What should I spend my hard earned on?

[The inglourious bass turd]

All set to spend £900 on an American Standard Jazz, but have read that quite a few people buy the Squier vintage modified jazz and just change the bridge and pups at a much lower cost for a great sound - if I can save £500 towards some decent amplification it would seem a bit of a waste if the advantage isn't that great..... Advise me oh bass elders....

[Mr Fudge]

Considered a Jap? I think they are great.

[rmshaw37]

highly interested in this myself - i have the affinity jazz - gorgeous to play but bought it to do up, considering emg and badass bridge, let us know please someone
(i didnt have the £900 to start with though!)

[The inglourious bass turd]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='852235' date='May 30 2010, 11:34 PM']Considered a Jap? I think they are great.[/quote]

I have thought about a Jap model - they do some nice special models, but sourcing them seems a bit of a pain, and with the £ the way it is at the moment import might be mega expensive.....

[Gust0o]

The Classic Vibe Squier is awesome, from
playing it.

Does it have to be a Fender or such? I'd go for a Lakland DJ again, given the choice - absolutely f***ing awesome.

[Cat Burrito]

The current US models are stunning but I recently played one back to back with a MIM Jazz and was amazed just how much the MIM Standard has raised it's game to go with last year's price hike. I didn't think it was as good but it was better than the £300 price difference.

A lot of CIJ stuff crops up here so waiting for a second hand bargain could be the order of the day. I think it would help to know more about your current amp set up & what you are hoping for before people / I commit to a set in stone opinion.

I'll get shot for saying this & I base it on the Precisions as I've not played a Squier Jazz but whilst the current crop of Squiers are really good, the ones I've tried were not in the same league as the Fenders. That said it could just be the couple I tried?

[henry norton]

The Squiers are really good, as are the Japanese Fenders and JV Squiers (ahh yessss). Your average punter (and probably most bass players) won't be able to tell the difference in sound between them and a US std. but there's definitely something about owning and playing a US Fender that you can't put down to wood, electronics etc. It's just a good experience owning a US instrument and I think being happier with it just on those grounds can make you a better player.

[Lfalex v1.1]

I own an MIA jazz (2004) and a Squire VM Jazz. Both very different. Both good, but the VMJ's reached the point that it needs new pick-ups and electrics if it's to improve further, and I'm not sure it's worth the expense.
The last Classic vibe I tried was great, in terms of look, feel and sound.
I'm beginning to wonder whether (with modern methods properly applied and correct QC) it's likely that poor quality basses in the £250-£300 bracket will even exist soon.

[lozbass]

With the kind of budget that's available, I'd be looking at one of the boutique alternatives to a US Fender J (second hand and probably on BC). There are some real bargains around just now - in the past few months I've seen Bachus, Moon, Sei, Overwater, Shuker etc. J types (in great condition) at and sometimes well below 900. Maybe you really want to have Fender on the headstock (no problem with that) but it is possible to get a really good handbuilt J at a decent price. There's also every chance it will look, play and sound every bit as good as/better than a Fender too (highly subjective I know). Whatever you do, I'd save around 60 from the budget for new strings and a really good pro set-up (to your personal preference).

[richrips]

Do it! get the squier vmj. we a/b tested it with th 75 reissue mia jazz and for the sake of £500 there was no contest. it could be said they sound different, but which is better is purely subjective and as mentioned, a pickup swap makes up 99% of the difference anyway. That way you can have an awesome holiday or get a killer amp with your change. If you aren't particular about buying second hand, a used VMJ nowadays goes for less than £200 and many are mint or upgraded. all this makes the MIA jazz hard to justify to someone like me on a budget! get a gotoh 201 instead of a badass bridge and you've saved another £50. Buy my Dimarzio ultra jazz pickups for not much and you have a classy bass, possibly for less than £180.

r

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='henry norton' post='852358' date='May 31 2010, 09:02 AM']The Squiers are really good, as are the Japanese Fenders and JV Squiers (ahh yessss). Your average punter (and probably most bass players) won't be able to tell the difference in sound between them and a US std. but there's definitely something about owning and playing a US Fender that you can't put down to wood, electronics etc. It's just a good experience owning a US instrument and I think being happier with it just on those grounds can make you a better player.[/quote]

TBH I only ever had one USA Fender and it was the worst bass owning experience of my life, I'll never buy another one.

YMMV.

[OutToPlayJazz]

At the end of the day, it's down to you and which bass you like the feel of best. My personal preference at this price range would to get a dealer to order you in an American Standard & a Road Worn. Two different basses with very different sounds.

The American Standard has all the sophistication of fifty years' development into the instrument. It's very well equipped & is a fitting testament to the years of improvements that have gone into it.

The Road Worn (relic arguments aside) has the nitro finish and 200% classic Jazz bass sound. It's exactly what you expect from a 60's Jazz with no frills.

But as I said, make sure you order a couple in to try & go for the bass that feels like "your bass."

As for going for a cheaper model, yes the Classic Vibe Jazz is a nice bass & sounds great. The build quality is excellent and for the money, there's nothing better. I'd even go as far as saying the Classic Vibe is a lot better than the MIM Standard. I played a couple of new MIM's the other day & wasn't particularly impressed with them. Very dull to play & not much to recommend them apart from a nicely finished neck. So if it's budget you're after, Classic Vibe would be the way to go for me.

