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vintage icon v4


Kev
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Tried one of these in the local soundcontrol/reverb yesterday, and was impressed with it. Played easily as well as the fender mim i a/b'd it with, but with a slightly weaker pickup. Otherwise its great, and against what i thought i really like the relic finish on it. However, for £199 im not sure whether its worth it, partly because im sure theres better on the second hand market for that price, and partly because as soon as i set foot outside the shop, it will halve in value!

Anyone else got one? Iv seen quite a bit about the jaco esque vintage, but not too much about the P.

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I have one of the Jacoesque ones and I think its fantastic. It knocks spots of my previously owned MIM jazz both for playability and sound. The last gig I played with it the sound man (who I had never met before) commented on how well it sounded and how it sat really well in the mix. Also attracts attention from the bass heads in the crowd.

I maybe a JHS endorsed artist but IMHO the vintage icon series are great value for money.

[url="http://www.jhs.co.uk/daveneill.html"]http://www.jhs.co.uk/daveneill.html[/url]

Edited by markbass555
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Anyone tried the Vintage Stingray copy? I bought one locally via eBay because it was cheap and because I love the Musicman tone, and it sounds stonking to me. I'm not in a position to compare it with anything else, but I'm impressed.
The finish is nothing to write home about. I can get a piece of paper in between the neck and body joint at one side. The varnish on the neck is thin and the frets are not as flush to the side of the neck as they could be. I took the top off the cover plate to tighten up the loose jack socket and discovered piles of wood shavings that hadn't been brushed out and also noticed that the earthing wire was hanging in mid air because it hadn't been soldered on.
On the other hand - it's light, and it has that punchy, growly Musicman sound that I can't get out of my Yamaha BB. I find that I'm playing it more than my Yammy now, which is very strange because I've spent lots of time and effort getting my Yammy to sound just so.
Comments, anyone?

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hiho,I picked up a v4 s/h for a pittance and it is great.I have fitted a wizard thumper and schaller tuners.My next mod is a gotoh bridge.
As standard it was good to go and as you say it is nice and light but with the thumper it become an animal in the nicest way.
Well worth the money especially s/h.
The reason I got is was I was going to do this to a precision anyway so I saved a few quid in the process.
A good gigging bass with no worries as standard.

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the stock pickup isn't the most powerful on the icon v4, but tonally i quite like it, although upgrading to a wizard pup would be great im sure. Im quite happy with the hardware, i like the aged bridge :). I hate the fact iv bought it new as i know that il get nothing like when i sell it, but not selling is fine with me :rolleyes:

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hiho,I don,t think you.ll sell it as it will grow on you.Since I,ve put the wizard in I,ve been able to use the volume and tone controls to full effect and it makes it very versitile.
The high output of the thumper makes it almost like an active at everything on full just like my musicman but not the same,roll back a bit and the character changes in a very good way.Anyone who has fitted one will know what I mean.
The only complaint I have is that they don,t do a maple neck,can,t say fairer than that.
I have played for a while(not saying how long) and have a ricky,musicman and the vintage and I would have no hesitation in recommending one,the pup change is worthwhile and a call to Andy at wizard will get you the sound you want if you decide to go that route.All in all a perfect gigging bass as it,s not the end of the world if it gets some battle scars.

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[quote name='stevie' post='550367' date='Jul 24 2009, 04:28 PM']Anyone tried the Vintage Stingray copy? I bought one locally via eBay because it was cheap and because I love the Musicman tone, and it sounds stonking to me. I'm not in a position to compare it with anything else, but I'm impressed.
The finish is nothing to write home about. I can get a piece of paper in between the neck and body joint at one side. The varnish on the neck is thin and the frets are not as flush to the side of the neck as they could be. I took the top off the cover plate to tighten up the loose jack socket and discovered piles of wood shavings that hadn't been brushed out and also noticed that the earthing wire was hanging in mid air because it hadn't been soldered on.
On the other hand - it's light, and it has that punchy, growly Musicman sound that I can't get out of my Yamaha BB. I find that I'm playing it more than my Yammy now, which is very strange because I've spent lots of time and effort getting my Yammy to sound just so.
Comments, anyone?[/quote]


I borrowed one a while ago for a dep gig, sounded nice but i didn't like the feel of the bass. I thought that there wasn't enough clearance between the body and the strings to allow me to dig in like on a proper Ray. Still i think the owner paid about £100 for so it was a steal, the citcuit was decent enough

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[quote name='lemmywinks' post='550946' date='Jul 25 2009, 10:36 AM']I borrowed one a while ago for a dep gig, sounded nice but i didn't like the feel of the bass. I thought that there wasn't enough clearance between the body and the strings to allow me to dig in like on a proper Ray. Still i think the owner paid about £100 for so it was a steal, the citcuit was decent enough[/quote]
Thanks, Lemmy. Interesting.

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