Vintage vj74

[Brian18242]

Quite fancy getting hold of one of these. What's everyone's thoughts?

 

Cheap, build quality looks good, and they do a lovely fiesta finish.

 

Only concern is the weight? Are they heavy?

[mr4stringz]

I briefly had a fretless one (the Jaco tribute). I needed a cheap fretless for a recording session and let it go shortly after, though if it had been getting use I’d have been happy enough keeping it as it was a really decent enough, usable fretless.
 

I certainly found it a little weightier than my other basses (mainly Fenders), but not prohibitively so.

[bubinga5]

I had a Vintage v940 25 years ago roughly with a one piece bubinga body, built like a tank and weighed a tonne. But a really nice bass apart from the electronics and pickups. They were awful. Not long ago I picked up a Vintage jazz bass.Think it was a VJ4, I could be wrong...  Imo it was just the worst jazz bass ive ever played. It felt cheap, the fret ends were horrible. It had a John East preamp in it but that wasn't enough to redeem it. 

 

Imo look elsewhere like a Sire/Squier.. Way way better build quality and pickups etc.

Edited January 16 by bubinga5

[Marty Forrer]

The VJ74 reissue has an alder body so should be comparable weight to a Fender. The pickups and bridge are Wilkinsons, and as such are pretty good. Some very favourable comments on youtube. One reviewer stated the neck felt almost like it had rolled edges. I've just ordered one myself, so will have a better idea when it arrives. 

 

Edited January 17 by Marty Forrer

[Brian18242]

Let me know your thoughts. Have you ordered one of the vintage reissue models? 

[la bam]

If it helps, there's a pretty simple rule to follow for the vintage brand. The old logo ones are more of a starter bass, and the newer logo ones are quite good. They feel like 2 different companies the quality is that different. 

[Marty Forrer]

Brian, will do. I've got a Ventura Green one coming. As an inveterate tinkerer, I have ordered a sheet of pickguard material off aliexpress so I will make a black pearl one. Think dark grey mother of toilet seat. I also have in my stash a spare set of Dunlop straplocks, a Scott's Bass Lessons strap (awesome) and a set of Hipshot Ultralite tuners if I find it doesn't balance perfectly. I will also line all the cavities with adhesive copper tape. 

 

Edited January 18 by Marty Forrer
Added stuff.

[Marty Forrer]

My Vintage VJ74 arrived today. I installed the Hipshot tuners, oiled the fingerboard, checked frets for level, sanded the horrible gloss off the back of the neck, installed the straplocks, lined all the cavities with adhesive copper (including under the bridge for a foolproof connection) and gave it a good setup. Balances perfectly, electrics work as they should, sounds pretty good with some new Dunlop Nickels. BUT! The nut is going to have to be dealt to. It's a Graphtech, but it's cut all wrong. The outer strings were about 18 thou over the first fret but the inner two were about 15 thou and buzzing badly. Unfortunately it's been stuck in pretty solidly and will not budge, so I'll need to have a replacement on hand when I apply some brute force to it! Most luthiers think that 21 or 22 thou clearance is about right. As it stands presently, I cannot get the action down to where I like it because of the nut. Also, the slots are cut really deep in the nut, so the whole string sits below the top of the nut. Bad form Vintage. Otherwise it's pretty good all round. I have two gigs this week so will see how that goes.

Edited January 22 by Marty Forrer

[Brian18242]

What's the weight like?

[Marty Forrer]

Fairly heavy, 4.2kg, 9.2 pounds. However it balances so well on the strap that the weight becomes irrelevant. I have a bad back, but I find once I can get a bass balancing well, the weight no longer matters.

[Marty Forrer]

My scratchplate material arrived today, so two hours work  produced this Black Pearl scratchplate.  I call it mother of toilet seat. To me it goes with the green much better than the tort.