Aerodyne Jazz opinions please

[Dom in Dorset]

I've always had fairly limited means and played fairly cheap basses. I'm fairly technicaly minded and have managed to tweek them to maximise their playability.
I'm now thinking that I deserve something nice, while I'm still tempted to buy a Warmoth neck , Wizard pick ups and build it myself I like the idea of a quality off the peg bass. Even if I do eventually build something myself , it would be nice to know what to aim for in terms of playabilty and response. I think my playing would benefit from some time on a good instrument ( I had an old passive Wal for a few days recently and while I was underwhelmed by the sound I loved the neck , things that were usualy difficult or messy were easy on the Wal)
Anyway , I'm still broke but if I start saving , sell off some other gear and a kidney or two it might be possible in about a year.
What do people think of the Aerodine Jazz?
Can you get a classic precision tone?
What is the neck like?

Edited April 1, 2011 by Dom in Somerset

[dlloyd]

It depends which one you get... they're Japanese and are all of great quality.

I really like this one, but as you can see, not all aerodynes have P pickups:

[Dom in Dorset]

I'm thinking, this one:

[Spoombung]

I played a basschatter's a few months ago. It had a nice neck and was lightweight. If I was going to get a Fender I would probably get one of these.

However, some people here think the pickups are a bit weak. The basses always come in black gloss which really puts me off.

[dlloyd]

Yep, they can sound like a precision. The neck is like most jazz basses, a bit narrower than on a P.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='Spoombung' post='1184762' date='Apr 1 2011, 02:24 PM']However, some people here think the pickups are a bit weak. The basses always come in black gloss which really puts me off.[/quote]

The non-export aerodynes come in a range of colours:




It's worth keeping an eye on Ishibashi's ebay page:

[url="http://shop.ebay.co.uk/ishibashimusic/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=200"]http://shop.ebay.co.uk/ishibashimusic/m.ht...m=&_ipg=200[/url]

[Dom in Dorset]

I've seen the coloured ones (they also have a scratch plate , the black ones don't?) they're nice but I do like the black ones.
I have also read at least one review that didn't like the pick ups. My experience with Fenders US and MIM (and Squires) is the pick ups are quite powerful , the squires had (to me ) a muddy tone.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='1184794' date='Apr 1 2011, 02:36 PM']I've seen the coloured ones (they also have a scratch plate , the black ones don't?) they're nice but I do like the black ones.
I have also read at least one review that didn't like the pick ups. My experience with Fenders US and MIM (and Squires) is the pick ups are quite powerful , the squires had (to me ) a muddy tone.[/quote]

The export models are the ones without the pickguards... those with pickguards are non-export. I have no idea whether that makes a difference to the quality of the bass. Some people say it does, but I don't think it matters in this case (I think the difference is with the more expensive CIJ models)

[Lozz196]

I had an Aerodyne Jazz, the black one. The J pickup hummed a bit, so I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack in, and the bass was insant Duff McKagan - he in fact uses them anyway, and was the reason why I bought one, as I love Duffs tone for heavy rock. Being basswood, its a very light bass, and not as deep sounding as a regular US Precision, but all in all, a very good bass. Only downside I could see with them was if you like your basses to look pristine all the time, don`t get one, as the black is so shiny it shows up all fingerprints etc. If this isn`t a bother, try and get one 2nd hand - seen them go for £450ish on here.

[dlloyd]

If it's a Shiny black Fender with no pickguard that sounds like a precision that you're after... there's always this:

[Jerry_B]

I think Clarky has a black Aerodyne for sale on here...

[spike]

[quote name='dlloyd' date='Apr 1 2011, 02:30 PM' post='1184776']


I've had one of these since 2007 because I wanted a Jazz profile neck with a Precision sound. It does that job very well, especially after I upgraded it with Wizard pickups.

[MatthewKeys]

I've played the newest fender aerodyne jazz bass and hated it, the worst thing fender has ever made IMO.

If you want something with a PJ set up I recommend getting an 80's MIJ Precision special bass. Like the original one duff McKagan used but not his current signature model. They made them in black which basically looks the same as an Aerodyne but way better.

[steve]

I've had two, and as much as I like them, I can't get on with the slab body. The edge is too uncomfortable. Shame really, because otherwise I really liked them

[TheGreek]

You might want to send "Gareth" a PM - he has one as his Avatar and uses one as his main bass...I believe he recently upgraded the P/ups...

[watchman]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='1184850' date='Apr 1 2011, 03:08 PM']If it's a Shiny black Fender with no pickguard that sounds like a precision that you're after... there's always this:

[/quote]

That's really nice-looking. I like a simple bass. Japanese I assume?

[dlloyd]

[quote name='watchman' post='1186275' date='Apr 2 2011, 10:40 PM']That's really nice-looking. I like a simple bass. Japanese I assume?[/quote]

Yep... it's notionally a '62 reissue "All Black" [size=1](not that anything like that existed in 1962)[/size]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-JAPAN-Precision-Bass-PB62-ALLBK-326922001-/280646828945?pt=Guitar&hash=item4157dac391"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-JAPAN-Precisi...=item4157dac391[/url]

[LawrenceH]

I recently got hold of an aerodyne in a trade. Not sure if I can afford to keep it really, but I'd like to, it's great! Really light, well balanced and great quality control to the fit and finish. It plays very nicely as well, the neck is a shallower profile than my CIJ 75 and MIM 70s and unlike typical jazz basses isn't finished to a high shine, so it's good if you don't like that glossy neck thing. The binding looks a lot cooler in real life than a lot of the photos suggest, too.

The sound - I was slightly surprised after reading a couple of comments online about the stock pickups. It has pretty hot output (much more than my other two), J and P are really well matched volume-wise and it has very authoritative presence, lots of solid bass but still gets the Fender-y growl across very clearly. This is important to me and I've previously avoided overwound pickups because I like a bass with a characterful tone, but this one is great. I was thinking about dropping DiMarzios in (cream, after seeing TRBboy's awesome black Yamaha) and if I keep it I may well do that, but actually the sounds is already quite a lot how the Model P/J are described. Acoustically, the bass body has a warm, rich resonance too.

The frets - they seem very small to me, more like vintage than the medium-jumbo I thought they were supposed to be. They are very well dressed at the ends too. But now, I'm really thinking about defretting and epoxying this thing as an excuse to keep it. Dare I try and bind the neck in matching cream as well? Risky, but I like the feel of binding and it would look absolutely killer!

The lack of upper contour is the only possible problem I can see, but the curved top mitigates against that and in any case I've been trying to rid my playing of 'lazy' arm resting because I've been told it can trap the nerves and it definitely cramps the wrist. Anyway overall I didn't expect to like this bass and am now having a serious dilemma about how to fund keeping it! I notice the new ones are now £700 and tbh this one plays just as well as any other Fender I've tried, US, Jap or Mexi.