A little game - Can you tell which Jazz bass is which?

[HeadlessBassist]

Sweltering afternoon, SSG's!

 

I've just got @Silky999's Nitro Jazz Bass back from my Tech, who's very kindly replaced the Wilkinson pickups with a set of Fender Pure Vintage 66s (from the current American Vintage II), as well as an upgrade to the tone capacitor from 0.022uF to a more standard genuine Fender 0.050uF.

 

So here's the challenge - I've made two recordings on the same iPhone, playing the same piece with two Jazz basses (hopefully with some consistency!) Both into the same rig, with the same string set (Elixir 40-95).

 

The contenders are;

 

Fender Road Worn Flea '61 Jazz Bass (with standard OEM Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickups.)

Our very own @Silky999's "Mr.Grey's" Daphne Blue Nitro Jazz Bass (with Fender Pure Vintage 66 pickups.)

 

Can you tell which is which..?

 

Jazz Bass 1

 

 

Jazz Bass 2

 

 

 

[Reggaebass]

Love these games , I’ll say jb2 is the flea with both pickups on full 

[HeadlessBassist]

It's a tough one, isn't it? They really do sound very similar, even though one was built by FMIC and the other was constructed from imported bits in a bloke's living room & painted in his garden.  

[Mrbigstuff]

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

[Lozz196]

Difficult but I’ll go 2 for Flea

[Silky999]

I think my build is JB1 only because it is more “zingy” and I seem to remember headless wanted to change some stuff to make mine more. towards the higher frequencies but then I am absolutely clutching at straws between the two. I hope so because I prefer the sound of the first one as I prefer the less muddy sound. 
 

Either way for a change of capacitor and some different pickups on the price of the original bass it is a fraction of the cost of the Fender

Edited yesterday at 16:40 by Silky999

[HeadlessBassist]

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.

Edited yesterday at 19:33 by HeadlessBassist

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

Sweltering afternoon, SSG's!

 

I've just got @Silky999's Nitro Jazz Bass back from my Tech, who's very kindly replaced the Wilkinson pickups with a set of Fender Pure Vintage 66s (from the current American Vintage II), as well as an upgrade to the tone capacitor from 0.022uF to a more standard genuine Fender 0.050uF.

 

So here's the challenge - I've made two recordings on the same iPhone, playing the same piece with two Jazz basses (hopefully with some consistency!) Both into the same rig, with the same string set (Elixir 40-95).

 

The contenders are;

 

Fender Road Worn Flea '61 Jazz Bass (with standard OEM Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickups.)

Our very own @Silky999's "Mr.Grey's" Daphne Blue Nitro Jazz Bass (with Fender Pure Vintage 66 pickups.)

 

Can you tell which is which..?

 

Jazz Bass 1

 

 

Jazz Bass 2

 

 

 

 

Is no. 2 the Flea?

 

It sounds darker.

[Stub Mandrel]

Ooh! I got it right 😲

 

Just as well as a Flea Bass owner, I prefer the less 'lively' sound for my purposes.

 

[Mrbigstuff]

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?

[HeadlessBassist]

12 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Out of interest which is lighter?

 

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.

 

Given a moment tomorrow, I might record the same passage on the 2019 American Original and see how that comes out in comparison.

Edited yesterday at 20:47 by HeadlessBassist

[Mrbigstuff]

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.

[HeadlessBassist]

1 minute ago, Mrbigstuff said:

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.

 

Sod the tone wood police, LOL! I can say from experience that the woods, or at least the density of them does make a difference. Rob Green told me long ago that yes, most of the sound is from the pickups/strings/the percussive hardness of the fingerboard, but you can definitely colour the tone with a walnut tone block, etc. I've always noticed a difference when I've played a nitro bass. They definitely have their own voicings. 

[Silky999]

9 hours 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.

 

Given a moment tomorrow, I might record the same passage on the 2019 American Original and see how that comes out in comparison.

it was 9.4lbs when i weighed for the advert. Also the bass has that little something extra in it……..my love, blood, sweat and tears lol

Edited 15 hours ago by Silky999

[HeadlessBassist]

As an added comparison, here's the 2018 American Original Jazz playing the same passage from 'Dean Town'...

 

2018 American Original Jazz w/Fender PV64's

 

 

RW Flea Signature Jazz w/Fender PV64's

 

 

Mr.Grey Nitro Daphne Blue Jazz w/Fender PV66's

 

 

 

 

[Silky999]

In my humble opinion, you could save yourself at least £1200 on a Fender and have one of mine lol

[HeadlessBassist]

1 minute ago, Silky999 said:

In my humble opinion, you could save yourself at least £1200 on a Fender and have one of mine lol

 

I'm inclined to second that. 🤔

[Stub Mandrel]

The two Fenders sound indistinguishable on my phone.

[Stub Mandrel]

 

8 hours ago, Silky999 said:

In my humble opinion, you could save yourself at least £1200 on a Fender and have one of mine lol

 

Out of curiosity what would yours cost at current prices? I'm assuming a tad more than £229 😁

[Silky999]

A nitro finished Fender would be an American made version (I believe) coming in £1500-2000 new. 

 

 

For me to do one the same as headless’s:

 

okoume body

nitro paint and clear coat 

Chinese roast maple neck

fender vintage pickups

gotoh bridge

guyker tuners

bloodstone guitars works electronics with fender capacitor 

 

you’d be looking about  £400-500. I’m just starting out so not charging serious money as it doesn’t seem right until I get a bit of a trusted reputation. I’m doing my initial ones at cost or a close to it as possible with hardly anything for my time. 
 

if you wanted more affordable pickups( headless changed his himself for the fender), bridge, tuners etc I could get it in cheaper. 
 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Silky999

[Stub Mandrel]

Useful to know, thanks.