Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass
Reviewed by:
Bloodbuzz, on january 16, 2012 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: C$ 300
Purchased from: Long and Mcquade
Features: Made in Indonesia in 2011 (I think).
- 20 Medium Jumbo frets with White Pearloid Block Position Inlays
- Maple neck Rosewood fretboard
- Passive Duncan Designed pickups (neck split, bridge jazz)
- Stacked Volume/Tone controls
Nice pickups. The stacked controls can be annoying though. You might adjust the volume by accident when you're trying to adjust the tone or the other way around. The inlays are nice. The bridge and tuners are nothing remarkable. // 7
Sound: You can get a lot of sounds out of this. You can use just the split pickup or the jazz pickup or both to get a wide array of sounds and tones. I haven't played it with any effects, but it doesn't really need any. It sounds great compared to most of the other basses in this price range. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: The action was a little higher than I am used to, and I played with it low, so it's probably about average. There are a few flaws. The open A string rattles from the nut, as mentioned above the volume/tone controls can be finicky. A few little blemishes on the body, but they are not very noticeable. // 6
Reliability & Durability: I haven't gigged with it yet, but as far as I can tell, it's solid. The pickups could use some upgrading if you wanted to. Same with the bridge and the tuners, but the stock ones are fine. It should be able to last for a while (I hope). // 7
Impression: I play (almost) every type of music. It gets good sounds for Rock, Punk, Jazz, Funk... I haven't been playing for as long as most people on here, but I think this is a great bass. I had owned a Yamaha RBX170, and this blows it out of the water. If I lost or got this bass stolen, I would replace it (if I had the money to, that is). I played at least fifteen other basses at store and this one felt and played the best, in my opinion. In this price range, this and the other Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe basses are the way to go. // 7
Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass
Reviewed by:
\m/snoogans\m/, on september 24, 2010 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 259
Purchased from: Kennys music
Features: This bass was made in 2010 in Indonesia, it has a very comfortable agathis body, jazz style maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and 20 medium jumbo frets. Vintage style bridge and machine heads.
This bass doesn't have the bells and whistles of it's Fender brother which suits me fine. The pickups are a P/J hybrid and seem to be good compared to other Duncan Designed pick-ups I've heard.
The sound is controlled by Concentric volume and tone pots, the tone pots have ten indents which hold them quite firmly in position which is handy and saves from accidental knocks while changing volume. // 9
Sound: It suits my music style perfectly, I play punk and hard rock. I play this bass through a Marshall MB150. The split-p pick-up seems to have all of that P-Bass thump you would expect and the single coil tends to pick up a bit too much string noise and hiss when the tone control is at the brightest setting, so I roll is back to about 7.
For tone connoisseurs this bass may not have the tonal range you want, but really, what do you expect for a 250 quid bass. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: Straight out of the box this bass wasn't really playable. The neck was bowed forward a little too much, the action was too high and the intonation was quite a fair bit out. The concentric knobs were put on too close together on the neck controls and turning the tone control would catch the volume knob and turn it down. After a few adjustments I got it in perfectly playable condition. (If you're not comfortable with making adjustments to the truss rod take it to a tech, I can't stress this enough)
There were/are a few little problems with the finishing as there is some slight discolouration (not rust or oxidisation as far as I can tell) on a few of the higher frets. Under the lacquer on the back of the headstock it looks like there's a little fingerprint smudge, but that's not noticeable from more than a few inches away.
On a good note, the rout for the jazz pick-up is very clean, the finish on the body headstock and neck is consistent, the nut is perfectly cut, the bridge is perfectly aligned with the neck, the neck and frets are well finished and there is no sign of fret buzz.
I would advise to get a set up from the shop when buying. // 5
Reliability & Durability: This bass has been well played the last few days and it does seem like it will stand up to live playing. The hardware looks like it will do its job sufficiently, but I will most likely replace them with higher quality parts in future.
I will gig this without a backup since it's the only bass I have in standard tuning now, but it seems like it will be solid enough. I have only had this about a week so far so I can't really judge just now. // 8
Impression: My overall impressions of this bass is that for the price it's a cracker of an instrument once it has had a proper set up. I've been playing bass for almost 9 years now and have owned a large range of equipment and this is probably one of the best basses I have owned, it is better than my old Yamaha BB424 and cost £150 less.
