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vintage jazz bass alternatives


MarlonLoHo
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Hey guys,

i was in a shop the other day playing a vintage fender jazz bass from 1975. i fell in love with the thing but its just too pricey, I've been looking for other basses to play and not so keen on the american standard jazz basses and other new fenders. i was thinking any one new any cool j-bass like alternatives (sadowsky,sandberg etc...) my budget is 1500 pounds.

thanks dudes.

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Fender Roadworn in burst is very nice... around £900 also Classic 60's jazz...
http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/product/14034-173/Fender-Mexico-Classic-Series-60s-Jazz-Bass-Lacquer-New-3-Tone-Sunburst-Inc-Tweed-Case.aspx

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ACG Graft range? The full custom might just cross the £1,500 threshold but something like this maybe?

http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/g019-j-type-fretless-4/

OK this one is fretless, but for less than £1k you get a completely hand built bass to your specification with real quality woods/components. I have one of these and another couple on order so I should point out my opinion may not be completely neutral. That said they are nicer than any J bass I have played. Particularly worthy of mention are the asymmetric neck and flat fretboard.

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What was it about the "vintage" (how old was it?) J that you liked? By looking at a second-hand one on here you may be able to get closer than you think to your budget price....

Oops - I take that back. I see that you are already exploring that avenue! Good luck!

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[quote name='MarlonLoHo' timestamp='1374702276' post='2152274']
i was in a shop the other day playing a vintage fender jazz bass from 1975. i fell in love with the thing but its just too pricey, I've been looking for other basses to play and not so keen on the american standard jazz basses and other new fenders. i was thinking any one new any cool j-bass like alternatives (sadowsky,sandberg etc...) my budget is 1500 pounds.
[/quote]

Shops are overpriced. If you have £1500 then you're already in the ballpark for a mid-late 70's Fender (e.g there's a '77 on here for £1500), so if what you really want is a vintage Jazz, I'd say either hunt down a private-sale late-70's one, or save a bit more and find a private-sale mid-70's one.

Nothing new will be the same as a real vintage instrument (maybe from some of the relic'd stuff might get close, but IMHO a lot of that is overpriced and too-far overdone with the belt-sander) - if you want new I'd suggest the AVRI stuff, but new it's around the same price as a real 70's Fender (e.g ~£1800 for an AVRI '74 jazz)

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Make your own (from bits), I did: [url="http://www.statii.com/forum/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=5345&pid=49640#post_49640"]http://www.statii.com/forum/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=5345&pid=49640#post_49640[/url]

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[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1374744876' post='2152599']


Shops are overpriced. If you have £1500 then you're already in the ballpark for a mid-late 70's Fender (e.g there's a '77 on here for £1500), so if what you really want is a vintage Jazz, I'd say either hunt down a private-sale late-70's one, or save a bit more and find a private-sale mid-70's one.

Nothing new will be the same as a real vintage instrument (maybe from some of the relic'd stuff might get close, but IMHO a lot of that is overpriced and too-far overdone with the belt-sander) - if you want new I'd suggest the AVRI stuff, but new it's around the same price as a real 70's Fender (e.g ~£1800 for an AVRI '74 jazz)
[/quote]
Glad its not just me that thinks the budget the op has should buy a 70's jazz.I'd try offering the shop what you can afford-there's a lot of optimistic overpricing of not very old fenders and the worst they can say is no.

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If you are willing to consider used basses ( presumably so because the the 1970's Fender you fancied was used ) then the world is your oyster if you have got £1500 to spend on a vintage - style Jazz Bass . Sadowsky and Sandberg might be styled like vintage Jazz Basses , but they don't really sound like them because of their active electronics ect . The best recreation of a vintage pre-CBS Fender I have ever played was a USA - made Lakland Joe Osborn , and , from memory I have seen them used on Basschat for around the kind of money you have to spend , or maybe a little more .

Edited by Dingus
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I recently sold a Sadowsky & replaced it with a Japanese Fender Jazz 62 reissue. It's excellent & I haven't noticed a downgrade. The US reissues have a nitro finish which ages nicely, at least the 62 does, not sure about the 75 reissue.

If I was you, I'd buy a US reissue and a Sadowsky pre-amp/di pedal. You get the best of both worlds and plenty of change to fritter away/invest wisely.

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