CIJ Jazz Bass (model JB75) review

[tinkygingerdoss]

Hi folks. I've been modifying my CIJ Jazz Bass (model JB75) recently, and I've really got into the nuts and bolts of the construction. I thought I'd share my thoughts on this quirky instrument for the benefit of anyone looking to import a Japanese Fender, or pick one up used. Please be aware that this bass is a 1999 model and that some of the features may have changed, however, having checked the Fender Japan site, the bass appears identical in all details. I bought this bass new in 2000, so any defects described were present from the start. Anyhow, here goes:

- The body and neck are well cut and routed, and the neck fit is tight. Pickup routing is perfect.

- The pickups are a separate rout from the control cavity, so you can do away with the pickguard without exposing an ugly front rout. Which is more than you can say for the American Standard, as good as they are these days.

- The body contours are shallow, giving it a slab-like feel. This makes the body feel larger and adds to the weight.

- The body is made of heavy ash. Most of the body is one piece of ash, with a 2 1/2 inch piece added to the bottom bout. The wood is dense and tightly grained. It has a clear polyurethane finish. The bass looked very pale when bought, but has darkened pleasantly.

- The neck is very slim, and feels almost out of place on such a large, heavy body. It's quite unlike any US Jazz Bass neck that I've played. The finish is not tinted. The headstock bears a modified '70s style black logo with a 'Made In Japan' decal, although this is a 'Crafted In Japan' era instrument (a quirk of this particular model).

- The fingerboard is made of a darker rosewood than I've seen on MIA basses, and has pearl block inlays, white binding and a 7.25" radius.

- The fretwork on this bass was not great: the frets stood slightly proud of the board on the bass side. No sharp edges though.

- The bridge is inexcusably cheap and nasty, much lighter and more flimsy than the old American Standard bridges. I use heavy strings, but I reckon with light gauge strings the saddles would move when you play. The saddles have a single notch rather than being threaded. Threads are metric. Stringing is through the bridge, not the body.

- The tuners are also cheap and nasty, and they rattle when not under tension. The baseplates are the same size as Hipshot HB2s, and the corner of the 'G' tuner overhangs the headstock by about 1/32". They work fine.

- The nut is white plastic, and is spaced a little tighter than my MIA, probably to accommodate the binding.

- The pickguard is white/black/white 3-ply. It's a different shape to MIA basses, the curves are sharper and the screw pattern is different. MIA/MIM plates will not fit this bass. It has holes for a pickup cover and thumbrest, but there are no corresponding holes in the body. Thumbrest holes are spaced at 30mm rather than 1 1/4", so a standard Fender thumbrest won't quite fit.

- The control plate is less substantial than that of a US bass, and the chrome plating looks slightly cheaper. The pot holes are drilled smaller than the MIA to fit the split-shaft pots used in Japan, so you'd need to widen them or buy a new plate to fit CTS pots. The jack hole is standard width. The plate fits against the stock pickguard perfectly but is a very slightly different shape to the MIA version, so if you replace the plate with an MIA you may notice a small gap.

- The pots and wiring are inexpensive. The control cavity is not shielded, but has a flimsy copper grounding plate which lies in the bottom of the cavity. The pickup cavities have similar grounding plates it them.

- The MIJ pickups are pretty cheap and characterless, though not unusable.

- Pickup spacing is '60s, not '70s style.

- The knobs are cheap Jazz Bass push-on types, with no bevel on the skirting.

- The truss rod nut is bullet style, metric thread.

- The neck plate is a 3-hole bullet style with the Fender 'F'. Neck tilt screw has a metric thread.

- The string retainer and strap buttons are also cheap.

As far as I can tell, from looking at pictures on Fender Japan's site, these basses are built the same today, though I hope they got their fretwork sorted out. It seems to me that the body and neck are very well made (fretwork excepted), then they just slapped the cheapest hardware they could get away with onto it. These were exported from Japan for a while before the US '75 reissue was released, so there are quite a few of them around. In terms of bare-minimum functional improvements, I would recommend replacing the bridge (at least with a better quality vintage bridge) and the pickups. It's potentially a great bass, brighter and tighter sounding than my alder MIA, and it looks great.

[Simon.]

Hi there - nice review! Having read it, I would say that you could cut & paste it wholesale as a review of my CIJ 75RI as well (the one that's in my avatar).

Mine is a MIJ 'U' serial number, I think it's an 1996 model. Build quality is great, although like yours, they possibly could have done a slightly better job on the frets. Being the ash bodied version it is heavy, but with a nice wide strap, not a killer. It's supposed to have US standard pick-ups in it, but I'm not sure how you can identify whether they are or not. However, that was one thing I was slightly disappointed in, and having put a set of Wizard 64's in a Bitsa project bass, the Wizards are vastly superior.

Hardware could be better - agree about the bridge, and I replaced the strap buttons with a set of Schaller locking ones.

The neck I love to bits. Not sure what the profile shape is, but it's great. I just wish I'd been able to get a rosewood board version. The binding has aged from white to a cream colour and looks lovely.

For the money I had available at the time, I think it's a really top instrument. Could be slightly improved & modded, but it doesn't stop it being a very useable bass.

[dmccombe7]

Good review.
I've got a Geddy Lee which i think is MIJ or CIJ - not sure without rechecking when i get home.
The fretwork is pretty good and my only real concern is the pick up balance. String response appears to be a touch uneven with regards tone.
Not sure why. Its not horrendous and more than likely I'm the only one who notices it.
I've tried the usual string height adjustments etc and no difference. The E string is more noticable where it appears a bit boomy in comparison to other strings. Have tried different string manufacturers and gauge size but didn't really help.
At some stage i might just upgrade to a better quality pick-up (EMG ?)

I do find that the neck is very "sticky" after first few songs and i have to keep cleaning. My guitarist says his strat does the same. Not an issue with any of my other basses. ?

I did have an earthing issue with it whereby the pick guard was passing static like sounds when touched. I resolved by adding a layer of tinfoil under the pick guard - sorted.

Other than that I'm pretty happy with mine and it plays and sounds pretty good.
Neck shape is probably just about perfect for me at the moment.

Cheers
Dave