decent, cheap, widely avaliabe jazz bass clones?

[diogo]

crap..posted this on the keyboard forum by mistake..sorry..

hello everyone,

i need a bass and i need it fast

im lookin for jazz bass clones..preferbly widely avaliable as im in europe, and also decent, especially in terms of stock pickups...if i cant find anything im going with the squier copy, either the afinity (170 euros) or the standard (a little more expensive but worth it over the beatiful sunburst finish, not avaliable on the afinity series)..still, 240 euros or 170 is a lot at this point..im looking for something waay below that..

i just want something to give me the tone, as it will be used by DIying it so...but i need the jazz bass sound and its presence (not the real one, or else i would cough up 800 bucks), cause it will be used in lots of ambience music, shoegaze, that kind of stuff...so i need presense and sustain, in a word, i need a big sound..and vibe...a sunburst would be great..

tanx a lot in advance for any sugestions..

tanx!

[gvarko]

I have heard nothing but good things about these basses:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...333152675&rd=1

They are sold through Rondo Music hear in NJ and available on Ebay:

http://www.rondomusic.net/index.html

[babading]

Originally Posted by gvarko

I have heard nothing but good things about these basses:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...333152675&rd=1

They are sold through Rondo Music hear in NJ and available on Ebay:

http://www.rondomusic.net/index.html

These basses are simply AMAZING for the price. I just received one yesterday from Rondo music. It's a 75 style J with a 3 piece ash body (natural finish), maple neck/fretboard, rectangle (probably plastic of some sort) inlays on the fretboard.....all for $149 US, or $175 shipped!!! It sounds great and plays great right out of the box. Figured it would need a setup, but this one didn't. There are definitely some gaps in the neck pocket, one of the frets could be seated better in the neck, the finish on the back has some of those micro-dot thingies if you really look for them. But the bass is $175 shipped!! And it plays and sounds great. It kills the Mexi and Jap Fenders and of course the Squier. I bought it thinking I'd upgrade to a used Badass II bridge and maybe used pickups, but after playing it I think I'll just leave it. I will say the bass is VERY heavy. Don't know if it's just the J's or the ash body, but I think it would hurt after 2 or 3 sets. As a backup to my MM Sterling, it should be fine.

These basses are simply one of the best deals available in music IMO.

[diogo]

guys,

many many tanx for this...im def going with it, if i can find it in friggin europe..i dont think this store ships to portugal...im gonna look into the brand and see if i can find any distributor..

tanx a lot!

[gvarko]

Originally Posted by diogo

guys,

many many tanx for this...im def going with it, if i can find it in friggin europe..i dont think this store ships to portugal...im gonna look into the brand and see if i can find any distributor..

tanx a lot!

You might be suprised on where he will ship to...

[gvarko]

Originally Posted by diogo

guys,

many many tanx for this...im def going with it, if i can find it in friggin europe..i dont think this store ships to portugal...im gonna look into the brand and see if i can find any distributor..

tanx a lot!

For a small fee I would go to Rondo, buy the Bass of your choosing and ship it to Portugal for you... I live in NJ and run an Ebay business, so you can check my feedback.

[Halion]

Some tips which you absolutely HAVE to check out:
Get a solid bridge. The bridges on most cheap basses (or even stock fenders) are really, really thin and together with the non-angled headstock you're losing so much sustain it's just useless (to me!). Alot of people seem to like the BadAss bridges but they are not cheap (around the price of your entire bass probaby). Check out a Shaller or Gotoh bridge or something like that. Will set you back 20 to 40 bucks but trust me, they are worth it. Sustain has so much to do with the hardware I'd actually choose the bad bass with the good bridge over the decent bass with the bad bridge.

Tuners are also worth replacing, but not as much as the bridge. Next are the pickups ofcourse. I'd say, buy the bass you like based mostly on feel and ofcourse sound, but don't let initial sustain or tone play that big a role. A well upgraded bass can be a very nice instrument. If you get the bass you like the feel of, you can always upgrade in time. In the end, about 250 bucks worth of upgrades (bridge, pickups, nice strings, tuners and perhaps the nut) on a bass you already fancy will be well worth it.

[diogo]

Originally Posted by gvarko

For a small fee I would go to Rondo, buy the Bass of your choosing and ship it to Portugal for you... I live in NJ and run an Ebay business, so you can check my feedback.

Gvarko,

many many thanks ...thats really great of you! ill most def let you know if i have to go with one of their basses...many many thanks! i would owe you a big one! im still in the process of trying to get this in europe, i found a person in germany that carries them and has an ebay shop, but it doesnt seem to carry that particular model..

but anyway, many tanx! very nice thing to do, tanx!

[diogo]

Originally Posted by Halion

Some tips which you absolutely HAVE to check out:
Get a solid bridge. The bridges on most cheap basses (or even stock fenders) are really, really thin and together with the non-angled headstock you're losing so much sustain it's just useless (to me!). Alot of people seem to like the BadAss bridges but they are not cheap (around the price of your entire bass probaby). Check out a Shaller or Gotoh bridge or something like that. Will set you back 20 to 40 bucks but trust me, they are worth it. Sustain has so much to do with the hardware I'd actually choose the bad bass with the good bridge over the decent bass with the bad bridge.

Tuners are also worth replacing, but not as much as the bridge. Next are the pickups ofcourse. I'd say, buy the bass you like based mostly on feel and ofcourse sound, but don't let initial sustain or tone play that big a role. A well upgraded bass can be a very nice instrument. If you get the bass you like the feel of, you can always upgrade in time. In the end, about 250 bucks worth of upgrades (bridge, pickups, nice strings, tuners and perhaps the nut) on a bass you already fancy will be well worth it.

Halion man

tanx a lot for all the tips..its actually what im doing with a squier cyclone i just got..gonna start with the pickups....in that philosophy, i guess the most important thing is to get a good body right...i guess squiers have good bodies...im a sucker for the sunburst finish though, and the afinity series (cheaper ones) only have it in blue or black...

im looking for those SXs in europe..see if i can get lucky...do you have any sugestions of really cheap brands that might have good bodies to work on?

tanx a lot!

[Halion]

Can't help you there. I'm not all that impressed by the cheaper bodies. To be honest, I don't know a single bass under 300 that has even a halfway decent body. Stay away from anything made of Agathis though, that stuff is just grown, chopped up and dried in a week or something. You could try having a body shipped to you from musik produktiv, check this out:
http://www.musik-produktiv.de/shop2/shop03.asp/ob_id/1028/sid/!18121995

Do keep in mind that the bassguitar is my main instrument, so I may look at it from a different point of view.

[treymonfauntre]

wait, i don't understand what that silver thing is covering the strings? i don't play bass full time or anything so i don't know much about them.

[Halion]

Long answer:
It's how the very first bassguitars were. The iron piece has a foamy thing underneath it that dampens the strings somewhat, giving a more upright-like tone (the first bassguitars were build because upright basses didn't go loud enough). Nowadays, the model stays the same, but the foam isn't used much anymore (I'm not sure it's still in there at all actually).

Short answer:
Just for looks.

[sub006]

I played a USA Fender in the 60's that would be worth $5000+ today if it hadn't gotten ripped off about 1970.

I'm currently playing a Squier P-Bass Special (with the agathis body). It comes with a Jazz neck plus Precision AND Jazz pickups for lots of versatility. It's 90% of my old bass for around $250 new. They also make straight Jazz replicas.

Or try some used stuff. But most sellers think anything over five years old is solid gold...