squier Vintage modified versus classic vibe

[buff]

Tried out a classic vibe jazz around at our drummers today and was suprised how much lighter in weight it is compaired to the vintage modified i have. Thought the sustain wasnt as good, and the headstock was at least 2mm thinner than the one on my VM. Anyone else compaired the two ?

[bassix]

I tried both when looking for a new budget bass. I tried the 60's CV P Bass and the VM P Bass (white one) I also threw in a Mexican to the comparison and did this on two separate occasions in two different shops and although I preferred the VM to the Mexican, I thought tone wise 60's CV blew the VM away so I immediately bought one

You are right about the weight of them though, its a bit like playing a toy bass!

[OutToPlayJazz]

I had the VM 70's Jazz when they first came out. It was a nice enough thing, but after having played a couple of the CV Jazzes, I'm utterly blown away by them. Especially the one at the Gallery which blew all of the Sadowskys out of the water!

[buff]

Looked up the body woods on the squier site, the VM's are soft maple and the CV's are basswood. Although my old jap jazz was basswood as well and was certainly heavier than the CV i tried. I still think i'll end up getting a CV as well, but i might try a few before buying.

Edited September 16, 2009 by buff

[AndyTravis]

The Classic Vibe is made at a Factory in China...Because of where i work i can't say which factory as we stock both the Fender and are the principal dealer of the products of the originating factory of the Classic Vibe Stuff, Fender GBI get a nappy on if it gets mentioned - Even though it's nothing to do with anything, really.

The Vintage Modified is made by the Cort factory in Indonesia.

I love both of them. Just for my two penneth...

The VM 70's style uses a 'soft maple' body, which i can only assume is a fairly dense wood meaning the weight. I love the fact you could drop an East Preamp or some more expensive pickups into it and get a mega bass for not silly money.
I do however dislike the slightly peachy appearance of the last 10 or so i've seen, the first couple were closer to the yellowy ash colour.

The CV is the one for me, i love how they feel. I think the folks at Fender wanted to recapture the Magic of the JV series of the early 80's. Again, better pickups or a nice preamp may not be a bad idea.

The thing is, these basses have jumped in price over the last few months owing to Fender being a US company the dollar, the pound etc. But as the Pound recovers, i doubt Fender GBI will lower their prices, meaning they can reap a bit of extra dough in.

Keep eyes out for them used, as they are both a winner. I'd have both and the VM fretless too (another top bass).

[tony_m]

I've got one of each, and the VMJ has always struck me as being heavier than the CV. However, I've just weighed them (the sort of thing you find yourself doing of an evening... ) and they're actually both about the same weight, 9.5lbs-ish according to my shonky old bathroom scales - can't get any more accurate than that I'm afraid!!! This is about a pound heavier than my 1997/98 CIJ '60s Reissue (yep, I weighed that as well... ). The headstock on the CV is as you say a couple of mm thinnner than the VMJ, while the VMJ is the same thickness as the CIJ. The sustain seems about the same on both, although I have just replaced the bridge on the VMJ with a Wilkinson which has brass saddles rather than the nondescript shiny silver things which come as standard, so I suppose this might make a difference?

As an aside, I had the "bonnet" up on them both the other day following a thread on another bass-related forum, and found that the CV has 250k pots while those on the VMJ are 500k - somebody else out there can probably explain what difference this might make if any. Ditto the different pickups, body woods and fingerboard woods - if push came to shove, I'd have to say the VMJ sounds punchier than the CV, while the CV seems a tad smoother, more refined. Love 'em both, though... :blush:

Edited September 16, 2009 by tony_m

[AndyTravis]

250K Pots are usually used for single coil pickups.
500K Pots are usually used for Humbuckers.

As some veteran guitar shop worker once told me years ago.

I don't think it actually makes worlds off difference either way as long as the value are the same.

Linear and Logorythmic are the two Variants, Volumes are Lin Tones are Log. I think...

Electronics are not my strong point.

I don't know what relevance this serves..bedtime soon.

[doctor_of_the_bass]

I've got two CV basses; the Jazz and the 50's Precision - both superlative instruments for the money. In fact I've gigged the Jazz twice now with my old rock and roll band and it really delivers! Not really in the same class as the original JV Squiers but a step in the right direction.

[Chris2112]

I've had both. I had a fretless Vintage Modified jazz for longer than I had a Classic Vibe Jazz, but the CV was the better instrument, better than the Sadowsky Metro basses Guitar Guitar have had in, for sure! Played in a blind test, the CV would come out on top, I'm sure! Shame I sold it, as a fretted jazz was surplus to my needs!

[bassatnight]

Was thinking of investing in a cheaper bass following recent expensive acquisitions, I like the look of the CV's and from reading your reviews guy's I think I'll go try one out forthwith!

Snobbery ain't gonna stop me! ;-)

[AndyTravis]

i'm getting the aforementioned other guys to make a fretless version of their Jazz bass (basically a CV), So it should be awesome. They also do something similar to the VM, but it has a gloss neck and 2 piece Ash body, it knocks spots off anything under £500.

[Balcro]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='601031' date='Sep 17 2009, 08:31 AM']i'm getting the aforementioned other guys to make a fretless version of their Jazz bass (basically a CV), So it should be awesome. They also do something similar to the VM, but it has a gloss neck and 2 piece Ash body, it knocks spots off anything under £500.[/quote]


PM'd.

Balcro

[budget bassist]

just my opinion, but i tried both and i preferred the neck and the sound on the vintage modified, the neck wasn't glossy and seemed faster to me and the pickups seemed to have a bit more bite to them, the classic vibe seemed like it was trying to sound like a vintage fender... which isn't my bag.

[bassmansky]

if i had tried the vmp-bass at the same time as the cv 60's p-bass i think i would have picked the vm,because it has a more fatter sound like a precision.probably due to the slightly fatter neck imo.Both great basses though

[EdwardMarlowe]

I'm excited they made the VM J Bass as a lefty - don't actually want one, but living in hope that this makes it more likely they'll do a lefty of the CV 50s P bass...

[iamthewalrus]

One of the guitar players in the band I'm in has a Squier VMJ - I've played it a couple of times, & I must say for bass that costs just over the £200 mark, it's a really good bass.

You can get a half decent P sound, as well as all the usual Jazz noises out of it. If I could afford one, I'd have one tomorrow!

Cheers,
iamthewalrus

[bh2]

Played one back to back with a RoadWorn Jazz at my LMS... it blew me away... (I normally play a '62 Jazz). Although I've still GAS for the RW the CV would make a great replica project.

[AndyTravis]

the fretless prototype is on the way from the factory in China. Keep your eyes peeled for the new forum topic.

[fender73]

On looks alone, i bought the 60's CV Precision. Sounds great, looks great, feels great, what more can i say.

I'll be getting the other two CV basses as well as i reckon in a few years, these will be sought after...well done Fender/Squier!

I haven't tried the VM's, but i'm sure that they play great etc, but i reckon on looks alone, the CV's have it

Thanks all - just my humble opinion!

Graeme

[AndyTravis]

if fender did the 50's Pbass in lpb, id buy it. Like the vintage modified tele bass, if fender did a mexi reissue i'd buy it.
I'm sure they are thinking about it...