VERY tempted to get one a while back when I was looking for a new bass and I ended up getting a Kramer D-1.

I think one of the few Musicman style basses that will come near the Vintage stuff is a Sterling SUB by Musicman or the aforementioned Kramer D-1. The Kramer is around about £300, but I can't seem to find many places selling it. All in all though I would say go for the Vintage, you won't regret it, especially for the price.
 
#3
Yeah they use Wilkinson all round, I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna go for Vintage, I was just wondering if anyone had any problems with them.
Also in my area in England EVERY shop is working with JHS so they always have them in stock and I know a few people on the inside that work at some of the shops and JHS itself and they say that they are very very good for the price :)
 
#4
I'm not a particular fan but the 'Vintage' branded instruments that I've played (invariably owned by friends) have been quite reasonable. I don't have any experience with their basses but their guitars are decent enough.

To be honest, with a budget going up to 500, you could pick up a very decent used Mexican Fender on eBay, or a used Sterling MM, possibly an LTD and certainly an active Yamaha.
 
#9
Jay John

Know it's a bit late to reply,I got one of the older V1005SP's last week.
Your budget would spring for one, Manny's Music has a 4 string for £399.

These were the Top End models before the cheaper V10004 came out.
Fantastic build and all in all the Dog's B's.
V1004SP.jpg


Sorry just minded what style you're playing so might not fit the look, OTOH you'd stand out from all the black guitars
and say your bass is the " Dorian Gray of the band, young, beautiful and decadent masking the darkness and turmoil
of the music you play".Damn that's no a bad line.

Heard kinda mixed things about the Metal Axxe but the Tony Butler gets a good write up.

Whatever you go for play hell outa it and enjoy making music.

K.B
 
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#11
Yep JakobT there's just something not right with the way the V96 looks. The waist definitely is
too narrow.

When I was after a Musicman style I went to ProBass in the UK.

Invalid Link Removed

More expensive than the V96 at £279 but it's 1 of a limited run of 8 and it's one hell of a bass.
RetroEVO.jpg


For I think another £39 Dave at ProBass sells a pre EB Stingray pre-amp circuit. Good firm to deal with.
 
#12
Recently picked up an older (not the re-issue) V96 off eBay for £66 with busted tone pots. The pre-amp is fine but everything (bass, mid and treble) is full on and only the volume control works. And I love it - the neck is slim and comfortable. Overall weight is very manageable. Tone when played acoustically is very nice and clear - I have the one with the maple fretboard. I visited a guitar shop the other day to try out a Sterling SUB4 - just to see - and I like my Vintage better, at least from a "how it feels in the hands" point of view. Tone wise it's a little harder to say at the moment. I'm going to stick an EMG MMCS + controls in because I think it's worth doing.
 
#13
Good for you Anzoid.

Was that the one up for grabs couple of weeks back ? If it feels right you can't go wrong putting
the EMGs in. You already have the important bit "The Bass", electrics are there to be played with.

Good idea doing EMG pickups and pots together as the pre amp might be catered for those pots.
The Retrovibe pre amp I mentioned a couple of posts back is tweeked for the pots supplied.

£66 Man that is a steal.
 
#15
Thanks kodiakblair, I have to admit I'm pretty pleased with it :) I took a punt on the off chance it would be an alright bass and it's turned out to be superb - neck in particular was exactly what I wanted. Not too thick and not too thin - just got rid of an Ibby SR300 because I didn't get on with the super thin neck. Compared to the SUB4 I tried it feels a touch narrower and the depth front to back is just a little bit more comfortable for my hands. The neck is dead straight and I've got the action down lower than on any of my other basses and it doesn't rattle. Intonation needed some tweaking though.

> Was that the one up for grabs couple of weeks back ?
I'm guessing so, it was listed as having broken tone controls so I knew what I was getting into. I looked at just replacing the Wilkinson pre-amp but then discovered the EMG setup and decided to go that route (I'm useless with a soldering iron too which helped make the decision). Can't wait for the part to arrive...

For the OP I'd say - these come up quite regularly on eBay - I've seen at least two others even since I bought mine and they seem to go quite cheap, though as you don't get to try it out you might get a lemon I suppose. I don't know what Vintage's QC is like. I did have (and sold) a Vintage Fretless recently and that was of a similar quality, just, personally, didn't like the neck on it - too wide.
 
#16
To the OP. For the budget you mentioned, 200-500, you can get an old MM Sub bass 2nd hand, the first Sub model made in the US. Or you could get a 2nd hand Sterling by MM or a brand new Sterling Sub bass for £320. I wouldn`t bother with the Vintage MM copy, it ain`t very good especially compared to some of their P bass copies.

Why buy a copy when you can get a Sub, made in the USA for around £400? And you will not lose money on it if you decide to sell it on.
 
#17
kodiakblair said:
Jay John

Know it's a bit late to reply,I got one of the older V1005SP's last week.
Your budget would spring for one, Manny's Music has a 4 string for £399.

These were the Top End models before the cheaper V10004 came out.
Fantastic build and all in all the Dog's B's.
V1004SP.jpg


Sorry just minded what style you're playing so might not fit the look, OTOH you'd stand out from all the black guitars
and say your bass is the " Dorian Gray of the band, young, beautiful and decadent masking the darkness and turmoil
of the music you play".Damn that's no a bad line.

Heard kinda mixed things about the Metal Axxe but the Tony Butler gets a good write up.

Whatever you go for play hell outa it and enjoy making music.

K.B
Click to expand...
The body shape looks like a Tobias Growler to me.
 

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