Edited May 31, 2010 by OutToPlayJazz

[ThomBassmonkey]

I've been wondering about this too, I fancy a jazz and I'm wondering mainly between the MIM and VMJ.

Just wondering, if the VMJ, MIM and MIA jazzes all had the same electrics and hardware, how would they compare? Because the difference to me is that once you've bought a VMJ and put in the upgrades you can with parts that're better than a MIA (subjective, but having your own choice of pups/bridge etc) it'd still be a fair bit less. Is the wood in the body and neck so much better?

I think realistically I'm not going to be buying a MIA any time soon but it means either a VMJ as a project bass with a few upgrades off the bat or a MIM that I'll have to use stock for a while before I can afford to do anything to it.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='852512' date='May 31 2010, 12:19 PM']Just wondering, if the VMJ, MIM and MIA jazzes all had the same electrics and hardware, how would they compare? Because the difference to me is that once you've bought a VMJ and put in the upgrades you can with parts that're better than a MIA (subjective, but having your own choice of pups/bridge etc) it'd still be a fair bit less. Is the wood in the body and neck so much better?[/quote]

The way to answer this is to try them out for yourself in the shop without an amplifier, and pay attention to how they feel and sound.

Then consider whether it's worth spending £230 on a bass (Squier VMJ), then throwing £40 for a new bridge, £75 for tuners, £20 on pots and shielding, £100 on pickups (costs of Fender replacement parts).

I'd consider a used CIJ Fender.

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='852536' date='May 31 2010, 12:50 PM']The way to answer this is to try them out for yourself in the shop without an amplifier, and pay attention to how they feel and sound.

Then consider whether it's worth spending £230 on a bass (Squier VMJ), then throwing £40 for a new bridge, £75 for tuners, £20 on pots and shielding, £100 on pickups (costs of Fender replacement parts).

I'd consider a used CIJ Fender.[/quote]

I am considering a used CIJ Fender (in fact I PM'd a couple of people this morning about it on this forum) but none are especially close to me, so I'm keeping my options open about VMJ/MIM/MIA.

To be honest, I've not played many jazzes so I could play the best jazz in the world and not realise it because I'd still be comparing it to Ibanez/Warwick/whoever else, so just looking for a rough guide. I'll be able to tell when I play one whether I like it or not.

[stingrayPete1977]

I have a squier jazz, Cost £150 from sound control but wait dont go away yet.....Baddass II bridge, Pair of Bartolinis, EBS pre amp tucked in and re drilled the jack into the body to create the extra hole in the control panel,Proper tuners fitted and a mate carefully took the edges off the sharp frets all the way up the neck Total cost about £400 it sounds and plays awesome !If you dont beleive me go and have a look at EBS_Freaks setup with his GB basses etc and dont get me wrong im not suggesting its in that league but he will tell you himself how good it is and you can see from his gear he knows his stuff.The only mistake I made was starting off with a horrible candy apple colour body although a Black Fender scratchplate has helped and maybe a relic job in future done down the shed! But it has been said by others already if you are looking to satisfy the need for a pukka USA guitar then secondhand USA jazz is well in budget.I already did that first with a Stingray and did this as a project to see if I liked jazzes or not as I fancied an Overwater but this one is so good I cant see the need for a "proper" Jazz and just bought a pre EB Stingray instead! Anyway happy hunting...

[The inglourious bass turd]

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='852235' date='May 30 2010, 11:34 PM']Considered a Jap? I think they are great.[/quote]

Ended up with this - mainly for the sheer beautiful blackness of it....

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=80220"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=80220[/url]

[OutToPlayJazz]

Nice - Minimalist and very black - You would seem to be in a very dark place at the moment How does it play?

[Veils]

Buy a Sandberg.

[Bloodaxe]

[quote name='The inglourious bass turd' post='867179' date='Jun 14 2010, 04:53 PM']Ended up with this - mainly for the sheer beautiful blackness of it....

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=80220"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=80220[/url][/quote]

Best revise Dmin then

[gjones]

I bought an indonesian made, 2002 standard Squire Jazz the other week, on a whim, from another Basschattter for £95. I already have a CIJ Geddy Lee Jazz so wasn't expecting much from it and the plan was to take it to bits and tart it up a bit with new pickups etc. But I was flabbergasted to find that when I plugged it in it sounded amazing. I couldn't get a bad sound and frankly it's the best Jazz bass I've ever heard. It is so incredibly punchy and goes from Jaco to John Paul Jones with everything in between. Of course the tuners and bridge are a bit tinny and the neck has a screw loose which I need to sort but other than that it's fantastic.
I too have been hankering after a USA model for years as I assumed it was everything I could wish for in a Jazz but now find it hard to justify forking out £900 for a guitar that doesn't sound as good as my cheapo Squire (however well put together it is) If I had got this sound from a £1000 bass I would have said it was money well spent but, amazingly, I've got it from a (very) cheap low end Jazz.

So the moral of this story is...........try before you buy or you could end up with an expensive (but very well put together) US bass that doesn't sound any better than the bloke down the pub's cheapo Squire.

And I am that bloke down the pub.

Edited June 15, 2010 by gjones

[The inglourious bass turd]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='867201' date='Jun 14 2010, 05:14 PM']Nice - Minimalist and very black - You would seem to be in a very dark place at the moment How does it play?[/quote]

Don't know yet - hopefully here by the weekend - I'll let you know!