Mrbigstuff

If you’re going to this level of mods, I’d get the frets levelled by a top luthier to make it play like butter. That and the nut will make the biggest difference.

11 minutes ago, Maude said:

Genuinely not bought a string, plectrum, or bass. Nothing, nada! 

Think I’m the same but the strings are starting to suffer and GAS has struck for an amp in the classifieds I find myself trying to justify…..

Probably slightly leaning towards red hat on here but very much black hat in normal life.

8 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Mine have been aged naturally and were probably worked on by Leo himself.

 

All joking aside if anyone wants one, let me know and I’ll chuck it in the post.

It will be known as the burns bass bitsa epidemic. Much like when shops sprayed their fenders fiesta red back in the 60s.

Gigging in shorts. A great idea until you see how silly you look in the photos. Especially as a short ar$e

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Went to a friend's studio to train up a new trio drummer, and wondered for two hours why my TC Electronic Plethora Tone Print pedal was bypassing fine, but silent when switched on... I'd got the input and output cables plugged in back to front. Duh!

 

 

Did the exact same thing with a fuzz pedal!

26 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

You've got me wondering now... I'd say "Mr.Grey's" is marginally heavier, but there's not a lot in it. It has an Okoume body as opposed to the Flea's Alder. Apart from that, the only real difference is the roasted maple neck vs the slab rosewood neck.

Interesting. I thought jazz bass 1 sounded more open, like there were more frequencies in its range. I would wonder if the body woods had an impact but that would alert the tonewood police and I don’t want to go to BC jail in this heat.

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

You're absolutely right, @Silky999... I think the difference you can hear is the maple/rosewood fingerboards. 

 

Bass 1 is your build.

 

Bass 2 is the Flea Signature.

Out of interest which is lighter?

Couldn’t tell you which is which but I preferred 1

13 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

I seem to have an odd relationship with Sire. I had one of the original early model V7 ash bodied models in trans white, followed by a couple of second generation V7/P7/V7 Vintage models and finally a V10 which was a cracking bass. But I ended up selling them all on.

 

Seems I prefer a Pure Vintage pickup equipped passive real Fender Jazz. (I have two, both with the Pure Vintage 64s and nitro finishes.) I also have a recently acquired 2016 American Ultra Jazz which is utterly phenomenal.

 

I found with the Sire preamp that the sound was too deeply scooped (even for me!), and I had to boost the low mids in order to get to the sound I really liked.

 

I've really been fancying a Z3, but I've held off, having recently bought a '95 2eq Stingray with an Aguilar pickup. Maybe I'm just in a lucky position where I can own great examples of the real thing.

 

Let's hope Sire don't bring out a Status alternative. Then I'll be in real trouble.

 

Oh no, there's one coming out, isn't there? 🤔 

Don’t forget the Sire’s are supposed to be cheap basses. Hard to remember when they punch so high above their weight but you’d expect top range Fenders to be better. 

I use the mark bass energy. Not super bright but have a great sound and feel.

My memory of these is they pack a huge punch

15 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

It was a gentle comment on a forum, don’t worry, I’m not telling you what to do. In the wider world it’s all irrelevant really.
 

A lot of people fetishise these basses and then realise that the thought was somewhat different to the reality. That’s all I was pointing out. 
 

I guess with 19 basses if this really was the life changing holy grail you could sell them all, free up some cash and become a lone bass gunslinger!

 

Don’t think anyone is saying they’re holy grail. But they’re a flavour modern fenders don’t give or any repros.

27 minutes ago, Piers_Williamson said:

Please don't take this the wrong way, but IMHO he's completely overplaying a classic line (I'm quite happy with the tone, just about 4 times too many notes!)

 

 

He’s playing a Jamerson style line on a similar bass and the objective of the vid is to promote the bass. I thought it was tasteful but each to their own.

12 minutes ago, Misdee said:

What a lovely bass.

 

In the late 1960's black was a custom order colour option for Fenders, as was the matching headstock. The original bass that inspired this reissue would have been a spare-no-expense flagship example at the time.

It’s a shame so few examples exist!

Want!

I would love this bass for the sound alone.

On 08/08/2025 at 13:39, NancyJohnson said:

I've been using Ultimate and Hercules stands for a while.  My current squeeze is this one (GS402BB).  Assuming you have a regular shaped instrument, it works a treat:

The foam disintegrated on mine and I replaced it with the auto grab. Just something for prospective buyers to bare in mind

4 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

Or perhaps 'Fender Tax or another two personally-spec'd bass builds?'

 

I'm not a fan of brands in general, particularly slapped on what amount to little more than mix & match parts-box basses - as all Fender designs have become.

Branding isn’t free! I think most would agree Fender are the biggest contemporary instrument brand of the last century.

Of course it offers little to the end consumer other than a sort of guarantee of quality…

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

 

You could have highlighted the rest of my post.

I could have done. But the overall standardisation (QC) of the product’s manufacture is one factor that is relevant to the end price. There are also wages, machine v employee ratio, raw materials, shipping, tariffs, desirability/ market value and probably more.

All the end buyer sees is the end product, the made in/ crafted in sticker and reputation gained/ lost from reviews. You hear it all the time on BC, “japanese fenders are the best”. Any factors other than the location are made irrelevant due to the reputation earned.

1 hour ago, crazycloud said:

How is that really any different from them being made in Mexico (or Japan) for decades? From my understanding* the Indo factories are much more modern in equipment than at least the Mex one. By the same logic, why is my superb PRS SE guitar just a decal too?

 

* Phil McKnight is doing a tour of the huge Cort factory in the next couple of weeks, so we'll see that one first hand.

Doesn’t make a difference to the end product but does to a lot of customers. Some customers have built up trust with the Mexican product and therefore may feel more comfortable than buying an instrument from Asia. 

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

Where the bass is made is irrelevant.

Not to costs and price

43 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

 

They're both Indonesian

 

Oh fair enough. Is it just the cheaper Squier range made in China then? I would still buy the Squier, but surely it renders the Fender nothing more than a decal!

Depends if you prefer your bass to be by robots in Indonesia or China? You get more for your money with Squier but will suffer more on resale compared to Fender.

2 hours ago, nilorius said:

Too pricy for me, i think.

I did balk at the price but there aren’t many opportunities to get one so clean!

38 minutes ago, Rich said:

I've only just spotted this thread, and I bloody well wish I hadn't. GAS is back with a bang. That sunburst 5-string... ohhhhh lordy.
I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass I do not need another bass arrrrrgh 

 

 

If you read that quickly, the “do’s” become bigger and the “nots” disappear entirely