Doctor J

The Jazz is simply a classic design which works in almost every situation you'll ever find yourself in, musically. It's comfy and looks good too, so I can understand why it's so universally copied. Of the non-Leo Fender designs, I think Ibanez's SR body shape is a winner, though why they insist on the 5's having such skinny string spacing is a mystery to me. Aris's SB shape is excellent - function and comfy but maybe too tied to the 80's. I had a Ric 4003, loved the look, loved the tone, couldn't stand playing it though, stupid pickup mount in the way and that right angled edge embedded in my forearm just didn't work out for me. Lakland's 44-55 shape is comfy but the lower horn is just wrong and not the comfiest sitting down. Streamer is comfy but where they attach the strap up high above the bridge means it gets in the way it you play it above the waist. Singlecuts and Bongos just don't do it for me, an instrument has got to delight you visually too and they're just... wrong. Abominations is too strong a word but you know what I mean. In the end, Leo Fender got it right with the Jazz, why would you want to mess about with it? Let it lie, man, let it lie.

You can pick up a Stingray, Sterling, Bongo, etc for about $800 on talkbass, add maybe $200 or so for shipping (though you can do it cheaper with USPS), maybe the guy might mark it down so you don't get hit too hard by the taxman. Either way, it makes paying £700 for one seem absurd. It's a global market now, it's as easy for me to buy a bass from the other side of the world as it is to buy a bass from the UK. If you're selling a bass in Bolton you're competing with sellers in Boston these days and, I dunno about you fellas, but I try to pay the lowest price. I don't think it's a trend exclusive to EBMM, Warwicks, Fenders, G&L eetc are all cheaper to buy from abroad and the second hand market is reflecting that. It's a crap time to sell anything, but a great time to buy, tis just the way it goes.

Just picked up an old Aria Pro II SB-R80 Controls include a pair of stacked Vol-tone for each pickup, plus a three way pickup selector... I'm thinking there's a bit of overlapping there, it's not all entirely necessary. I was thinking about replaing the second volume and tone with a stacked bass-treble boost instead. I've got a Bart NTCT on a Bacchus 5 which is very nice indeed, anyone else got any other suggestions worth thinking about?

Thanks for all the replies, some interesting stuff there. Well, I've got Elixirs on a couple of basses and a couple of sets of D'Addario coated have arrived in the post which I'll put on a couple of different basses and let ye know what how they compare.

Ooh, very nice. It's going to be a looooooooong few days for you

I asked ESP. They said their records were destroyed in a fire for that era but dated it between 86 and 88, so I go with 87. I bought it in 93. It's an outstanding bass, it really is. I've never played another J that outdoes it... and that includes the Sadowsky. Just picked this one up last night for a song, I couldn't resist

Cheers gents. Looks like I might be able to lay my hands on an Aria Pro II SB-R80 for an extremely low price, so maybe a new pic next week

I've swapped two basses in my short time here, both times with absolute gents. I believe both of the basses I've received have been owned by other basschat users prior to the folks I swapped with too. It's been handy, on some of the forums in Ireland you'd sometimes get offered several cheap instruments for one good instrument, whereas here everybody seems to play ball and offer like for like or near enough, which is a very refreshing change. Long may it continue.

Since I've done a hefty amount of selling and a bit of trading this year, I figured it was time to get the 4's together for a group shot. Every one of these basses is different, both in feel and especially in tone. Lovely stuff. My trusty old ESP, the greatest Jazz I've ever played in every aspect, ever. The Bacchus P. Probably my favourite bass right now. This thing just rocks my balls. The Sadowsky. This is a [i]very[/i] nice bass indeed. The Streamer. Think Newsted's black album tone and you've got the idea. The Stingray. I avoided these for years after the dreaded bad-white-funk craze of the early 90's but this is a great instrument with a unique tone. I like it.

I notice D'Addario have entered the coated string market with their EXP range and Warwick also have a coated string selection, has anybody tried them? I've had a few sets of Elixirs on different basses and, while I like the extended life, I'm not entirely convinced of the Elixir string itself. Are the others much use compared to the Elixirs?

