NBD: MIJ Fender Jazz 75, 70s spacing... but what about those EMGs?

[mcnach]

Hello, my name is mcnach and I am a bassholic.
I've been without a bass purchase for all of 6 days.

But this time it's a little more special.

When it comes to looks, I am a big fan of natural bodies (ash, in particular), and maple fingerboards.
When it comes to Jazz basses, I quite like them pickguard-less.

A couple of years ago I bought a CIJ Fender Jazz 75RI in this forum. It has white binding and white pearloid blocks as markers, which I vastly prefer over black... and I wish there were no binding at all, but there you go. It was a very nice bass. It had Nordstrands on and it sounded immense. The grain was not as pretty as in other examples I have seen, so I actually prefer this one with a pickguard on, but it was a great bass. Then the neck pickup died. I got a replacement, and I have a J-Retro for it, mounted on a black plate... but I have not even installed it yet. Busy life, laziness, and having other Jazz basses in working condition just meant I've been putting it off.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a more recent (2009, by the looks of the paperwork) 75RI style bass, MIJ... This one with black binding and blocks (pity), but I don't let that affect me too much... the bass looked beautiful in every way, and it had the 70s pickup spacing that I remember liking quite a bit when I tried one before. The other bass, CIJ, had a standard 60s spacing. And it was reasonably local.

So I thought about it, slept on it, thought about it some more, contacted the seller... and last Monday, bank holiday, I went to meet him and the bass at his band's rehearsal place.

He also had a Barefaced BB2 cab, so I brought mine along and we tried both together. Here's the beast with the seller ('Me And My Bass'). Or should it be the other way around?




and this is yours truly with a pose that I don't really know where it came from...







And below are a few more pics of the bass, compared to the older one:












The bass was initially strung with flats (Black Diamond, I believe?) and they were nice, but I like the zing of rounds, so I put some Ernie Ball ones, Nickel 45-65-80-100.

The bass is just lovely to play, but I'm not sure about the EMGs. I want to wait until the strings have a bit more "funk" in them before deciding what to do. It sounds very "clean" and clear. Almost too much, and I know it's not all down to the new strings. It's hard to explain... However, they do sound good live. The bridge pickup alone sounds huge, I just roll down the tone a tiny bit, and it's a lovely fat funk tone. The neck pickup sounds really good too, and very even across strings. With Jazz neck pickups I often find them a bit wild, but this one is very "civilised". However, it lacks the Jazz character and I am missing that. Hmmm... not sure, we will see. I also enjoy how quiet they are... Hmmm. I played my first gig with the bass on Friday and it's a venue where I usually get a bit of hum, but none at all this time.

I'll give it a couple of weeks for the strings to lose the extra zing and then maybe start experimenting with other pickups. I have a few sets of Jazz pickups in my drawer, US Fender, DiMarzio Model J, the Nordstrands from the other Fender Jazz... I like a traditional look on these basses, so probably the Fender or Nordstrands will be the ones. The Nordstrands are humbuckers too. They did not exactly sound like a traditional Jazz, but they kept a lot of the vibe while sounding bigger and fatter in a way I really like.

Ah, what a crap review this is...
Yeah, I still don't know what this bass is really like!
It plays really nice, and looks great, so I think it's just a matter of getting the right pickups in.

The 70s vs 60s spacing... well, it is hard to say. I remember noticing a difference that I really liked, years ago. Now, not sure. But the EMG is such a different pickup, that I am not sure I can compare them to the other Jazz basses I own. With both pickups on, the characteristic nasal tone is there, but not the way I remember it (with standard single coil passive pickups)... I also remember finding the bridge pickup soloed a bit thin for my taste, which this one isn't... but that's probably down to the EMGs. The Nordstrands (NJ4SE) are pretty hefty sounding, while sounding "Jazzy", so they may be a good choice. Or maybe even the Model Js, if I find chrome colour polepieces, that's very "70s"... Also, I intended to keep this bass passive... but I have a J-Retro with "Jazz-looking" knobs on a lovely Korean Squier, and I may just cannibalise it.
Ah, so many choices!!!
Not going to be a boring summer, this one

[discreet]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1399805369' post='2447772']
Not going to be a boring summer, this one
[/quote]

No it certainly isn't! I too have been infected with the Jazz madness after years of not getting on with them.
Is it something in the air, d'you think? Pollution, maybe..?

