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Jazz bass, just jazz bass!!!


margusalviste
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I just got two old jazz basses, one collected from mixed original vintage parts from 60s (including 62 neck and hardware) and the other - all original 78. I have owned a bunch of high end basses, not that I was about to collect them but I was always looking for the best possible sound and playability. My house was home for Foderas, Alembics, Sadowskys, MTDs, Pedullas, Nordstrands, Benaventes, Status etc. I even got a bunch of old Fenders (63 and 78P, 2x69, 78, 80s J) which I sold for different reasons. But now when I still have some 10+ basses I realized that there is no better instrument than an old jazz bass! Just changed the strings, made a nice setup for both of them and after playing against all my existing high end stuff I realized that I really don't need any other instrument than those two old jazz basses. What a situation?! After all these sleepless nights GASing for the ultimate bass, paying thousands of Euros for those noble instruments and all those envious faces around me - I just need these two old jazz basses?! Wow, what a great job you have done Leo!

What about you?

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I'm the same with my Musicmans. There's still some more basses I want to try, but I don't ever see me getting rid of my 'ray and I really do like the bongo (it needs a proper setup though so I'm not quite so in love with it at the moment).

I had a Sandberg JJ5 and it was lovely, I could've lived with that if I hadn't had severe GAS.

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Yeah, what an amazing instrument it is! The old ones have something special which is even difficult to describe - like a 3 dimensional nuance. And although some folks try to fool people with blind tests and make us believe that wood doesn't make any difference and that a piece of furniture sported with strings and pickups make the same sound as an expensive vintage instrument - there is more than just a sound. It's the feel that counts. It's totally different to hold a nicely worn in vintage bass in your hands or a new production bass.

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I feel the same about my '62 P Bass - I play other basses live now as I would be devastated if anything happened to it, and even had other old P Basses that just didn't compare. My '79 Stingray is a great bass as well, and really light in comparison to other 'Rays I've played. I also love my Warwick Thumb which seems to have that something that other Thumbs I've tried doesn't have.

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I`m the same with Precisions. Tried active basses, passives, all different brands, wanting (I thought) a mulitude of sounds and all sorts of tweakability, and finally realised that the Precision is the bass for me. I do like a deep chunky neck though, and my `77 is just right. It really does feel like a baseball bat cut in half.

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Very similar to the OP but on a somewhat down market level. Been through the acoustics, rays and precisions and have come to the conclusion that a Jazz is my thang. From the growl for rock to the burp for funk to the smooth for jazz. Not got or want an old real one but hey Im happy. :)

A

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I love my MIM Jazz. Ok, so it's not a vintage instrument but it still has that jazz essence - simple layout, passive, honk n fonk. Mr. Fender certainly got it right with that design. (Having said that I really fancy a precision at the moment - GAS is a terrible thing) :P

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[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1327840984' post='1517436']
I`m the same with Precisions. Tried active basses, passives, all different brands, wanting (I thought) a mulitude of sounds and all sorts of tweakability, and finally realised that the Precision is the bass for me. I do like a deep chunky neck though, and my `77 is just right. It really does feel like a baseball bat cut in half.
[/quote]

+1. Tried everything, but this is what works for me.

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I have had 3 jazz basses still have two well one is a jazz special from 83 and that's the only one I have ever gigged. Just don't cut the mustard For me yet I still buy them thinking the next will the one !

A few years back I went over to Denmark st with a pocket full of cash and played every old bass I could find. A 71 p bass was he only one I nearly bought. I do dig the whole old bass feel thing but I just haven't found one yet.
All my basses are in pretty good shape even the 83 jazz and my 93 ray spouse I just like the feel of a new bass.

I do like that whole relic thing ( I know it's not seen as a good thing) but all the old worn basses I have played have felt like they got slung out of a speeding car while the relic ones just like they have but play like a new bass.



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Never got the Jazz thing...owned a few, but they never seem to sound right in my hands for some reason.

It's gotta be a Ric for me - as much as I've tried to escape over the years, I just can't, and I suppose it's really 'my' bass.

+1 on the Precision - if I'm not holding the above, it's P-bass all the way. I've come to the conclusion that nothing works better in the mix of any band or style that the ol' P. :)

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I'm very much the same. Anti-Fender folk complain that people like us are stuck in the dark ages, and that's fine, but for me the dark ages are where it's at. I've played MTD's, F-Basses, Sadowskys, Dingwalls, Seis, Overwaters, etc. etc. but I've never found anything that matches a good Jazz bass, with the exception of Sadowsky stuff.

[indent=1]The one thing that gets me with Fender though unfortunately is the lack of consistency with their instruments. There are good ones, and there are terrible ones, and it has led me to look to Lakland and Sadowsky for the suitable alternatives to such a mish-mash of quality control. [/indent]

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[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1328140399' post='1522695']
I'm very much the same. Anti-Fender folk complain that people like us are stuck in the dark ages, and that's fine, but for me the dark ages are where it's at. I've played MTD's, F-Basses, Sadowskys, Dingwalls, Seis, Overwaters, etc. etc. but I've never found anything that matches a good Jazz bass, with the exception of Sadowsky stuff.

[indent=1]The one thing that gets me with Fender though unfortunately is the lack of consistency with their instruments. There are good ones, and there are terrible ones, and it has led me to look to Lakland and Sadowsky for the suitable alternatives to such a mish-mash of quality control.[/indent]
[/quote]


+1

I have always thought that those boutique instruments are far better than Fenders. And some of them are better than those poor quality Fenders indeed. But my recent experience tells that the best sounding and playing basses are these two old Fenders I got. Better than any of my Sadowskys, better than my former Norstrand Nordy, Celinder or Fodera NYC. So no GASing any more. :)

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[quote name='margusalviste' timestamp='1327834044' post='1517275'] ....I just need these two old jazz basses?! Wow, what a great job you have done Leo! What about you? [/quote] Got a clutch of Jazz Basses meself, margus', and like you I have two in particular that are my "go to" basses; an all-Fender 'bitsa' from various years, fashioned after early sixties types..., and an all original '69.

I've owned and loads of different types both active and passive but I returned to these two everytime, gigged with a few basic pedals, a Sans Amp Bass Driver.... and straight thro' the P.A. - if that's an available option. If I can get away [i]sans amp[/i] (no pun intended) then I will!

Cheers.

.

Edited by mckendrick
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[quote name='margusalviste' timestamp='1327834044' post='1517275']
I just got two old jazz basses, one collected from mixed original vintage parts from 60s (including 62 neck and hardware) and the other - all original 78. I have owned a bunch of high end basses, not that I was about to collect them but I was always looking for the best possible sound and playability. My house was home for Foderas, Alembics, Sadowskys, MTDs, Pedullas, Nordstrands, Benaventes, Status etc. I even got a bunch of old Fenders (63 and 78P, 2x69, 78, 80s J) which I sold for different reasons. But now when I still have some 10+ basses I realized that there is no better instrument than an old jazz bass! Just changed the strings, made a nice setup for both of them and after playing against all my existing high end stuff I realized that I really don't need any other instrument than those two old jazz basses. What a situation?! After all these sleepless nights GASing for the ultimate bass, paying thousands of Euros for those noble instruments and all those envious faces around me - I just need these two old jazz basses?! Wow, what a great job you have done Leo!

What about you?
[/quote]Yup. If it's not Fender, there's no need.

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