Luke73 Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 OK...so it's February 16th and I've broken my New Year's resolution not to buy any more gear. There's always next year...right? ...anyway, I went out shopping today - I've been getting some pretty serious Jazz GAS, and just had to do something about it. So - after visiting 5 stores, I finally ended up at the Bass Centre in Melbourne. Keep in mind that I'm on a pretty serious budget, 'cause this really is just a "spur of the moment" purchase, and not really something I actually need. So, I end up doing a big comparo between American Jazzes, and checking out the Mexi Jazzes and the Crafted in Japan Jazzes, and Squiers... The American Jazzes I saw were all pretty sweet (and expensive)...except that the Highway one didn't excite me much. It just seems like a Mexi Jazz assembled in the US to justify a higher price tag. The Mexi Jazzes didn't excite me. In the five stores, I must have checked out six or seven of them. They were all different. Shocking consistency. One outstanding (bad) feature was a tendency for them to have really sloppy neck pockets and poorly seated necks. The CIJ Jazzes were sweet! I mean really sweet. Played a Geddy Lee and a couple of CIJ '75 re-issues. Of the two, prefer the '75. Checked out Squiers too just for fun (remember I'm on a budget here ). Of the six or seven affinity and standard Squier jazzes I checked out, a couple were a little rough, but a couple were fairly nice. Good contenders for a little hot rodding I also checked out the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz and Squier Vintage modified fretless Jazz. Both of the Squier Vintage Modified Jazzes were great. Really nice. Awesome consistency, and great build quality. I was surprised and a little shocked to see that the overall consistency was better on the Squiers than the Mexican Jazzes After all that, I narrowed it down to a CIJ Geddy Lee, a CIJ '75 Re-issue, and a Squier Vintage Modified Jazz (which is a very similar style to the '75). Between the three, don't get me wrong - the Geddy Lee and the '75 re-issue were both nicer than the Squier of course...but I kid you not - the VM Squier jazz held it's own nicely, and certainly didn't embarass itself! If I had $1500AUD burning a hole in my pocket, I would have definitely taken home the CIJ '75 Jazz (I nearly did, but the thought of defaulting on the mortgage and eating Baked Beans for a month got the better of me)...but alas, I have champagne taste on a beer budget, so I took the little Squier home. I've got to say, it's really nice. Soon I'll put my favourite DR Sunbeams on it, but after a nice setup it's playing just how I like it, and I don't see that I'll change it too much. Maybe if I'm feeling extravagant, I'll drop some new pups in at a later time, but for now the Duncan Designed JJ's are fine. Here are some pics: http://www.comcen.com.au/~eberbachl/pics/VMJazz1.jpg http://www.comcen.com.au/~eberbachl/pics/VMJazz2.jpg http://www.comcen.com.au/~eberbachl/pics/VMJazz3.jpg http://www.comcen.com.au/~eberbachl/pics/VMJazz4.jpg http://www.comcen.com.au/~eberbachl/pics/VMJazz5.jpg http://www.comcen.com.au/~eberbachl/pics/VMJazz6.jpg http://www.myspace.com/twoshortrocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke73 Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 OK...so I was feeling extravagant this morning, and now have some Fender USA Original Jazz pups on the way to pimp the little squier a bit... http://www.myspace.com/twoshortrocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 You animal !!!! That looks nice, and I'll be curious to see how much difference you see with the new PUPs. Enjoy Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky McDougall Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Nice report! Glad to see you shopped hard and seriously compared the field. Let us know about the new Pups sound. Congratulations, Rocky "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb, voting on what to eat for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb, contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whacked Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Nice fish! I second Tom, let us know what you think with the pup change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke73 Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 Cool The new pups will most likely be a week or two away (having them shipped here from the US). That's good because it'll give me a chance to play the Squier with the stock Duncan Designed pups with my band, and the Jazz group I've joined at TAFE (I think that's equivalent to what you guys call community college?). Once I swap them out I'll be able to make a more detailed comparison if I've lived with the Duncan Designed Pups for a few weeks. http://www.myspace.com/twoshortrocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke73 Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 Haven't made the pickup change yet, but took the new bass to the Jazz group tonight at school. Wow! Sounded great - roll off the tone a little, and slotted right in with a really nice warm jazz tone that remained tight and articulate. Even the teacher (who didn't notice it was a different bass from last week) said - "wow - you sound great tonight...have you been taking some swing pills?" LOL This is shaping up to be a great buy. Tomorrow night it gets to go out with my band at rehearsals and see how it fits there. In a week or two it will be very interesting to see how it sounds when the Original US Jazz pups go in to replace the Duncan Designed Jazz pups... So far - a big up to the lowly Squier Vintage Modified Jazz. http://www.myspace.com/twoshortrocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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