November 28, 2019
I've wanted a Jazz style bass for quite a while. Since I'm not a great player (mediocre would be an apt description of my abilities) and bass is not a primary instrument, I did not want to buy anything expensive for my first bass. So, when I saw this at such a price, I could not pass it up this time. I had seen many inexpensive bass guitars with a P/J pickup configuration (split coil neck, single coil bridge, ala Precision bass and Jazz bass respectively) , but I wanted a straight Jazz pickup se ...
I've wanted a Jazz style bass for quite a while. Since I'm not a great player (mediocre would be an apt description of my abilities) and bass is not a primary instrument, I did not want to buy anything expensive for my first bass. So, when I saw this at such a price, I could not pass it up this time. I had seen many inexpensive bass guitars with a P/J pickup configuration (split coil neck, single coil bridge, ala Precision bass and Jazz bass respectively) , but I wanted a straight Jazz pickup set. I got it with this instrument.
I some ways I was disappointed, in others I was pleased.
The disappointment came in the neck shape and size, and, to a lesser degree, the electronics. First, this has a very big neck, very fat, very wide. I was looking for the narrow neck of a Jazz type bass, this is not it. That being said, it is well made, and quite solid. Even with the bigger neck, I have little problem banging out notes on this up and down. Second, this is expected at the price, the pickups are quite micro phonic and a little noisy with some overdrive. The main reason for this is they are not wax potted which is quite reasonable for a bass in this price range. A simple pickup upgrade would fix this.
The good. It has the Jazz bass growl and mid range punch I was looking for out of a bass, and with a single coil, Jazz style, middle (or neck, depends on how you say it and what you call it) it does not have the smooth boomy sound of a P-style bass pickup, much tighter and more mid range sound. The setup is good enough to play, but it could be better, again, this is to be expected on such a low priced instrument, room for improvement. The fit and finish are very good, no issues that I have found as of yet. I love the natural, unpainted, look of the body, reminiscent of the F-type Jazz basses from the '70s. I am an experienced tech with as soldering iron and have replaced many, many pickups in my guitars over the years, haven't opened it up yet. Overall, this is good stuff.
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