Pirellithecat

Thanks everyone. From all the helpful comments I'm tilting towards a second hand Chinese-made CV - if I can get one for the budget. Otherwise, a MIM Fender Jazz might be good choice - again depending on budget etc. At the moment I have the PJ option sorted and also a P Bass awaiting a new life (as whilst I appreciate the wider nut, I find myself gravitating to the thinner narrower necks when I'm "noodling"). This might all change if I ever get to play live again but for now I just want familiar dimensions - one in the house and one in the shed. Sadly the shed acoustics have not turned out well so there's some work to do there .... or it's a very expensive mower store!

Excellent write up Mr Sorrow - thanks. I'm moving away from P Bass/ chunky necks, and without trying the bass in question I think the Harley Benson might be a mistake. however, the CV does sound very promising.......... I have a search Cheers

Arghh ........ It's Pandora's Box .... what have I done? I now want an Acoustic, and I'd rather like a Spector, and the Vintage, AND a MIM in Lake Placid blue, And a Squier CV........... but I can't get distracted into getting a Short Scale. I've had three Ibanez in the past and I really like them and their excessive number of frets and the neck. But I need to get better at playing basses with similar necks to mine and a similar number of frets. The variables should really just be Jazz configuration to see if I like it. So, can I refine the question to ... "Which Fender Jazz Bass Copy is really good for around £250 second hand?" I've excluded the Affinity Range, I rather like the Indonesian Squier Standard Range, tempted by a Chinese CV Jazz, but have no idea how these compare to the Vintage Range, the MIM Fenders (if I stretch the budget a tiny bit). And the Harley Benton sounds interesting. Can't really go and try all of the above as PMT are 2 hours plus away even in Covid Free times and some aren't still in production - so I'm casting around before taking a punt! Thanks for the contributions so far.

Thanks. Reggaebass - which MIM's do you rate. Better than the Squiers?? Nice shed by the way, very smart - hope it sounds better than mine... Hubrad - I'll have a look at the spec on the Crafter's Cheers

Mine's bigger than yours! Photo's when it stops raining!! Anyone any bass guitar recommendations??

Excellent!

Well I might be able to show what NOT to do#!!

There's a "Show You Shed" Page? Ooh er - I do need some advice on the acoustics - mine really does sound awful for bass - /......... well it does when I play one.

Just built myself a Shed in which lives my main rig and a home practice bass. But it's not enough! I have a small "office" in the house and I'd like to be able to pick up a bass when stuff comes on the "radio" and play along. Got a little mixer and headphones already in place ..... so all I need is a bass. My Shed resident cheapo is a Squier Standard Precision Special - (38mm neck). Quiet fancy a Jazz of the same ilk - but should I be looking at others? Spec - 38-40mm neck, pref Rosewood, Jazz style, Passive (probably), nice to play rather than fantastic via pick-ups. And Modable in case I get the urge ........ tatty is OK but not "broken"! Budget £250 I keep seeing positive comments on Harley Bentons, Vintage, and CV Squiers - and I'd be looking very second hand. So I'd be grateful for any pointers ..... what does the Basschat Team think?

How about 2 : 1? I really can't tell any difference - they both just sound like my headphones! And I'm a Rosewoodophile! (sounds worse than it is .......)

I had the TN501 - nice at low volume and playing alone but not good in the loud band setting. It ran out of puff very early on in terms of volume knob settings and the louder it went, the "thinner" the sound became. The Ashdown RM EVO 11 500W which replaced it was in a different league - more "heft" if that really is a thing. I now have a Magellan 800, but I haven't had the chance to play this in the band context due to Covid - very different and much more flexible in terms of getting the sound you want.

But.... did the new Fender Pups make a difference ? It's a "get a new bass, get new Pups, ..... get a new bass, get new Pups, ......get a new bass, get new Pups, moment - and with so much time on my hands ......... Anyway, be interested to know once they're installed. Sorry for thread hi-jack

Is that a very thin neck on the Thunderbird - looks really slim, or is the Headstock much larger than I imagined? Bigthumb - do you happen to know if the Hipshots on your bass are HB7's?

Hi Martin, If I get this sorted I'll send you one of my redundant ones if you like. Cheers

That's very interesting Jean-Luc .......... BIgthumb what do you reckon? Any chance of pointing me in the direction of a photo of the tuners on your bass? Thanks everyone ...

If these would fit I'd go for them too - they look great! I've failed to find the dimensions though so if anyone can point me in the right direction that'd be great. I suspect they are too big for the Squier headstock, although I'm pretty sure I've seen something like these on a old Japanese-made Squier. As long as I can find something that fits I'm happy to make new screw holes as my Squier isn't really worth much in terms of cash so I shan't be making at any more worthless than it already is. Plays really well though!

I guess I'm now officially bored and have been fiddling around with my bass. I've cleaned it, fitted a new KiOgon wiring loom (excellent!) and nearly worn it out playing it - much to Mrs P's irritation. It's a Squier Precision Standard Special made in Indonesia around 15 years ago. It's a black PJ with nice matching headstock to which I've added SD Pickups, a better bridge and had it properly set up/fret dressed etc. It sounds and plays remarkably well. Whilst functional, the original tuners are a bit weak so I was wondering about upgrading them with vintage style replacements. Looking for something like those found on the 62 re-issue fenders eg something like Schaller BMFL's and the Gotoh FB30 (pricey!). However these seem rather large for the available space on the headstock. Anyone tried these or other replacements? Thanks

I've just installed a new loom from John into my modded Squier PJ bass. It's had a few mods since it was bought as my "scrap" bass a couple of years back - new bridge, new pickups (SD's), fret dress etc, strings and new scratchplate. And it now sounds better than ever. Very good to deal with John, straightforward and helpful and quick communication, all done and dusted within a couple of days. The loom was very tidy and the "no solder" element is very neat. Fitted it yesterday and have been playing bass for around 6 hours since then. Now I know that a different loom can't make a difference to the sound ....... of course it can't, so the difference in sound must be the cleaning of the fretboard whilst the strings were off, or the "rested" strings, or the tightening of the scratchplate screws or ??????? But I can't convince myself that it doesn't sound better with the new loom. So "thanks John". Top Banana indeed!

Well ........ it is very true that I thought the BB2 sounded very nice using the Darkglass and the lovely Yamaha. However, I am shocked that, to paraphrase, "I need my head looking at!" 😉 My ABM 600 through the BB2 using my PBass doesn't sound as good , that's for sure. I suspect that the BB2 is still a light weight, grab and go, kind of cabinet which would certainly displace an SC though. Anyway, it now looks like I need to listen to some new Heads, a pair of light weight 12 inch speakers, and a new bass. Bergantino 112's of some desciption were mentioned. But do these fit the bill as some of the best 12 inch cabinets available today? And that'll teach me to travel south!

Of the small (ish) and affordable D Class Amps I've tried, then the Ashdown RM EVO 2 500 was the best! I ended up with an Ashdown ABM 600, but I would have been just as happy with the RM 500!