Edit: Very nice bass, by the way!!

Edited May 12, 2014 by discreet

[madshadows]

Lovely looking bass, well done on the purchase

John

[EMG456]

Nice bass.

Personally (what else?!) I like EMGs on a Jazz. Actually, I like EMGs on most anything -they're excellent pickiups - articulate, clear, full range and noise free. I once had one of the early AVRI Jazzes from the Fullerton era and I only managed two gigs with it before the electronics were replaced by an EMG setup. It was the noise and buzzing which got to me. I suspect that if you're used to it, it's less of an issue but it still bugs me.

So I vote for keeping the EMGs.

That means you could sell me your DiMarzios for my Aria rescue project here - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/234069-1977-aria-rescue/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/234069-1977-aria-rescue/[/url]

Enjoy the new bass!

Cheers

Ed

[hubrad]

Mmmm.. looovely ash!

[Prime_BASS]

Very nice mate. I've opted for ash body and maple board on my ACG J Type.

Chuck the dimarzio model Js in, best jazz pickups around they are, if a cheap enough jazz cane up with a set already in and snap it up right now.

I always notice a difference in the spacing too, I prefer the 60s spacing myself, and again went for a similar spacing on my build.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Prime_BASS

[uncle psychosis]

Nice work.

How many jazzes is that now??

[mcnach]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1400000948' post='2449793']
Nice work.

How many jazzes is that now??
[/quote]

Sssssh!

[mcnach]

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1399980460' post='2449512']
Nice bass.

Personally (what else?!) I like EMGs on a Jazz. Actually, I like EMGs on most anything -they're excellent pickiups - articulate, clear, full range and noise free. I once had one of the early AVRI Jazzes from the Fullerton era and I only managed two gigs with it before the electronics were replaced by an EMG setup. It was the noise and buzzing which got to me. I suspect that if you're used to it, it's less of an issue but it still bugs me.

So I vote for keeping the EMGs.

That means you could sell me your DiMarzios for my Aria rescue project here - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/234069-1977-aria-rescue/"]http://basschat.co.u...77-aria-rescue/[/url]

Enjoy the new bass!

Cheers

Ed
[/quote]


Well, the EMGs may be growing on me! I had a rehearsal tonight and it was pretty loose, lots of time to mess about, and mess about I did. As the initial zing of the strings starts to fade, the resulting sound is much more to my liking. Not as Jazzy, but... it's a good sound. And I love how silent they are... Hmmm. Will I convert in the end?

[tom1946]

So, did you buy it then?

I have a very nice Jazz in natural, maple...........



nah not really.

[Conan]

If you decide you don't like the EMGs after all, I'll buy them from you!

My old Geddy Lee had EMGs in it and I loved its tone. My new(er) one has the original Fender US vintages in and I'm not so keen on the sound...

Fickle buggers ain't we?

[EMG456]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1400053838' post='2450157']
If you decide you don't like the EMGs after all, I'll buy them from you!

My old Geddy Lee had EMGs in it and I loved its tone. My new(er) one has the original Fender US vintages in and I'm not so keen on the sound...

Fickle buggers ain't we?
[/quote]

I think there's an EMG J set in the for sale section just now.

[EMG456]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1400020163' post='2450049']



Well, the EMGs may be growing on me! I had a rehearsal tonight and it was pretty loose, lots of time to mess about, and mess about I did. As the initial zing of the strings starts to fade, the resulting sound is much more to my liking. Not as Jazzy, but... it's a good sound. And I love how silent they are... Hmmm. Will I convert in the end?
[/quote]

Yep- that's you now- slippery slope!

