dazza14

Worst bass i've ever played was a Fender Jazz - it's the one with the one piece pickguard that houses the control knobs, instead of the smaller pickguard and seperate control plate - the thing was horrible, poorly setup, no oomph in the pickups, the neck was twisted and curved and... oh it was horrible.

I tried one of these in my local music shop and was blown away by it. The finish was the only thing that i thought let it down (it was a thick plastic-feeling coating that wasn't the nicest) but playability and fit was lovely.
I love Jazz basses but i've never actually owned a Fender, the ones i've tried in the past were always too pricey OR didn't have the punch i wanted. I play a VM Squier Jazz that fits the bill perfectly but the Modern Player ones are lovely.

I'm after a cheapo bass to fiddle around/modding project and a Swift P-bass copy has come up on e-bay near me (so i save on postage costs) but does anyone have any experience with this make.
I reckon i could have it for £50, but wouldn't want to waste their time by declining to buy it if it weighs a ton or has the tonal characteristics of a chalk board!

I've got the seperate 350w, so a Rumble head with the 2x8 cab and it's brilliant! Honestly can't rate it highly enough.
I used to have the Fender Rumble 25w practice amp (they don't make i anymore) and i loved that but it wasn't loud enough for gigs so i just upgraded. I tried a 150w combo at a gig and it was good too, i really rate these amps.
I play with a Squier VM Jazz and it's got the brightness i want and also handles the lows perfectly, just a nice warm tone.

Of course i'm assuming the combo is the same as the head/cab seperates...

Maybe i've explained it a little incorrectly, the issue is we play two-three gigs a month, some of these are at festivals where keeping an eye on your stuff is more difficult with bands coming and going, the places i'm talking about make up about 10% of the venues and the cheap bass would be used for those places.
I like the idea of a stand with a 'deterent' on it, something to slow down the threat of stealing it but i also like the idea of taking a cheap bass and making it more 'personal' but not spending loads on it in the first place. I mean i wouldn't buy a MM Stingray and mod it up and lose it's value in money OR in function.
Like i said i play a Squier Jazz, so a P Bass would be cool so i had two choices on sound to play around with.

Thanks Lozz, thats good advice, never thought of upgrading the electrics but you're right, "whilst you're in there".
Thru-body isn't a must, i just thought it would improve things, again i'm trying to make small changes to add up to a big change.

I'm thinking about picking up a cheapo J or P bass copy (and chucking a J neck on it) and modding the hell out of it.
I play in a punky, reggae, ska band and although i only play a cheapo Squier VM Jazz i've caught a few people 'eyeing' it up and i'm scared to hell of it being nicked (not worth much, but i love it!) and we play in some rough-ass places and festivals so the threat is always there.
So i'm toying with the idea of getting a cheap bass, maybe a Westfield or similar, setting up the action to suit, tarting up the pups (although i hear stock Westfield pups are pretty decent) and possibly drilling through the body for a feed-thru bridge to give a little more resonance.
That way i can enjoy a beer at the bar without having to keep a watchful eye on my bass when it's not being played.

Any suggestions??

I've got two, a Rickenbacker that was the property of the youth club i used to go to when i was 16-17 and most recently a MIM Fender Jazz... oh god it was horrible. High action, bent neck, horrible sound from the pups, could probably be fixed with some replacement pups and some neck work but it was terrible.
The owner sold it on The Bay for over £300 so the new owner must have been patient or not expecting much...

I owned a foxy looking Vintage P-Bass, got it second hand from The Bay but although it sounded good and was a good build quality for the price it had a bent neck and the truss rod wasn't doing anything to adjust it. I've since heard the truss rods on Vintage basses are a little suspect.
Was gutted because it was really nice.
Serves me right for buying 'blind' off e-bay i guess...

I like the female bass player from The Magic Numbers, i think she does some great lines and the style of music they play encourages her to fill the gaps with her playing. Great P tone too...

Don't you love it when you absolutely 'nail it' at practice?
You know, that sweet moment when everything you try just works and you feel like you can't put a note wrong... well i had that on Tuesday evening at practice.
We've recently found a new drummer so i'm trying to adapt to how he plays and we're trying to gel as quickly as possible to keep the energy of the songs and keep the momentum of the band moving forward and at times there were some great things going on.
I was playing my Squier VM Jazz through my Fender Rumble 350w and was switching from punk to reggae to rock to country through thumb (Sting-style), finger and nail style and all was needed was a little toying with my tone knob and it all sounded really good.
Was so pleased with what we were doing that i'm still buzzing and looking forward to next weeks practice.
Anyone else ever get this???

I've had nowhere NEAR the ammount some of you have owned but here they are in all their glory;
Encore E83 P-Bass - bizzard white with a 3-ply white scratchplate and rosewood neck, an absolute brute of a bass, really loved it but had to sell when i needed some money. Got £30 from the local music shop for it, i was gutted... would love to own one again.
Columbus P-Bass - three colour sunburst, sold to a gigging bassist that still has it. 11 years later!
Yamaha RBX374 - flamed natural finish, 24 frets, a lovely sounding bass. I still own this, mainly for sentimental reasons.
Aria Pro II - fretless, natural finish, lovely bass, wished i still owned this.
Squier VM Jazz - this is my number one bass, i tried a Fender US J-Bass but still prefered this, i've added a BadAss II bridge and had it set up to exactly how i love it.
Vintage VSeries P-Bass - white with a custom made s/plate, again, a nice bass but i rarely play anything other than my Squier J.
So, whats that? SIX basses in 18 years... not bad.
Funny how i return to P-Basses yet i'd never dump my J.

[sub]This is a good thread, i love home-made basses, i recently put together a sky blue P-Bass with tort scratch guard. Played really nicely too, sold it after one gig when a member of the bar staff offered me some money for it. KERCHING!![/sub]
[sub]I then built a '51 slab body Tele Bass, looked the bees knees but was really heavy due to the body but again i sold it to a fella in a country and western band. Looked the part alright.[/sub]
[sub]Looking forward to seeing how your bass turns out.[/sub]

I've just bought a second hand Hartke HA3500 combo amp.
I tried the amp at the sellers home and it sounded fine.
Drove it home in the car and now when i plug it in it sounds awful!!

It sounds like it has a distorted sound and no matter what i try to do to fix it it doesn't get better.
Any help would be massively appreciated....


I've tried it with the valve/solid states turned up or down and nothing helps.

Hi, i recently bought a second hand Squier Modified Jazz Bass (the natural finish with maple neck one) and it has badly worn varnish beneath the scratch-plate just below the G string.
Before you tell me to replace the scratch-plate i can't, i play slap and pop and find it a bit of a squeeze to get my chunky fingers beneath the strings with a scratch-plate in place.
I would like to sand the body down and get it revarnished.
Any advice on what grade of sand paper to use to sand the body down so i can get the varnish re-applied in one even coat?
To be honest any tips on this subject would be greatfully recieved.
Do i use a sander?
Sand block?
Any tips welcomed.