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='278749' date='Sep 6 2008, 06:32 PM']Bacchus Venus Jazz 5 - its fantastic, plays like a dream, lovely low action, awesome modern Jazz tones and a powerful Bacchus preamp. Chuffed!![/quote] I wholeheartedly endorse this product and/or service

Good afternoon. You found your way over from Boards too?

Traded a 70's Fender for a Metro with Davy last month, he's a great guy to deal with. Thumbs up!

Just traded a Bacchus for a Stingray with Luke and there's nothing else to say that hasn't been said already other than to reaffirm he's a true gent, pure and simple.

No, you've got to melt in until it looks like that fella at the end of Robocop!

[quote name='stylonpilson' post='276250' date='Sep 3 2008, 01:55 PM']Presumably they are expecting that people who want the "no scratchplate" look will just buy one of the relevant artist series instruments. S.P.[/quote] But a lot of people aren't going to know about it until they remove the scratchplate, that's the thing. Meh, I won't be buying one anyway, but I know I'd be pissed off if I spent a grand on one and took off the scratchplate to see that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the use of CNC or automated building techniques. The cheaper CIJ basses don't have the route, they still have the proper routing as found on the old Fenders. They are CNC'd too. There are a huge selection of J clones, many of them CNC'd which don't have that routing either. The bridge pickup is routed in the old fashioned way too, so why make such an abhorration of the front of the bass when it really isn't necessary? There are a lot of mass-produced US made instruments which don't have that routing either. Is the cost of running a wire 2 inches under wood really going to drive Fender out of business? I think not. Fender are facing more competition than ever, the availability of instruments to the average player worldwide has never been greater. It mystifies me why they would take such a blatantly shoddy move in the face of this competition.

Shocking stuff The point is, they used not to do it, now they do it, purely to save a few cents. Did they not learn from what happened in the 70's? One would expect Fender to be continually trying to improve on their old processes, like their competition does, not to go backwards. And, yes, I do buy the competition's Jazz copy and am all the happier for it

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='275462' date='Sep 2 2008, 02:38 PM']You can't really (IMHO) slag off Fender (or anyone else) for the quality of a route that is covered by the scratch plate, which, after all, is a standard part of the instrument.[/quote] I disagree. They made basses without the ugly and cheap routing for many, many years, even through the much maligned 70's. Now that the routes are CNC'd (and bodies should be cheaper to make) it strikes me as a very poor move to have such an ugly blemish on the face of every bass, considering it is a move purely designed to save money. A lot of players like to play their J bass with the scratchplate removed. Could you imagine Jaco's 62 with that? It may not make a difference to the sound but I don't think that's the point. It's misguided penny pinching, and basses that expensive shouldn't have such blatant penny pinching. If they've cut corners there, what else are they skimping and compromising on?

I thought he was a Warwick man through and through? Ah well, I guess if you throw enough money at people they'll play anything... not that the Yamaha is bad, just a BB is a long way away from his Warwicks.

Why compromise or take a gamble on getting a "good" Fender? For about the price of a US Fender you could get a hand made Japanese Bacchus which is built to a much higher standard. When you're spending that kind of money you should be guaranteed that every bass is a good bass with no stupid cost-cutting measures (those crappy routes under the scratchplate, for example). IMO, that kind of nonsense is unnacceptable. When you spend big, you should get something which justifies the expense, not something with blatant cost saving measures and inconsistent quality.

There's a deal pending on my one, so isn't a shamless plug, but I would definitley urge you to check out a Bacchus if you get a chance. In my opinion there is nothing as good for the money. I don't believe Fender are in the same league at all. I used to have a Lakland 55-02 and it was a great bass, but the Bacchus I've played have all been genuinely superb, a good step above the level of the Skylines. Factor in the poor performance of the dollar and you can get a truly [url="http://www.guitarjapan.com/bacchus/bacchus_bassguitars.html"]great bass[/url] for a fairly standard price.