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NBD: J&D Jazz Bass Vintage 1975 Sonic Blue


mr.noisy
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So, I had that moment in my life again, I really might have a problem. It's about a month since I bought an Ibanez 6 string, and from last few days I started GASsing again. I wanted Jazz Bass. I was skinned. I needed something cheap. I know it would not be easy. I had quite a few Jazzes in my life, I had Fenders, Lakland, Sandberg, so you could call me a bit of a snob, always wanted to have the best gear. Now my budget is super tight and I started doing some research. First, I was very close to buy Harley Benton, so many great reviews, quite decent Wilkinson hardware, ash body, that's crazy for just a bit over £100. But I was a bit sceptical about it. I have had so many bad experiences with other brands, even those super expensive ones, that I really needed to try something. Not much on youtube. Then I came across J&D, almost the same thing, from different German music store. The difference is alder body, neck is finished in gloss and pickups are unbranded.
2 days ago I went to see a second hand Harley Benton in natural, because seller from gumtree was living very close to me, and it was really cheap. It sounded great, but was quite heavy and the bridge saddles were all the way down and action still was a bit high, and I didn't take it. Maybe it needed a truss rod adjustment, but I just didn't feel it. I am always a bit anxious about basses that have bridge saddles all the way down and still high action. I like mine quite low. Then I saw that J&D are actually in stock at DV247 and they got some in store. Yesterday I had a rehearsal very close to Romford and after that I took my guitarist and we went to that store. I just wanted to check it out.
First, I was quite surprised, the store was really big, and they had quite a few basses there, a lot of Fenders, some Squiers and even over £3000 Mayones stuff.
Then I saw them, they had few of these J&D's on display. I tried 3 Jazzes and 2 P basses, then started to compare it to Fenders. They even had Classic 70s Fender so I could compare it to 4 or even 5 times more expensive bass, and Fender was quite bad, reminded me why immediately sent back the one I bought few years back. Super heavy and huge string action with saddles all the way down. I tried some more MIM and US standard, some Squiers etc and I was completely blown away how this thing could feel and sound. Right on the display the setup was much better than other ones I tried and I have seen that there is still a room for adjustments. Pickups were really hot, quite bright, piano-like and growly, exactly how I imagine my perfect JB sound. Then the finish was almost flawless, there are some spots where I could point out some imperfections, like maybe couple rough fret edges, but these are noticeable only when I move my hand on purpose to check it, when I play, I don't feel it at all. Other than that, gloss finish on the neck is perfect, it really is. Sonic blue colour is a bit on the bright side, but again, finish is flawless, I remember when I received my £1100 Lakland that had a bit of imperfection in the body work on one of the horns, it wasn't sanded properly and it wasn't smooth but they painted over it... Same thing when I got US standard P Bass for about the same amount of money, it was such a great bass but same thing, I found a bit of rough spots in the body finish under the paint. This bass has none of them.
I really didn't need another bass, but I couldn't leave it, it just sounded too good, it was finished too good... But I must say that the finish vary between the basses, so I guess the best option is to try them yourself, for example on one of the other basses had a little gap in the neck pocket, had some more rough fret edges, but still sounded great. I tried P basses and I think it will definitely be coming my way when I get some spare cash.

The only thing that I had to do when i got home and started setting it up was correcting the pickup height. I did a little truss rod adjustment and put bridge saddles down to get a nice action, but pickups were so high that the string were almost laying on the magnets and I couldn't screw them any more, so I took the strings out and took the pickups out. There was a very dense foam underneath, I took it out and cut in half, put the pickups back and it was fine. Now the pickups are at correct height, action is really low without any buzzing anywhere on the neck and I just can't believe that the cheapest bass I have ever bought is one of the best I ever had, and I had a lot! And I got a couple of gigs this weekend and some more during the April, and I will be taking it with me.
I also like the logo on the headstock. I like nice things, and while I agree that it doesn't matter how something looks but how it sounds and feel, I think that at least J&D did a little design on their logo as opposed to HB just choosing a 'fenderish' font.

Some people say that these instruments are great basses 'for the money'. I'd say, these are just great basses, not only in their price range, but in general. I am not sure if I will ever upgrade it, I like it how it is!

Edited by mr.noisy
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Yes, that Sonic Blue really pops out. They had fiesta red p bass too and fender 50s p bass in fiesta red and comparing these two the j&d fiesta red was more bright. They did not have surf green though. And I forgot to say that they put it in a gig bag too :D All that for £119 including 3 years warranty. Crazy

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I have serious GAS for one of these. The Sonic Blue screamed 'Buy Me' as soon as I saw it, but everyone else seemed to be going 'gaga' over the Surf Green ones. I also love the Black/Black/Maple. I will pull the trigger on one soon, but which one?

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[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1459405825' post='3016142']
I have serious GAS for one of these. The Sonic Blue screamed 'Buy Me' as soon as I saw it, but everyone else seemed to be going 'gaga' over the Surf Green ones. I also love the Black/Black/Maple. I will pull the trigger on one soon, but which one?
[/quote]

One of each. It's the only solution

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Haha, these are so cheap you could really grt one of each and it will still be cheaper than a mexican Fender. After a couple of days of extensive playing the only thing I found would need replacing soon are the tuners, they hold the tuning fine, but as I have noticed in other thread someone else had the same problem, these tuners have something like a waist that is causing the E and A string to be almost straight from the nut to the peg, but the nut slot is tight and strings do not vibrate or anything but I just think that there should be at least a little angle there, D an G is fine because of the string retainer. Other than that, I had my first rehearsal with it yesterday, and I got a gig today and tomorrow. I also want to change the pickguard for a tort one, but I am not sure if the ones on ebay would fit. Did anyone change one on theirs and can confirm that they have about the same fit as the ones sold cheap on ebay for Fenders?

