Stub Mandrel Posted November 28, 2019 Posted November 28, 2019 Spent an hour trying these side by side. Both made in Mexico. First using a small Markbass combo. They both sounded good, the deluxe maybe marginally brighter. The bridge pickup on the Flea sounded muted - even compared to the sound of my Squier Jazz in my head. Controls on the Flea more intuitive than the confusing four knobs on the Deluxe. Then on a Rumble 100 - weighs 18lbs!!! - which sorted the sound of the Flea completely. perhaps the vintage pickups just want a more vintage sounding amp? This was with both amps on a near 12-o'clock setting. 'Feel wise' and the Flea was in a completely different universe. The Fender Deluxe was a couple of steps below my 2001 Indonesian Squier - it was nice enough but not inspiring. I did find it surprisingly easy to slap on though, but it wasn't 'left hand friendly'. Came away with the flea 🙂 5 Quote
therealting Posted November 28, 2019 Posted November 28, 2019 Those Rumbles are something else, aren’t they? I have Aguilar, Epifani, Genz and Gallien gear, and I always end up taking my Rumble out. 2 Quote
M@23 Posted November 28, 2019 Posted November 28, 2019 On 26/11/2019 at 22:03, Stub Mandrel said: I've had a bit of good fortune. But despite trying really hard I can't find myself lusting for a new bass. Well, that lasted all of Wednesday 😂 Congrats on the Flea. 1 2 Quote
Reggaebass Posted November 28, 2019 Posted November 28, 2019 Congrats stub , the flea is a great bass ☝️ 2 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted November 28, 2019 Author Posted November 28, 2019 34 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: Congrats stub , the flea is a great bass ☝️ Came out of the blue - one day scratching around doing up the squier then pop! After a bit of thought - I won't get the chance again. 1 Quote
afterimage Posted November 28, 2019 Posted November 28, 2019 Nice bass love the dual tone vol pots 1 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted January 19, 2020 Author Posted January 19, 2020 Update. I am sooo happy with this bass. I've dropped the action VERY slightly and played with the intonation. I also spent some time with a flexible sanding block on as I felt the fret ends were just a tad rough, certainly not as nice feeling as my Squier Jaguar, but this is partly because the Jag has rolled edges (not known back in 62). The fingerboard has sucked up three doses of Dunlop lemon oil but seems happy now. Mercifully I haven't needed to touch the truss rod. The bridge pickup sounds really good and through my TE combo it's my main choice with tone right up. The neck pickup with tone rolled back is great for songs where i want a cod-upright sound. It's great being able to have tone pre-set to suit each pickup. I've started delving into mixing eth pickups now, to me it sounds best with one pickup right up and a bit of the other mixed in, rather than both on full. I haven't yet found a 'bad' sound, and its great to plug it into the Trace and get real, rich sounds. It slaps well (as you would hope) but most of the time I'm playing it conventional fingerstyle. It deals with chords nice and clearly. It's very slightly neck heavy, which is only an issue when playing above fret 12 and it starts to rotate slightly. The reverse tuners are quite 'quick' but I've had no problems with accurate tuning. It holds tune in the case very well. I also like the factory fit nickel strings - normally I'm a stainless string fan. I have attacked some of the relicing with the back of a scissors blade, there were multiple small marks that all looked very similar, they are now not much bigger but look more varied and natural. the same is true of the dents, but less obvious (and harder to do anything about). I'm surprised how much I like the colour. Jack has a (bright new) shell pink Fender Strat with a single humbucker which makes an interesting contrast. It already feels like an 'old friend' and certainly flatters my playing. I sometimes wander off mid-song because I'm just staring at the lovely aged finish on the back of that lovely slim neck... I commend this bass to non-Flea fans who want a reliced jazz. Having said that I think I'll take the performer to the next rehearsal, as now I've got a good solid mental image to compare it to. 4 Quote
Mister RLP Posted January 20, 2020 Posted January 20, 2020 +1 for the Flea Jazz bass. As you say only thing that needs a bit of tlc are the fret ends. My Squier Matt Freeman P bass has neater ones but it too has rolled finger board. I’m really like Daddario tapewounds on the Flea at the moment: 1 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted January 20, 2020 Author Posted January 20, 2020 Had a 'living room' practice tonight, but with a middle sized rig turned low. Got some great sounds. Funny how an amp at low volume in a small room can sound totally different to cranked in a big room, same cab, same bass, same eq. but much more bottom end. Possibly because the cab has PA type speakers in it (Mackenzie twin-cone). Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted January 25, 2020 Author Posted January 25, 2020 It's been long enough now that it's time for a tiny truss rod tweak, 1/4 turn made a big difference. Also interesting how Fender mark the body: Quote
Reggaebass Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said: It's been long enough now that it's time for a tiny truss rod tweak, 1/4 turn made a big difference. Also interesting how Fender mark the body: I’ve had that circular hole on a few of my jazzes, what’s it for ? Quote
malbass Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said: It's been long enough now that it's time for a tiny truss rod tweak, 1/4 turn made a big difference. Also interesting how Fender mark the body: I’ve got the same bass but am a bit nervous about adjusting the action as I’ve never done it at the body end before. Did you have to take the neck off or loosen the neck screws? Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted January 25, 2020 Author Posted January 25, 2020 1 hour ago, malbass said: I’ve got the same bass but am a bit nervous about adjusting the action as I’ve never done it at the body end before. Did you have to take the neck off or loosen the neck screws? I used a medium flat ended screwdriver that filled half the slot and it was surprisingly easy. I did make that nick though! Interestingly on assembly i noticed the scratchplate comes pre-nicked at just that point, part of the relicing process? 2 hours ago, Reggaebass said: I’ve had that circular hole on a few of my jazzes, what’s it for ? Looks like it's a reference hole for CNC: https://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=92386 For the long answer, Talkbass appears to have a 13-page discussion... 1 Quote
Reggaebass Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Looks like it's a reference hole for CNC: Yeah that makes sense, thanks stub Quote
malbass Posted January 25, 2020 Posted January 25, 2020 1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said: I used a medium flat ended screwdriver that filled half the slot and it was surprisingly easy. I did make that nick though! Thanks, will give that a go! Quote
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