Lw.

Cool bass! Hard to tell from the pic quality but is that a natural patina or has it been relic'ed? Looks to be some nice flaming on the neck too.

Well, yeah. People often talk about making their J sound like a P but in reality they do not sound close. It's the same the other way - J's don't sound like P's and P's don't sound like J's. That's why you've got to have both.

I think black ones look good if it has a maple fretboard as the black ties in with the fret markers, otherwise tort looks great so long as it's a good tort!

Also worth remembering we're all looking at the images on different quality screens so one persons comparison to real life colour will be different to another's.

Bass Direct seems like the obvious choice!

Interesting - it certainly doesn't have the sticky gloss feel the unsanded parts of the Fender have. Good work - I'm sure it'll be worth the wait!

You might find this useful; Limelight on the left, custom shop on the right. I don't actually know how either company do it but going on feel/looks, the Fender feels like it was a high gloss tinted neck that has been sanded down to bare wood (it feels very smooth like bare wood but I assume there's a very thin layer of satin clear coat on it) - the Limelight feels like the whole thing has some kind of oil finish that is even throughout, not rubbed through in the middle. That's what they feel like to me anyway.

Yeah it's good! Not one for the purists though - the loose idea was an early 70s jazz that had had a precision neck swap, but really it's just all the fender bits I like in one bass!

Been a bit quiet in here of late! Just popped in to see Mark & picked up this little number. Just noodling in a campsite at the mo but feels great!

Is that how much a JMJ is now? I'm sure they were "only" around 900 not that long ago when I was looking at Mustangs! You're right in that these newer Mexican models are making the player series look like a bargain! Maybe I'm just getting old - I remember seeing a roadworn jazz in a shop for 695 & thinking it'll never sell for that 😂 Still, price aside I think they look cool & nothing wrong with a bbot imo!

Like the paint job, would be fun for playing funk! Don't like the price. I know prices are always rising & the fx rate isn't helping but that's a lot of money for a Mexican Fender.

Looks awesome! I've got a real thing for relic'd natural basses at the moment, picking one up next week (from a different manufacturer) but the purchase was inspired by a hardcore aged Sandberg.

Nice bit of wood for the body that! I'd be getting some Montypresso on that fretboard if it were mine. Good fun to play Mustangs!

I don't really get this argument, what difference would it make to Fender? It made sense before when it was a licensing deal with the Japanese factories that were making great basses a few decades ago, but that's not the setup any more is it? Isn't Fender Japan a full Fender subsidiary now?

I wonder how many of the first generation they would have sold if they'd had that logo on?

The great thing about fender derivative stuff is it's all standardised - just buy the bits you like and bolt them together, it's all available individually. Ok the routing for that mm pickup you'll need to pay someone but the rest anyone can do from home.

The yellow paint on the jazz looks kind of cool but I'm struggling to see what makes these stand out from any other Fender subsidiary copy & the price is a bit silly for what they are. Also is it just my eyes or is something slightly off with the headstocks/logo placement?

There's a Flea jazz for 850 on Gumtree at the moment, only drawback is it's got a head start on you regarding the aging. I see you've already seen Limelight - I'd be tempted to go that route & save a little more cash while you're waiting as then you get to spec it exactly as you want & can ask Mark to do as light a relic as possible.

They certainly are. Sire are one of a long line of tool manufacturers; they're perfectly usable, look acceptable & do the job for making music. But that is not why people buy boutique basses, no one buys them because they think it'll make the songs they're performing be better (equally, I have some quite expensive Japanese kitchen knives, they don't make my dinner taste any better). It's about ownership of a nice thing, always has been always will be. There's nothing wrong with either, they're just different purchases.

They look great! Probably depends on the gigs you play as to functionality though - when there's sweat dripping down the walls of whatever dive bar I've played in in the past, I'm not sure how confident I'd be with those!

Nice - I know people baulk at the new prices but the Fender Custom Shop really do kick out some great basses, they're just so enjoyable to play (and look at).

I do generally buy into fingerboard wood making a difference to tone, I just don't think it's as cut and dry as x is darker than y. To do a fair blind test you'd need to swap your two necks between one of the bodies you have, probably switch the machine heads too.

This - you've got to shlep to one specific store but it's difficult to see anything beating the LB-100 at that price. You can't get the good Squiers for under 300 and the Affinity's are nowhere near.

Looks cool - Ian Allison (one of the Scotts bass lessons gang) was playing something very similar on insta yesterday!