Geek99

I'm hankering for a Squier VMJ, but will probably wait until I go tot he US next.

thanks for the link, I will read that. Not suite sure my meagre skills are up to fretless at the moment.

I have one ( a £60 cheapie with "Spider" on the headstock). I know this is below the price range you quoted and accept its limitations. Its loud enough un-amped to practice with, but thats all. There is little adjustment, beyond filling down the nut or the bridge if the action is uncomfortable, there is no intonation adjustment. The pre-amp has presence, volume, treblle, mid, bass and whilst that is good, the string to string balance isnt great. You can really hear any finger noise through it. It is good for picking up and practising, and I suppose that there is some marginal benefit in working your fingers harder to play as the action is a little higher . I'd echo the above posts and say get an electric that sounds a bit acoustic.

[quote name='Mikey D' post='245540' date='Jul 22 2008, 05:11 PM']The riff is actually a part played forward and a section attached to it which the tape had been reversed as said in teh above mentioned clasic albums program. It was put in supposedly because it was Bakhiti's birthday. However, I don't believe its the same forward section reversed, as the notes/rhythms are different. Apart from the great playing from Bakhiti (and it being fretless with minimal vibrato), I suppose the only thing that makes the sound is the EQ'ing and compression. What a bass sound though.[/quote] I wasnt thinking about [i]that[/i] song in particular (it was one that kept going on about "having diamonds on the soles of your feet"), I was thinking more generally about African bands like The Bhundu Boys and so on, who do all seem to get that same sort of sound. I should have been more clear, it was just that hearing the Gracelands tracks set me off on this train of thought. I hadnt considered that it might have been a fretless, or a defretted instrument. I just really like the sound and wondered if I could get it. Thanks for all the input though I may experiment with the defret setting on my Zoom.

I'm jsut curious about this - I was listening to a the radio when a Paul Simon track from Gracelands was played - you know the ones with the jangly African guitars (that sound like a Strat) and that nice sinuous, thumping bass sound. Does anyone know how to achieve that bass sound? Is it in a particular instrument line, or particular amps? Or is it done with Eq and effects? Obviously there is also a certain amount of finger input by the player too, but I'm ignoring that for now. thoughts?

[quote name='cheddatom' post='244443' date='Jul 21 2008, 02:24 PM']I find that very strange. Maybe time for a format![/quote] yes, just got a 64 bit machine that I need to put XP on, so may try again. It'll get a new windows disk (being x64) so may work better as the drivers and stuff will all be more up to date)

As someone who is still somewhat p1sspoor but ws a lot worse, I have some sympathy - it wasnt till I went back to basics and worked hard on my timing, posture, left hand positioning and scalar knowledge that I started to sound even halfway reasonable. You'll do better with a tutor than by trying to do it yourself as I did.

yes, even after re-reading the leaflet, de-installing it completely, re-installing it,. and making sure it all was set up same as the documentation, and reading various forums, it still didnt work. I therefore gave up as recording was only a novelty anyway.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='241839' date='Jul 17 2008, 03:56 PM']geek99 - what are your issues? My Zoom worked fine with cubase, but I already had it installed.[/quote] Mainly due to the codecs and latency through them. I'm working in IT and pc support, so I'm fairly handy, but I couldnt sort them out. SOme XP setups just work striaght off the bat.

I've got one - the standard patches are usable, I particularly like C6 and D1 - the DeFret works quite well, as does the octaver but to be hoinest I only really use the comp/lim, NR, reverb and bass amp modellers. The drum machine and basic metronome included are good enough for practice. The tuner works well enough, even on 5 string. Its been robust and nothing has gone wrong. I agree that an Aux input would be nice. Only thing I never got to work properly was Cubase on Windows Xp, and that seems to be a bit of an old chestnut for many, and is probably Windows XP at fault not he Zoom. I'd buy another one.

I remember reading the original brochure for them (a scarily long time ago) but I recall I decided against as I didnt like the headstock and the Marlin models had a cool fish inlay at the 12th fret. Here ends the nostalgia segment....

Can someone tell me how different the Squier standard jazz and VM jazz actually are? There does seem to be a a large price difference. I like the look on the VM more, but I'm not sure look alone is worth the differential.

[quote name='Machines' post='240649' date='Jul 16 2008, 09:51 AM']Guilty. I really fancy a Squier Telebass or the 50's Precision. I'd probably be lame and change the logo though..[/quote] what, you mean, scrape the squier one off? Can you buy the fender decals?

I found this an interesting thread as I am looking into buying a jazz bass and have been wondering whether it was worth paying the extra for a real Fender, or whether the Squier was up to the mark. I'd like to ask BudgetBassist (as he's in my neck of the woods) if he knows a local music shop that he trusts?

I take your point about Pots, I have read about people changing the capacitors and so on. What did you put in place of the existing 500k pots? Would good quality ones from Maplin do, or are there particular spec for instrument pots? Did you also change the capacitor? ( i did read somewhere that changing the pot value also implied a change of capacitor to maintain or improve the tone). It seems to me that a Squier VMJ may be the way to go. Can I presume that "they're all a bit different and some are better than others" or are they fairly consistent.? It sounds like the higher end ones (ie the fenders) are a bit variable.I'll look out for the two piece body though.

Interesting as the 70s black scratchplate & natural look is one that I like. What is "a Squier 70's VMJs", is it a "Vintage Modified Jazz", whivh I think I've seen online.(GAK and bass centre)? I ask as a store on the Orange Blossom Trail in Florida had exactly the one that you show at a good price ($279), and I cant seem to find a music store in my area that has any Fender/Squier [i]jazz[/i] basses. Precisions seem to be commonplace, and cheap Jazz copies can be found although neither is what I'm looking for. Reading through the posts above, the Squiers do seem reasonably well thought-of. which is interersting for the budget end of Fender's output. I'm happy to buy the cheap end provided the workmanship is good enough and the sound is fairly close or can be made more so, say with a pickup change. I dont gig, or record, so its just kind of a hobby. I cant really justify spending nearly a thousand on an expensive version of something.

thanks for that, I will digest what you've all said.

hi can anyone advise me which of Fender's (or Squier's) various jazz bass models (fretted) is the "most authentic" sounding? I'm planning to buy in the US to save some money. Is it necessary to go to the active models? Are the basic passive ones good enough? Does the mexican standard or the squier do the job well enough or is it worth the extra for the US model? Does the wood make that much difference? I have a Laney RB2 45w amp and a Zoom b2.1u. I like the natural + black scratchplate model and the sunburst + rosewood models cosmetically. I want this to be the last bass I ever buy (ie it does everything, and also looks nice), and I'm disillusioned with cheap stuff that sounds rubbish, or isnt properly finished. thanks