bass recommendations?

sonicboom · Post by **sonicboom** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:02 am

I'm looking for a bass to replace my (not very good) Squier P-Bass for home recording. Having just invested in the awesome CV Custom Tele (see other thread) I'm definitely considering another Squier - looking at the VM Jaguar Bass Special, which looks like it should cover Precision AND Jazz tone territories.
These are going for Â£200 locally, plus you get a Â£25 rebate, so it looks like good value.
Otherwise I'd be heading for a Jazz.
Any opinions from you folks?

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:06 am

classic vibe jazz or precision, hands down. they cheerfully urinate on the VM series.

sonicboom · Post by **sonicboom** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:38 am

I hear you. The Jazz would be it, for me.
What's the difference? Tone(s), play, build etc?

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:41 am

It'd be the VM 70's type job for me, with the blocked maple fingerboard.

pumpkin · Post by **pumpkin** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:05 pm

Gibson EB something. Like an EB3 or an EB4L

SG reissue bass

http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/2 ... eissue.php

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:08 pm

sonicboom wrote:I hear you. The Jazz would be it, for me.
What's the difference? Tone(s), play, build etc?

for me it's build quality, the fit and finish is easily worth the extra Â£50. i opted for the precision, but gavin has the jazz and (don't let him hear me say this) it's a tiny bit nicer. i A/B'd the VM and CV precisions in the shop when i bought mine, and although i was initially set on the VM, it just felt kind of cheap. actually, that's not fair, it felt exactly like a Â£200 bass but the CV felt like a Â£400 one.

i really wanted to try the one paul mentioned but couldn't find one at the time.

James · Post by **James** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:19 pm

You can also get a MIJ Squier for a little more than that. Â£250 is probably enough to get one but they vary in price by quite a bit so it's anywhere from Â£220-280.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:25 pm

oh yeah, forgot about those silver series ones. yours is amazing.

sonicboom · Post by **sonicboom** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:33 pm

Yeah, I'm just trying to understand the difference before I go and try some. I'm leaning towards a Jazz, but don't want to rule the Jaggy bass out at this point, given the potential bang per buck so it's back to my original question, really - has anybody good or otherwise opinions on the Jaguar bass?

James · Post by **James** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 3:31 pm

Completed ebay listing

Bit of a trek but you could send a message to him with an offer if you were willing to go and get it. He'd probably save about 10% by selling it outside of ebay so Â£240 sounds fair though of course factor in petrol to that on your end to consider how good of a deal it is. I don't know how the serial numbers work but I think it's much more likely to be '88 than 'early to mid eighties'.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:46 pm

I love my CV P bass. Feels like an instrument that cost twice as much as it did, only change I had to make was swapping out the ugly tort guard.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:33 pm

If you're going for a p bass I would shell out for the CV. If you're going for a a jazz I'd go for the VM 70's model. It sounds odd, but I've played a bunch of different CV jazzes and haven't been impressed with the sound of them, just kind of thin compared to the VM's. I don't know what it is, because they feel amazing as all the CV basses do, but for some reason they just don't compare to the sound of the VM jazz.

damienblair17 · Post by **damienblair17** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:06 pm

sonicboom wrote:has anybody good or otherwise opinions on the Jaguar bass?

I was really interested in the Jaguar bass around april of this year. I played a few of them and something about them seemed off. I think it was the frets not being entirely filed down. I actually went with a Schecter P bass, but it was a bit more expensive.

To put it another way, and give yet another vote for a CV, the Jaguar bass (the one with the stacked vol/tone knobs) played well but didn't feel perfect. CV P bass felt perfect.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:26 pm

An old MIA Peavey Foundation or Fury. You can find them around here for under $200 pretty regularly and they're quite good.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:02 pm

You'll be lucky to find one in the UK.

BillClay · Post by **BillClay** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:58 am

Most of the squier's with jazz pickups sound pretty shitty. The Jag sounded shitty too, so if that's what's on all the cv's and vm's I'd swap em unless you want to sound like Les Claypool or that shitstain from Korn. Ultra treble-y with no definition or presence. That's my take on the pickups not the build quality.

On the other hand, there's never been a bad sounding p-bass pickup. they just can't fuck those up somehow.

Rox · Post by **Rox** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:55 am

A good used bass ? Cheap ?? I'd say an Epi Thunderbird . Or just about any Ibanez SR or BTB.. But I'm not sure how much they'd cost over there ...

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 10:45 am

BillClay wrote:Most of the squier's with jazz pickups sound pretty shitty. The Jag sounded shitty too, so if that's what's on all the cv's and vm's I'd swap em unless you want to sound like Les Claypool or that shitstain from Korn. Ultra treble-y with no definition or presence. That's my take on the pickups not the build quality.

On the other hand, there's never been a bad sounding p-bass pickup. they just can't fuck those up somehow.

I thought the pickups in the Squier Jaco-a-like were pretty good, to be honest. I think they might be Duncan Designed, I can't remember.

pumpkin · Post by **pumpkin** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:10 am

Rox wrote:A good used bass ? Cheap ?? I'd say an Epi Thunderbird . Or just about any Ibanez SR or BTB.. But I'm not sure how much they'd cost over there ...

Yeah the Epiphone Thunderbird Pros have a 7 piece body through-neck

http://www.epiphone.com/News-Features/N ... asses.aspx

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:47 pm