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Fender Flea Signature Jazz Bass


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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1474713489' post='3140000']
Given you upright gas yet? :yarr:
[/quote]

oh I had it ages ago! I *almost* bought one once... I went to see a bluegrass/folky type of band of a friend of mine and they had a double bass player with a beautiful (in both aesthetics and sound) bass... and afterwards he announced he was selling that bass to help fund his trip to NZ where they were going to be playing a little tour. I was THIS close (imagine my thumb and index finger about a millimetre apart :lol:)...

But I was living in a flat and I knew noise would be an issue. However... now I have no noise restrictions ;)

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1474734323' post='3140141']
The time hath cometh! :D
[/quote]

Just waiting for the right moment and the right instrument!

I'm actually considering starting on EUB... a lot less bulky and noise-friendly, and less fragile too... and if that goes well we'll see. I see some around for around £300-400... but not sure if they're any good. Of course, I won't get that big delicious 'thump' that you get withh the real thing but... in time!

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[quote name='timhiggins' timestamp='1474873108' post='3141086']
You cant really go wrong with the staggs and you still get a very fat sound from them this is mine
[url="https://soundcloud.com/timothy-terrence-higgins-iv/stagg"]https://soundcloud.c...iggins-iv/stagg[/url] ..got mine on here for 250 and very pleased
[/quote]
Yep +1 on the Stagg. I've used it in my Police tribute and it's great

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  • 2 weeks later...

My mate just popped over with 2 of these, though one is going back to the shop right now as the neck has major QC issues so will need to go back to Fender. Hopefully he'll be coming back here later with a replacement.

Other than the sadly too common QC issue it's a lovely bass, feels great, sounds solid and loves it when you dig in. I'm not tempted to get one over my 2015 USA Std, but if I didn't have that bass I'd be tempted to have one of these for fun.

Posting pics of 2 side by side for the relic spotting geeks out there (we know who we are ;) )

[URL=http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/chiliwailer/media/Flea%20Jazz/IMG_1628_zpszduo98sh.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah227/chiliwailer/Flea%20Jazz/IMG_1628_zpszduo98sh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s1381.photobucket.com/user/chiliwailer/media/Flea%20Jazz/IMG_1630_zpskweggcp7.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah227/chiliwailer/Flea%20Jazz/IMG_1630_zpskweggcp7.jpg[/IMG][/URL]



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[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1477145915' post='3160142']
My mate just popped over with 2 of these, though one is going back to the shop right now as the neck has major QC issues so will need to go back to Fender. Hopefully he'll be coming back here later with a replacement.
[/quote]

That's just greedy, buying two at a time - no wonder they're out of stock! Out of interest, what was wrong with the neck?

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[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1477149884' post='3160178']


That's just greedy, buying two at a time - no wonder they're out of stock! Out of interest, what was wrong with the neck?
[/quote]

He gigs a lot so that justifies the GAS, I mean spare :)

Hopefully just very uneven frets causing various choking. As he only got it today I wasn't going to go full on investigating, but it's very clearly beyond being fixed by a set up and truss rod adjustments. It's Fender, it happens :)

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[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1477211869' post='3160496']
Nothing like a Fender...
[/quote]

Yep. I only ordered a pickup, a '63 Pure Vintage Precision pup, and it is dead as a dodo. The solder joints look good, it seems that someone just forgot to magnetise the magnets.. Really.
Waiting now to see if I can send it back and how much it will cost me to return it to the States. Smart.

Ordered a Model P to replace it as Dimarzio have never let me down.

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  • 1 month later...

So I bought one of these when they first came out and documented my experience way back in this thread. Sadly I didn't quite gel with the bass I got. At the time I couldn't get on with the set up, the tone and the quality of the construction. It went back. Despite all this there was something still nagging me about the bass. I guess I could see the potential, despite the problems I experienced. Pretty much over the whole of the summer I obsessed about the bass. I constantly checked shops that sold it, re-read this thread and hunted out videos on youTube! Then the price started going up and the original basses at the original prices started to get sold. As the numbers got less I started obsessing that I should give one another go, but was still holding back due to my earlier bad experience. It got to the point where I could only find one shop that had it at the original price. I dithered about buying this one for a while. When I finally phoned up to order it, someone had bought it a few minutes before me. I put this down to fate and that it wasn't meant to be....

Then maybe about a month later I decided to just order (as they were all sold out now) one (from the same shop, to be fair to them). If I got a duff one it could go back, if I got a good one, it could be great. It was the logical thing to do and would hopefully put an end to my obsessing!!

I think it took about 2 months to come and it finally arrived last week. By all account it looks like the box had arrived at the shop and then sent straight to me. It was well packaged and appear that it had never been opened before. I was anxious whether it had been even checked. I nervously unpacked it and this time the bass just felt right. Almost perfect for me. Everything felt nice in hand and under my fingers. The action was slightly high, but the neck bow was probably just right. With the last bass I was totally underwhelmed when plugged in. However, as soon I plugged this in I found a tone I immediately loved and felt very at home. It really does feel like a different bass and made me glad that I decided to give this another shot.

I have wondered whether this is all psychological and simply because I have built this up in my head. But I don't think it is that. I have bought and sold a fair few basses this year and if anything I'm fussier than ever. Annoyingly I notice imperfection more than ever. However, this bass ticks a lot of boxes for me and feels really really good and sounds amazing. Often I'm a bit disappointed with a new bass (especially when buying blind), but can now happily say the Flea bass has worked out for me!

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[quote name='Westenra' timestamp='1480287635' post='3183161']
What makes its tone so different from that of a regular 70s jazz bass with vintage wound pups?
[/quote]

Two main differences from a 70s style Jazz Bass:

- Pickups are early/mid 60s voiced (using formvar wire), rather than the more aggressive late 60s/70s (enamel wire)

- It has 60s pickup positioning. In 1970 Fender moved the bridge pickup 1/ 4" closer to the bridge, which changed the sound slightly in favour of the high end.

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