Painy

Recently I've started a complete change around of my basses moving away from 'boutique coffee tables' and towards the more classically styled Ps and Js. Currently my recent acquisitions are a cheap and cheerful Harley Benton PJ and a Fender Modern Player Jazz (both fivers - don't do fours). Next on the cards I plan to get a Squier VM P5 but after that I'd like to complete the 'holy trinity' of P/J/MM. Now my budget would likely be more Sterling SUB than EBMM but I've also been looking at the Squier Dimension and wondered if anyone on here could give any insight into these basses and whether they can do the Ray thing effectively?

When my band were all about 17 years old, a short, dumpy, late middle aged lady with a slight moustache came up to our drummer and told him that, after she'd seen us the last time we'd played at that venue, she'd then gone home and fantasized about him whilst having sex with her husband. There wasn't a lot he could say to that to be fair.

Well after starting this thread a while ago, and seeing as it's still going, I thought I'd check in with an update. Well for those of you who didn't see my NBD thread, I went ahead and ordered the bass (and went through with the plan to change the pickguard and reshape the headstock and there's a pic of the result below. Anyhow, I've now gigged this a few times and been really impressed with the build quality, playability and sound. It really is a usable instrument with my only complaint being the low output from the pickups (input gain on the amp has to be set to 8.5 when I'd normally have it between 3 and 5 with other passive basses) but that's what the input gain control on the amp is for after all. I also received my new Fender Jazz this week (which I'm loving) and although I can't deny there is a noticeable difference in quality between them, it certainly wasn't enough to stop me swapping between them at my gig on Saturday for songs where I needed a p tone rather than a j!

Nice! Looks worth behaving for anyway

Cheers guys. You're absolutely right. To be honest the " just a Chinese Fender" comment was perhaps a little tongue in cheek after reading comments on here recently about the cheaper ranges of Fenders devaluing the brand etc. In truth I think the only way this bass devalues the brand in anyway is by taking away USA Fender owners' chance to say " Look how expensive my bass is, it's a Fender don'tcha know"! Having played this bass in anger now I'd have to say it is genuinely a quality instrument worthy of the logo it carries on the headstock and I say this not as a newbie who thinks it's great just because it's better than the crappy bass I got from Argos before it, but as a player with 20 years and well over 1000 gigs experience who has owned my share of basses costing anywhere from 2 to 4.5k to compare it to. Aaaaand..... Breath! Pat, the black one in PMT was the one they got in for me to try out against the Squire VM PV (which was also surprisingly good and it was actually a pretty close thing). I liked the maple board on it but really wanted the white finish. Shame they don't offer white and maple as an option or I'd have had that instead. Actually, come to think of it you should buy it... And we could swap necks

My brand spanking new Fender modern player (crafted in China) Jazz Bass V in what is - I think at least - a very sexy satin finish Olympic white.

So I got to try this out at a gig last night and I'm really impressed. With the selector switch set to both single coils it was exactly what you'd expect from a Fender Jazz - tight, punchy and focused. With the selector set to both humbuckers it retained all of those characteristics and was still that unmistakable jazz sound but bigger, warmer and fatter and with a higher output (enough to be worth setting the input gain on the amp to the humbuckers rather than the single coils if planning to switch between the 2 to avoid clipping. The neck humbucker solo'd gave a reasonable p-bass tone when plucking nearer the neck. I was curious to see if I could also get anywhere near a Stingray type sound from the bridge humbucker but as I suspected it was too close to the bridge for that. The bridge humbucker and neck single coil together however got it much closer and would actually be my choice of setting for slap tones (not that I do all that much slapping mind you). The neck humbucker / bridge single coil setting did give another tonal option but is probably the one I'd be least likely to use. Nothing wrong with it particularly but the other settings were just a bit more useable for me. When comparing it to my p-bass, I found that the humbuckers on the jazz allowed it to compete for fat low end front but with better articulation - basically you could hear each individual note that was hitting you in the ribcage with a sledgehammer! Overall I couldn't be happier. It would be interesting to compare it head to head with say a a USA standard jazz but I really have to say I struggle to imagine where the USA could improve on this bass enough to justify the price difference. This really would feel and sound like a great bass at twice the price.

Left to right: fretless thingy (used to be a fretted Aria Pro II Magna series), German made Warwick Corvette standard 5 active, Fender modern player Jazz V, Harley Benton HTR-PJ 5 deluxe and finally (until it's buyer collects it at least) Cort A6 Artisan.

The black finish comes with a maple board, the olly white and 2 tone burst both come with rosewood.

Today I received my first ever Fender - albeit a crafted in China modern player series. Having recently re-discovered the joys of passive basses after 17 years of playing active basses exclusively and filling the p bass gap on the cheap with a Harley Benton (not in a position to buy the multi thousand pound Warwicks that I've owned in the past these days) I decided I needed a jazz to go with it. With my experimentation with the p bass bass having gone so well I was prepared to invest a bit more this time and so this is what I've ended up with - my new Fender Modern Player Jazz Bass V in satin finish Olympic white. Straight out of the box it was unfortunately, quite literally, unplayable! The neck was actually curving backwards and the saddles were dropped down as far as they could go so that the strings were flat against the neck all the way along! After a rather drastic set up though, what a difference. Fast, low action. Nice balance and very versatile tone wise thanks to the 4 way selector switch. This to me is another great example of how these days you don't have to spend a fortune to get a great bass. This was almost exactly a tenth of the cost of what my old Warwick SS1 fiver would cost to buy new these days but I really couldn't say it was anywhere even remotely close to 10 times better. Now I'm just looking forward to gigging it on Saturday night. Only had time to take one quick pic so far tonight but I'll add some more when I get a minute.

