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new Fender Jazz or mod my old squier


gunkbass
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I am thinking of getting one of the Mexican Standard Jazz Basses, biut there a bit of me that thinks it might be more cost effective to put SD qp's on my old Squier jazz, put in new tone circuits and fit a badass bridge. The squier is a cheap Korean late 80's early 90's thing but I love it and the neck feels like coming home. Irrational but true.

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I think the price of a Mex Standard is hard to justify when the quality of the CV Jazz is so good out the box. And the new Modern player satin Jazz, mmmmmm.

The upgrade to your Squier sounds like a decent bit of cash if you are buying the parts new. Having said that, if you love the Squier, I would go for it. Anything that makes you happier playing the bass.

Edited by jezzaboy
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Those Korean Squiers are great instruments. Only you can answer this really but a done up vintage Squier would always beat a new MIM Fender in any game of Top Trumps as far as I'm concerned. Ultimately it comes down to whether not having the Fender logo on the headstock bothers you or not. Don't get me wrong there are some really nice MIMs out there but reading your post it sounds like your bass has a lot of really positive plus points for you

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I've had a similar issue myself, I wanted to keep my squire P and just mod it but the price of modding it is like a new P bass, so I've started saving for a new P bass because I had no real attachment to my squire.

You sound like you love most things about your Korean Jazz so why not price things up and see what that comes to, if it's similar to a new Jazz, go try one if it feels and sounds great then go for the new one if not you have your answer.

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You have no idea whether fitting any of those parts will improve your existing bass until you buy them and put them on. They will probably make a difference to the sound, but only you can say if it's better or not.

On the other hand, if you go and try some new basses (you weren't thinking of buying untried on-line were you?) you might be able to find one that you like more than than the one you have at the moment, or maybe realise that you like your resent bass more.

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Adding those parts hopefully for the better will not add much value to the bass so I'd get an extra bass.
If you shop wisely and get a good one...you will still get money back if you have to sell... plus you still have a bass

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Guys, so many good replys and so quick. thanks to you all.

I just wanted a bit more growl and bite to my sound and thought new pups would warrant new controls. Also the bridge string height adjuster screws are knackerd as a " mate" tried to adjust them with a screwdriver (a lesson learnt. Never trust a mate with your loved ones).

The squier was my goto bass throughout my grunge and grebo days in the 90's and its the one im playing in my profile pic (i'm the middle figure) I have considerable attachment to the thing which is inversely proportional to its actual value. You know I may have come to a conclussion here. Heart over head every time, after all i,m a musician and thats a subjective art.

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By all means cautiously mod the Squier, but you might not find the new pups and circuitry to your taste, so have a revert option, just in case. I would strongly recommend trying out as many J's as you can in a local store to give you a feel for the (wide) variety of necks/sounds/action. There's a lot of people here still buying and selling basses through the For Sale and are still searching for that special J but never seem to find it- but you seem to have found it...

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I bought a set of mex pickups for £9.99 on ebay. They weren't very good. My recommendation is to buy a set of super duper pickups (maybe Lindy Fralins) and upgrade the electrics via kiOgon's solderless CTS pots wiring loom, here on basschat. You'll still not have paid as much as you would have for a Mex standard.

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Long time ago I have put seymour duncan quarter pounders, bad ass II and a varitone circuit in my squier jazz bass.

I must say that the bridge made most noticeable difference. My jazz was made in Indonesia I think and the hardware was crap to the extent that magnet didnt stick to the bridge, the alloys used there were of questionable quality.

After the change the tone got punchier but still I would change nut and keys so the sound and vibrations would seamlessly go through body creating the final tone.... anyway I got stingray since then.

M

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If it were mine I would mod the existing bass. It is possible to buy stuff on here secondhand cheaply enough and you will end up with a bass that not only feels right and comfy but, after a bit of trial and error, will be exactly what you want. Stuff that doesn't do what you want, and/or when and if the times comes for moving the bass on, just return it to stock and sell all the bits at negligible loss. The huge bonus is that you will have all that modding experience in the bank and probably even bond with the instrument a little more, having rummaged about in its insides.

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I wouldn't knock those post 2009 Mexican Fenders, there appears to have been a [i]big[/i] step change in quality and possibly more importantly, their consistancy...I miss mine a lot. No matter what, to me, a bass with Fender written on the pointy end seems to feel...well, better, I'm shallow and easily impressed though.

...as to the OP's question I'd prefer to buy another bass, a little like tuning (spending money!) your car, overall it's simply easier and better long term to get a faster/better car in the 1st place....those upgrade costs are hard top claw back...but modding a bass you know and love can be good fun...or painful... depending on how sucessful you are, or:-

"The answer to these questions is always the same.......



BOTH!"

Yup!

Edited by iconic
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[quote name='MisterFingers' timestamp='1375271201' post='2159024']
By all means cautiously mod the Squier, but you might not find the new pups and circuitry to your taste, so have a revert option, just in case. I would strongly recommend trying out as many J's as you can in a local store to give you a feel for the (wide) variety of necks/sounds/action. There's a lot of people here still buying and selling basses through the For Sale and are still searching for that special J but never seem to find it- but you seem to have found it...
[/quote]
I have found mine! A 1983 USA Standard Jazz. I love it to bits, it's a total beast! The only mod I was thinking of was a John East J-Retro (I've had three before), but I love it as it is, except Bass Doc is making me a gold pickguard for it :)

The best thing is to get the right strings for starters, I use Cleartone EMPs, they bite and growl and punch like a sex-starved Rottweiler.

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If you are overall happy with the bass but just want a bit extra punch I would buy a Sans amp or the cheaper Behringer BD121 and just fix/replace the bass bridge, I've been using the BD121 with my passive basses and it's been great and it's cheap! then if you still feel you need to buy a MIM go for it the bass driver is always a useful thing to have in the old gig bag anyway.

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