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[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1459405825' post='3016142']
I have serious GAS for one of these. The Sonic Blue screamed 'Buy Me' as soon as I saw it, but everyone else seemed to be going 'gaga' over the Surf Green ones. I also love the Black/Black/Maple. I will pull the trigger on one soon, but which one?
[/quote]
One of the reasons I went for a sonic blue is the fact that everyone else is buying surf green. And I love it!

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They do sound great, and surf green isn't boring by any means, still looks great and I might get one as a backup. Pickups do sound great, very growly. It reminds me of a MIJ Geddy Lee jazz that I had a few years back. Even with the tone rolled all the way down they still got some of that growl there. Did you keep the pickguard stock on yours?

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Mmmmm. Have looked at these before but not gone for one. Now thinking I really need to! Probably go for the all black with the maple. What are the strings like tho? Are they a decent branded set or just stock J&D's which will need changing straight away?

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[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1459426653' post='3016421']
Mmmmm. Have looked at these before but not gone for one. Now thinking I really need to! Probably go for the all black with the maple. What are the strings like tho? Are they a decent branded set or just stock J&D's which will need changing straight away?
[/quote]

The strings for me sound quite nice, so I am not going to change them until they die. I might take a Gopro to my gig tonight and try to record some footage.
So, did anyone change the pickguard on their J&D?

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[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1459426653' post='3016421']
Mmmmm. Have looked at these before but not gone for one. Now thinking I really need to! Probably go for the all black with the maple. What are the strings like tho? Are they a decent branded set or just stock J&D's which will need changing straight away?
[/quote]

I'm leaning toward the Black & Maple one

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[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1459426653' post='3016421']
Mmmmm. Have looked at these before but not gone for one. Now thinking I really need to! Probably go for the all black with the maple. What are the strings like tho? Are they a decent branded set or just stock J&D's which will need changing straight away?
[/quote]

I like the stock strings, so I left them on. It's very rare I do that, but they felt and sounded great to me.

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[quote name='mr.noisy' timestamp='1459422083' post='3016337']
They do sound great, and surf green isn't boring by any means, still looks great and I might get one as a backup. Pickups do sound great, very growly. It reminds me of a MIJ Geddy Lee jazz that I had a few years back. Even with the tone rolled all the way down they still got some of that growl there. Did you keep the pickguard stock on yours?
[/quote]


I changed the pickguard and knobs on mine. Just because!

I don't have pictures of it as it is now, just this one where I just placed the pickguard on it, unscrewed, and placed the cream knobs on top of the existing black ones... but it gives you an idea:

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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1459438291' post='3016596']



I changed the pickguard and knobs on mine. Just because!

I don't have pictures of it as it is now, just this one where I just placed the pickguard on it, unscrewed, and placed the cream knobs on top of the existing black ones... but it gives you an idea:


[/quote]
Where did you get the pickguard from? Did it fot without any problem? I am looking to get one from ebay.

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[quote name='mr.noisy' timestamp='1459439327' post='3016610']
Where did you get the pickguard from? Did it fot without any problem? I am looking to get one from ebay.
[/quote]


the screw holes do not align, and I was reluctant to make holes because I like it without a pickguard too and didn't want to add more... so I ended up using a bit of double sided sticky tape to hole it in place and never drilled the holes.
I can't remember where I got it from... it was a seller on ebay... I know it fitted my old Squier VM Jazz, which is what I originally bought it for. It's a little tight, but it fits.

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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1459442037' post='3016652']
the screw holes do not align, and I was reluctant to make holes because I like it without a pickguard too and didn't want to add more... so I ended up using a bit of double sided sticky tape to hole it in place and never drilled the holes.
I can't remember where I got it from... it was a seller on ebay... I know it fitted my old Squier VM Jazz, which is what I originally bought it for. It's a little tight, but it fits.
[/quote]
Thank you, sticky tape is a good idea!

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As I said, I gigged mine last night. The sound from the camera is a bit crappy, and the room wasn't really suited for a music as it was a large hall with a lot of reverb, but you get the idea :) Edited by mr.noisy
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[quote name='mr.noisy' timestamp='1459498949' post='3017070']


As I said, I gigged mine last night. The sound from the camera is a bit crappy, and the room wasn't really suited for a music as it was a large hall with a lot of reverb, but you get the idea :)
[/quote]

nice :)

I used mine in a few gigs right after I got it too. Mine had a little issue with the nut being cut too low on a couple of strings, but was still useable. I meant to replace the nut but my temporary fix of putting a bit of superglue on the string groove worked fine so I didn't bother with that.

I'm a big fan of the Jazz sound but not of Jazz basses because the neck is so thin, but this one is nicer than most (for me). It's still narrow but slightly deeper than others, which makes it a lot more comfortable for me. Hmmm, I should really bring it out again.

Edited by mcnach
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[quote name='mr.noisy' timestamp='1459507309' post='3017191']
It's funny that actually gig bag that I am carrying the bass in is more expensive than the bass itself :D
[/quote]

:D same here: Fusion F1! well, actually about the same as the bass, I think it was 114 vs 119 for the bass ;)

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