[quote name='jassbass' timestamp='1422484694' post='2673393'] Any one tried a squire modified p bass 5ers? [/quote] Tried one out at PMT on Saturday and it really was excellent and not just for the price. Really really good necks on them - high gloss finish but if that's not your preference its nothing a bit of wire wool wouldn't fix

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1422357436' post='2671476'] Do you have any photos of that? I have the five string version and plan on defretting it. I have also considered reshaping it, it's so damned ugly. I was thinking of going with a nice, shiny piano white (it is currently bleurgh whitish). [/quote] Well I went to take some pics and it looks like another refinish is on the cards. The very cheap gigbag it was in has stained bits of the body black Oh well, it did need a bit more work to finish it off anyway (one of the tuners doesn't match for a start). Here it is though warts and all:

I have just ordered a new Fender modern player jazz V but was also considering a Squier VM Precision V so started with a bit of YouTube research as you do. I watched reviews of both basses played by the bloke from GAK and then both the official Fender demos played by Mel Brown. There was vastly more of a difference between the sounds that the 2 players got than there was between the 2 basses in either case. When I tried both basses out myself at PMT I could clearly hear the difference between them but it was more noticeable that I didn't sound like either of the guys on YouTube. Fortunately though I was more than happy with the sound I got myself anyway

Well I placed an order with them Saturday evening, order processed this morning, shipped this afternoon and collected by DHL late this evening. Just hoping there are no delays now as the plan is to use my new bass at my gig on Saturday night. I'll be gutted if it doesn't make it in time as I have the following weekend off so I'd be waiting 2 weeks to use it in anger! Fingers crossed!

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1422292509' post='2670780'] I've actually got 4, but I only count it as 3 really.... The 4th one is my first bass (Squier P), which lives in the loft and is unplayable. Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor 5 Sandberg Classic Booster 5 Yamaha BB605 [/quote] So no TRB then?

I believe Billy Sheehan actually covers the p pickup on his basses in some kind of resin to create a smooth surface to play over and effectively use as a ramp and he's pretty quick.

4 at the moment but with one of them about to change: Cort A6 (until the buyer collects it) to be replaced by- Fender Modern Player Jazz V (olly white satin) when it gets delivered hopefully this week! Warwick Corvette standard 5 active (bubinga) Harley Benton PJ-HTR Deluxe 5 string (hotrod red) Heavily modified (defretted and body and headstock completely 're-shaped) Aria Pro II Magna series 4 string (refinned in translucent honey). Should really update my Sig. Just want to add a Squier VM PV in Sunburst and I think I'm done. Well until I think of something else I want anyway.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1421828762' post='2665350'] Have you seen these, 4-string R*********er like basses for £249 [url="http://www.probass.co.uk/Home.html"]http://www.probass.co.uk/Home.html[/url] [/quote] Interesting that they've given the Ric copies an SRay style headstock and the Ray copies a more Ric style headstock. Could always buy one of each and swap the necks over though.

Lol. Yeah it is a bit of a u-turn for me to be fair. I've ordered it in satin Olympic white.

Well I've just placed an order for one of these. Tried one out in PMT today but in black and was really impressed so now hoping it'll arrive in time for next weekend's gig.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1422096296' post='2668608'] I notice Thomann are doing it for £229! [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_sq_vm_precision_bass_v_ow.htm?sid=df6510e56a128e082bb4915ec89752ac"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_sq_vm_precision_bass_v_ow.htm?sid=df6510e56a128e082bb4915ec89752ac[/url] Somebody buy one and tell me what it's like! [/quote] Played one today in PMT Norwich and I'm sorry to report that it was absolutely immense! Not great for the price, just plain great. Seriously good neck!!! I've actually ordered a modern player jazz (they didn't have it in white in stock) because I already have a p and really wanted a J to go with it but overall the Squier was probably the better bass in all honesty and I will definitely be getting one asap.

Hello Pat. I actually quite liked the original colour of this but have to admit this does look even better now in natural and the tort guard works well too. Nice job there mate! PS. Hope you sort the earth problem out.

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1398073724' post='2430044'] Let me see.... Another Ampeg 1x15 classic cab. Warwick pro series 6 string corvette. Bass Mods K6 in white, maple board, black block inlays, black hardware and pick guard. Complete new set of hardware in black and a pro set up for my 5 string corvette. Some purple Dunlop tortex jazz pics - the only thing on my list I can actually afford right now! [/quote] 9 months on and its all change for me. Still want the new hardware and setup for my Warwick. New bass wise though it's all about passive Ps and Js for me now for some reason. This weekend I'm heading to PMT in Norwich to try out a Squier VM Precision V against a Fender Modern Player Jazz V and hopefully one of them will be coming home with me! The picks , I'm happy to report, I did get half a dozen of and given that they're used on just 2 songs out of our set I expect them to last a good while too.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1421878350' post='2666232'] Sorry, what is it? [/quote] It's a Harley Benton (Thomann's own brand) . Under a hundred pounds and I've played worse bases at 5 times the price. The pickups have a fairly low output but at £100 original outlay you'd have plenty of your budget left to throw in some decent pups and then some.