NBD - Squier Jazz Fretless 5 Vintage Modified Modified

[tauzero]

I know I said I'd never buy another Fender or Squier. A man can change his mind, can't he?

 

Saw this 5-string Jazz defret with a humbucker pickup in the bridge position and went and had a look at it. Very nice neck (unlike my Standard Precision Special V from almost 20 years ago), great defret job, and a switchable humbucker - series, parallel, and single coil (I assume). Humbucker installation wasn't perfect but the slight waywardness of the rout is imperceptible from any distance. There's a couple of minor dings to the lacquer but nothing much. The owner was suffering from arthritis and had to sell the bass not long after buying it.

 

It came reasonably set up, I lowered the strings a bit more and put straplocks on and so far that's it. The humbucker isn't ideal as it's for a Ray5 or similar with the narrower string spacing but I don't feel any great urgency to replace it. Photos from original listing.

 

 

Control plate with 3-way toggle switch

 

 

You can see the serrations from the fret tangs here, but there's no tear-out and the unfretboard is lovely and smooth

 

 

Pickup rout for the humbucker isn't perfect but it's not bad. I think I could do with replacing the pickup screws as some of the heads are a little chewed up.

 

[tauzero]

PS. The bridge pickup is 2cm closer to the bridge than a Ray5 pickup is to its bridge, so it's not a perfect emulation of a Ray plus a Jazz. There's quite a variety of sounds to be had from it though.