lownote Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) You can't really buy a bad cheap bass. They're all there or thereabouts. With £200 to burn recently, Mrs 12 having decided to try reverse pyschology ("Darling, you MUST buy another bass"), I looked around for something newish or secondhand in the P bass line mainly, but I had an open mind. Obvious candidates were Squiers, the odd possibly suspiciously low priced MIM Fender Ps, also Yamahas, Ibanez and those underated gems, the Hohner Pro series and older Aria P basses. But having been there and done them all I wanted something fresh. And that's when I started for no particular reason to think about Overwater. Not the bespoke ones but the Tanglewood mass produced variety. Having looked into them a bit more I wasn't overwhelmingly keen. Reviews were mixed and the names of models and branding are so vague and random diving straight in isn't easy. But eventually I chanced upon a B Stock Contemporary Jazz from Nevada Music In Portsmouth for £189.99 and decided to give it a try on the basis I could always send it back. As I say the models are confusing but I sort of gathered this was their cheapest model with a PJ configuration. Which suits my jazz/blues interest perfectly. I was a little nervous opening the box but was reassured by what I saw, not least by what I couldn't see - the reason it had been sold as B stock. Looked new and unblemished to me. Everything seemed very well finished. I hate sharp fret ends and have had problems with them on several Yams and a Westfield. These were OK. The Overwater bridge was simple but more substantial than the usual bent tin. The pots worked fine. There were quality touches like screw-down ferrules on the tuner barrels to prevent them popping out. Best of all the single coil pup was silent. How Overwater do that I don't know. Quite impressive was that straight from the factory it was set up properly: relief, string height and intonation. Barely needed a tweak. So what did it play like? Wellll.... Awful. I was really disappointed. Thin, reedy at the top and lacking oomph at the bottom. 'Bland', the description used in several critical interweb posts, was the mildest word I used. To be fair, sustain was very good.... but. Bugger... I was on the verge of sending the bass back to Nevada, but then I thought I'd just try changing the issue Overwater nickel strings before I called time. So off with them and on went a very old worn set of my favourite D'Addario flats. Oh wot? Different machine! [u]Great [/u]top end, bottom end and everything in between. And not bland, for me anyway, characterful and very flexible sound. FWIW and YMMV, with the right strings the Overwater Tanglewoods are, in my experience anyway, fantastic value for money, certainly bear comparison with the competition and to my ears are anything but bland and cheap. One of these days maybe I'll engineer the chance to compare it to an Overwater Overwater and see if ten times the price will mean ten times the quality. I'd pretty much bet folding money that the poor relation will stand up well. Edited March 23, 2015 by lownote12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 The Contemporary Jazz has 2 soapbar pups, and 2band active eq...yes? The Classic J is a passive P/J configuration, and are normally a bit cheaper I think. I've had one as my main gigging bass for a couple of years now, and yes, they're a lot of bang for the bucks IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lownote Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) Ah ha, you see how confusing it is! That's what i thought but the shop told me I was getting a Contemporary Jazz and it says that on the invoice. Plus that model with those features appears on dealers websites as the Contemporary Jazz. Also some of the their jazz basses are like twice the price of others but with the same name? . I don't know how such a prestigious manufacturer gets away with the random tangle of branding which is 'Overwater by Tanglewood' (and it only says Overwater on the bass itself), and the confusion over which model is which. When you buy any other bass it pretty much says what you're getting on the tin. Actually I don't think they do get away with their confused marketing. I suspect they would sell a lot more if they sorted it out. Edited August 21, 2014 by lownote12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure that it's Overwater confusing things. Nevada, for example, are advertising a Contemporary Jazz on their website, that's definitely not...it's a Classic J. So which one have you got ? Sounds like a Classic J to me. Edited August 20, 2014 by barkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jassbass Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I have a contempary jazz 5 string.it has the 2 soap bar pickups.its the green one with maple fretboard and green maple inlays Its the best 5 string ive played for that price range.under £400 used but in brand new condition.brilliant build quality.id be happy with it if it had cost me £600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I was on the verge of buying the Jazz with the P/J setup from one of my local stores for £219 I think it was. But ended up buying an old Yamaha BB. Still like the look of those Overwaters though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I see Nevada have [url="http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/p/TOJ14EB/bass-guitars/overwater/overwater-contemporary-jazz-bass-ebony"]this[/url] on their website...described as a Contemporary Jazz, but the pics & description/spec are definitely Classic J. I wonder if this is what the OP has bought...? They also have [url="http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/p/TOJ24TBK/bass-guitars/overwater/overwater-contemporary-jazz-bass-trans-black"]this[/url] which is actually a Contemporary Jazz... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 [quote name='barkin' timestamp='1408654073' post='2532323'] I see Nevada have [url="http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/p/TOJ14EB/bass-guitars/overwater/overwater-contemporary-jazz-bass-ebony"]this[/url] on their website...described as a Contemporary Jazz, but the pics & description/spec are definitely Classic J. I wonder if this is what the OP has bought...? They also have [url="http://www.nevadamusic.co.uk/p/TOJ24TBK/bass-guitars/overwater/overwater-contemporary-jazz-bass-trans-black"]this[/url] which is actually a Contemporary Jazz... [/quote] I own both and you're spot on. The P/J is the Classic and the soapbars one is the Contemporary. Both great basses, if a little large and heavy IMO. I find the sound from my contemporary (soapbars) to be fuller and beefier (it has thunderous bass) and the sound from the classic (P/J) is more of a classic sound. I actually love the Overwater strings so much that most of my other basses now have them on although I've gone for the 44-104 gauge on all but my classic J which has the standard .38-.98 strings on. I find the lighter gauge string to be a bit weedy really so I'll be changing those to the heavier gauge when they need changing. They're very very similar to GHS bass boomers in terms of feel, sound and how the brightness drops off (could possibly be the same strings rebranded). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lownote Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 (edited) Yeah, clearly Nevada have the models mixed up. Being the OP, I confirm I now realise I actually have a classic J, not a contemporary, so thanks for clearing that up. I have tried to clarify with Chris May, but I've found before Overwater's email response is not in the same class as their luthery so nothing's come back. Like Mornats I have always until now had great experiences with Overwater strings, and what's more they're very cheap. I have no idea why these weren't any good. But I do find strings aren't just the twangy bits that give truss rods something to do. The same string can sound very different on different basses. I used to run Overwater nickels on my Hohner 6 and they absolutely sang, while D'Addario nickels wrestled the richest sounds out of my Peavey Grind 5. But when I tried swopping them over neither set sounded anywhere near as good. What's I've found in this case, for me personally, my Overwater Classic J loves D'Add flats, but YMMV. Edited March 23, 2015 by lownote12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lownote Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 (edited) [quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1408650433' post='2532289'] I was on the verge of buying the Jazz with the P/J setup from one of my local stores for £219 I think it was. But ended up buying an old Yamaha BB. Still like the look of those Overwaters though. [/quote] I had a Yamaha BB300 which played and handled like butter. Very nice. Edited August 23, 2014 by lownote12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 [quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1408657455' post='2532373'] I own both and you're spot on. The P/J is the Classic and the soapbars one is the Contemporary. Both great basses, if a little large and heavy IMO. [/quote] I've got a Westone Thunder. Everything else is lightweight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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