Schecter J-4 opinions

[Steve1250]

I've just seen one of these online, sea foam green, what a beautiful looking guitar. Being on the look out for a jazz type bass I wondered if anyone has one of these and can give me some idea of quality, being as it's made in Indonesia, also seems a lot of money (£945) for something made there, not a problem of course if it's as good as it looks.

[jonno1981]

For that kind of money I think I’d hold out for one of the new sadowsky imports. The colours aren’t as interesting but they look to be great value and quality. 

[Steve1250]

Do you mean the metro express? Just had a quick browse, cheaper than the Schecter but didn't look as amazing, I know it's not about looks but that J4 has really grabbed my attention, reviews seem good and there are nice touches like full access to the top frets, vintage or modern sound via a push pull, easy truss rod adjustment etc. I'll probably stew on this for a few days before moving on to something else 😆

 

1 hour ago, jonno1981 said:

For that kind of money I think I’d hold out for one of the new sadowsky imports. The colours aren’t as interesting but they look to be great value and quality. 

 

[MrDinsdale]

I absolutely love my J4, got it as a backup originally for my P4 but it's almost all I play now.

 

Plays fantastic, the necks are really nice.  The pickups are a slightly odd shape but they sound incredible. I initially intended to swap them incorrectly assuming they wouldn't be very good out but tbh if I could find them I'd put them in my other basses too.

 

Put a few little videos up featuring it

 

[MrDinsdale]

It'd have been nice it it had the luminlay that my P5 exotic has for fret markers but other than that it's pretty much perfect for me. 

[BillyBass]

On 04/06/2023 at 09:20, Steve1250 said:

Do you mean the metro express? Just had a quick browse, cheaper than the Schecter but didn't look as amazing, I know it's not about looks but that J4 has really grabbed my attention, reviews seem good and there are nice touches like full access to the top frets, vintage or modern sound via a push pull, easy truss rod adjustment etc. I'll probably stew on this for a few days before moving on to something else 😆

All subjective but for me, looks are more important than the sound.  A beautiful bass can sound different depending on where you pluck, your amp/pre amp settings etc. OK, a bass with a single pup at the bridge will never sound like a P bass and vice versa but you can alter the sound from a bass...and it will still be beautiful.  An ugly bass will always be ugly.

 

The other things you mention all improve the playing and user experience, which, again, is very important.  If a bass looks good and feels great in my hands, I'll do my best to get the sounds out of it that I want.  The looks and playing experience will inspire me to play it.

 

I've only ever played one Shecter.  A friend owns an old Schecter that, to me looks daft.  Its got a big flame sticker covering most of the body (I assume it's a sticker) and it has dayglo orange strings.  Fine for a teenager, which he probably was when he bought it.  When I eventually got around to trying it out, I was very impressed by the build quality and feel.  Though I would never buy that one, I certainly would consider other Schecters based on that experience.

 

 

 

 

[MrDinsdale]

Yeah I've always thought of Schecter as the novelty metal guitar brand, would've never naturally considered them for bass. Everyone's experience is different but for me it's easily my favourite bass I've ever played.

 

I was luck to find it 2nd hand in great condition but I'd have happily payed full price.

[MrDinsdale]

[Steve1250]

That's a lovely pair of basses!

1 hour ago, MrDinsdale said:

 

[Steve1250]

I took out my jazz that I'd built from parts last weekend, it sounded awesome so that style of bass is the way I want to go. I've played mainly G&L's for the last 20 years, an l-1505 and an l-2500, I was never totally happy but as my wife had bought me the 2500 I stuck with it. Recently I tried a P bass and it wasn't really my thing but since building the jazz I've realised what I've been missing all these years. Now I want something off the shelf rather than something I knocked together. I don't think I've heard a bad word about the J4!

[MrDinsdale]

Yeah I built a bass when I was 16, it was basically a droopy shaped Warwick Thumb 5 string. That was my only bass until a few years ago, now my taste has kind of u-turned.

 

Gone are the clean hifi amps, no fx and Warwick/boutique basses, it's all about gritty saturated tones and 4 string "classic" bass shapes.

 

That could well change again in future but it's a nice welcomed shake up that's really renewed my interest after a long time of not really playing much. 

[NancyJohnson]

A few years back I rocked up to Andertons to have a quick look at the basses, out of everything hanging in there the Schecter J-4 was just a country mile better; sounded nice, excellent set up, very playable.  While I wouldn't necessarily buy/play one, it did seem pretty good VFM. 

 

Just taking a peek, the Nikki Sixx J-4 is discounted to £899 at the moment.  Only in distressed ivory at the moment (I seem to recall there were greeny ones originally). 

[MrDinsdale]

Oooo the Nikki Sixx will have the Luminlay dots too, don't get why any basses don't have them. Realise I sound obsessed with luminlay now 😂

 

Seafoam green still wins over distressed white though for me!

[BillyBass]

And rich Tone Music has one for £849.  They do look good, lovely neck, rounded off body/neck joint, decent bridge and luminlay dots.  Enough there to justify a higher RRP than a MIM Fender Jazz.

[Steve1250]

Sounds like we're looking for the same tones, I always had a clean sound straight into the amp, now using a sansamp and enjoying it. The Nikki Sixx one was the first one I saw, that led me to the sea foam green, I was slightly annoyed the Sixx had luminlay and the green didn't, but it can be retrofitted if you're handy with a drill!

 

8 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

Yeah I built a bass when I was 16, it was basically a droopy shaped Warwick Thumb 5 string. That was my only bass until a few years ago, now my taste has kind of u-turned.

 

Gone are the clean hifi amps, no fx and Warwick/boutique basses, it's all about gritty saturated tones and 4 string "classic" bass shapes.

 

That could well change again in future but it's a nice welcomed shake up that's really renewed my interest after a long time of not really playing much.