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Who makes a great J right now?

Your first-choice J-style bass would be:

  • Fender / Custom Shop

    Votes: 175 34.0%

  • Sadowsky

    Votes: 102 19.8%

  • Lakland

    Votes: 44 8.6%

  • Lull

    Votes: 27 5.3%

  • Other

    Votes: 166 32.3%
  • Total voters
    514
#122
mickebas said:
Sooo many great jazzbass styled instruments out there today that the biggest issue is getting a chance to play some of them and then make a decision... huuu! :)
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You're not wrong. I've learned of at least ten luthiers I'd never heard of on this thread, let alone the ones I was already keen to play. It's an embarrassment of riches. Xotic are here in town, and Suhr aren't far away either, with a dealer 30min drive away. Its a good time to be a player.
 
#126
jackn1202 said:
You like that one? I've been looking for something like that.
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I was using this...works great but the base unit that plugs into your amp also has to plug into the wall.
94612138-_AEC2-431_E-_B365-4_D9856_A68391.jpg

The Xvive is completely wireless, but I’ve read it doesn’t work with some active basses.
I prefer it.
Used it with my Fender P bass, my Squier VM Jazz, my Reverend Thundergun and my G&L L2000.
Plenty of range, doesn’t affect your bass tone, no response delay, etc.
 
#127
Relay G10
Good in principle, bad practically (the early design was, dunno if it changed)

5v - can’t run off normal bricks, so you plug in, or use an external phone battery.
Micro USB slot is fragile as hell for charging.
My base unit failed in months

The actual stick suffers with recessed jacks
 
#129
The Atelier Zs look really nice, でも、ウエッブ•サイトには僕の日本語があまり上手じゃないよ。Just found the English button—whew. Are they sold in the US?
 
#130
600 Ohms said:
The Atelier Zs look really nice, でも、ウエッブ•サイトには僕の日本語があまり上手じゃないよ。Just found the English button—whew. Are they sold in the US?
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I get mine from Danny Stewart who is a TB member. His shop is Bass Japan Direct. Has a website and has a FB page. He’s actually based in Japan and can go to the Atelier shop.
 
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#133
600 Ohms said:
Please, nobody should think I mean "the best," I simply mean, "whose J should I be trying out?".

Looking for a (potentially new) Jazz (could be Fender, could be someone else) in the following configuration:

Ash body
Maple neck
wider 70's pickup spacing
Not necessary, but active EQ could be nice.

My son owns the Sire Marcus Miller J (60's style) and I'm pretty amazed how great that bass plays and sounds, particularly for the $$. I'd be happy with one of those, but I'm looking for something with a higher level of craftsmanship that will age well.

How are Laklands in the post-Dan Lakin era? I have an older Skyline Glaub that's just the best.

Thanks for suggestions.
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MoeTown1986 said:
I’m partial to Fender J’s. I don’t know if they’re “the best”. But, they’re the best for me.
View attachment 3125933 View attachment 3125932
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i like those knobs in the top photo...were they black plastic originally that you swapped out? if so where did you get the replacements?
 
#134
Best is subjective.

I haven't played any of those other basses in your poll, never had an opportunity to.

However, I have switched back to J basses after playing Alembics exclusively for a decade. I now own a bunch, a couple of elites, an AV, and now a custom shop 1960 JB. The CS JB is easily the best playing/sounding J bass I've ever played, and it may even surpass the original '64 JB I once owned.

I'm sure the other mentioned in your poll sound and play great as well, but a Fender JB won't disappoint you. That said, it's probably dependent on model. Obviously your mileage may vary with the lower end ones.
 
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#136
user to owned several fender J,
from MIJ, MIA, Am-Pro, but none make me happy, Am-Pro was the one makes me happiest in term of playability.

never have fender CS Jazz, but my Pino is surely a keeper :)

back to J, after got my first sadowsky, I stop looking for another J, so musical, so easy to dial my desired tone, superb playability
 
#139
Altitude said:
But I would throw a small caution to anybody venturing into the custom or build-to-spec world. Most of us don't know what we're really getting when we piece together an order based on stuff that sounds good to us. I can say "I want a swamp ash body with an ebony neck, Nordstrand pickups with suchandsuch preamp" and everything else. And this could all be based on good things we've read about all those products here and elsewhere. But you can't really know what the resulting instrument is going to sound like until it's bought, paid for, and in your hands. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
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It's sorta like cooking. One may love red curry, horseradish and mayonnaise in separate dishes, but put them all together in one concoction and you've created the culinary equivalent of a hate-crime. :vomit: :dead:

That being said, one shouldn't be discouraged from experimentation. There are plenty of mixes and matches that can be explored. It's just a matter of having time, patience, resources (yeah, that's a pretty important one :cautious:), the will to see it through and enough resolve to not let failures knock you off your groove.

600 Ohms said:
Ash body
Maple neck
wider 70's pickup spacing
Not necessary, but active EQ could be nice.
Click to expand...
What you're describing there sounds really damn close to the Fender American Vintage '75 Jazz. One preamp later and you'd be set.
 
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