[mcnach]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1400053838' post='2450157']
If you decide you don't like the EMGs after all, I'll buy them from you!

My old Geddy Lee had EMGs in it and I loved its tone. My new(er) one has the original Fender US vintages in and I'm not so keen on the sound...

Fickle buggers ain't we?
[/quote]


I'll keep that in mind. But yesterday was a revelation. Once I got over the "hmm, it does not sound like a typical Jazz" and let myself enjoy the "this sounds pretty good regardless", I started to really like it. Like I said, I need to wait until the strings are "tamed", I hate the initial extra brightness, once they settle, we will see.
It's not like I don't have other Jazz basses for a "traditional" sound

[mcnach]

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1400044478' post='2450102'] So, did you buy it then? I have a very nice Jazz in natural, maple........... nah not really. [/quote]

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1400015706' post='2449990']
Sssssh!


[/quote]



If we manage to arrange going for a beer sometime I should bring my wife, you make me look great

[mcnach]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1400059940' post='2450241']


If we manage to arrange going for a beer sometime I should bring my wife, you make me look great
[/quote]

It's my mediterranean good looks. You sure you want to do that?

[krispn]

Are you a little bit tempted to swap the necks over ?

I got bitten by the jazz bug after thinking I needed a P bass and selling a delicious DJ4 Lakland. I put the Model J's into the next jazz I got and loved the sound. I'm currently on a P/J with Fralin's for the 'best of both' but wouldn't mind another Jazz for balance All natural with maple and white blocks would have to be the one - a Lakland ACDJ4 would be the ticket

Edited May 14, 2014 by krispn

[Conan]

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1400061087' post='2450258']
wouldn't mind another Jazz for balance All natural with maple and white blocks would have to be the one [/quote]

Have a try of a CIJ Marcus Miller. Brilliant basses with awesome necks. Not sure about the preamps, but presumably it would be easy to replace them with passive circuitry.... Well worth a look!

[Conan]

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1400056629' post='2450190']
I think there's an EMG J set in the for sale section just now.
[/quote]

Hmmmmm..... <heads over to the for sale section...>

Edit - a bit pricey for me at the moment...

Edited May 14, 2014 by Conan

[brensabre79]

I love EMGs personally. On their own they are far too hi-fi, but in a gig situation the entire band noticed the difference. The lead guitarist has a great ear and remarked that there was so much air in the sound that, even cranked up loud (the way i like it on stage), I wasn't 'getting in anyone's way' sonically speaking.

That said, on my 70s Jazz I have Wizards in - but whilst I love the sound, whenever I use that bass we seem to get into a volume war. When I use my bitsa with the gold EMG pickups in (P/J) there's never an issue.

+1 for swapping the necks on those two, I can't stand the black binding either. I notice they just started making the Geddy Lee with pearl blocks and white binding... what a shame it's waaaay out of my price range.

[mcnach]

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1400061087' post='2450258']
Are you a little bit tempted to swap the necks over ?

I got bitten by the jazz bug after thinking I needed a P bass and selling a delicious DJ4 Lakland. I put the Model J's into the next jazz I got and loved the sound. I'm currently on a P/J with Fralin's for the 'best of both' but wouldn't mind another Jazz for balance All natural with maple and white blocks would have to be the one - a Lakland ACDJ4 would be the ticket
[/quote]


The thought crossed my mind...

[apa]

Thats a real beauty

Love it. Now what you need on that my son is a nice dark wood veneer scratch plate

A Jazz - you know it makes sense

A

[mcnach]

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1400184025' post='2451658']
Thats a real beauty

Love it. Now what you need on that my son is a nice dark wood veneer scratch plate

A Jazz - you know it makes sense

A
[/quote]


if I follow your advice I'd end up with a gold-plated bling-master Jazz... erm, no, thanks! I'm not man enough to pull that one off

[apa]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1400233539' post='2452043']
if I follow your advice I'd end up with a gold-plated bling-master Jazz... erm, no, thanks! I'm not man enough to pull that one off
[/quote]

Nice merkin btw

A