For the price, this bass could have easily been a 10 had it arrived in its current playable state. If you can get this for around £250 with a full set-up I say go for it. // 8
Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass
Reviewed by:
danhardy, on june 04, 2012 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 185
Purchased from: soundslive.co.uk
Features: Model Name: Vintage Modified Jaguar® Bass Special
Made in: Indonesia
Color: Crimson Red
Body: Agathis
Body Shape: Jaguar, so it has a sleek offset-waist body
Body Finish: Polyurethane
Neck Shape: "C" Shape, ultra-slim
Number of Frets: 20
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Polyurethane
Pickup Configuration: S/S
Bridge Pickup: Single-Coil Jazz Bass Pickup, Standard 4-Saddle
Middle Pickup: Split Single-Coil Precision Bass pickup
Special Electronics: Active Bass Boost Circuit
Controls: Volume 1. (Precision Bass pickup), Volume 2. (Jazz Bass pickup), Boost, Master Tone
Tuners: Non-locking
No accessories included. // 8
Sound: Firstly I have a crappy 26W Watson amp which doesn't so the bass any justice, however I have tried it on several occasions with much better amps which showed off a lot more of its potential. I enjoy a rich deep sound, which I'm not sure it really can do. It has an active bass boost, which is great, but it can tend to saturate the amp very easily. It only does this on the lowest string (obviously) but this can sound pretty bad when the 3 highest strings are playing fine, you move onto the lowest string an the amp saturates. I don't tend to use the bass boost often for this reason, perhaps people with bigger and better amps could play around with it.
What it does do extremely well is for that funky/jazz sound. Turn the Precision volume down and the jazz pickup up, play with the tone enough and it sounds fantastic. Slapping and popping are thoroughly enjoyable on this bass. Overall I would say that it exceeds in the funky/jazz side (as mentioned) but unless you have an amp that can handle the lower bass boost then its not much better than other cheaper basses without the fancy electronics. // 7
Action, Fit & Finish: Now's a good time to mention that the reason its cheaper is because its an ex-display, so it's not like its fresh from the factory. Still from what I can tell it was assembled fine, however the strings don't wind well at the head. The neck is extremely smooth and feels great to handle.
Only real problems are at the back, the plastic covering for the battery and the panel to get to the jack socket have been poorly put on. The panel is too small for the hole cut and you can see white glue patches behind it, looks very ugly. It is also pretty scratched, I don't understand how they really could have gotten it that bad really. Apart from that there is no other real problems. // 7
Reliability & Durability: The guitar would withstand live playing (however as mentioned before about the amp saturation I'd be very careful when using it live!) I have no problem with the hardware, the electronics have all been fine for me too. Strap buttons are completely solid, haven't budged at all since I got the guitar.
Saying this I wouldn't use it without a backup (or spare batteries) as it has a habit of going through batteries quickly, the electronics are pretty power hungry. And when the battery starts to die the bass doesn't just stop working, it keeps trying (not good) as then it just flickers on and off making horrible buzzing sounds, this would be really bad happening on stage.
A battery would last a gig though so really this is easily overcome by just buying new batteries per gig. Finish is great, mine hasn't scratched at all. Only things are that the neck and strings get dirty quickly and the thing is like a dust magnet. // 8
Impression: I think this guitar would be better for someone who plays more funky/jazz music, but on the whole its a great bass. Been playing for a few years now, it doesn't have that rich sound that the real fenders do, but for the price reduction it really isn't that far off. My old bass was a bog standard Stagg, China import, this cost be about x3 more but the sound quality is incomparable, what I'm saying is that (perhaps not a first time bass) but for someone like myself who's been playing for a few years now and was looking a good step up, this is certainly a great value for money bass.
I did wish that I'd asked how well it would play on certain amps, and how much more did you get from this bass compared to their other product which I was considering buying, the standard Precision bass. I chose this as it was a big step up in price from the Precision bass, it had a much bigger range of sounds, which make this bass really fun to play with. I certainly don't regret buying this bass over the precision, if this bass was lost or stolen I would happily buy it again.
I love it look, its funky side and just its general ability to be a great bass to play with an experiment with different styles. I don't enjoy how the bass boost only seems to boost the bottom string and as said before saturate it. My favorite part has to be the electronics, I haven't got a fancy amp or pedal, yet so far it has been able to produce all the different sounds I need. I would really like a 3-position blade. Overall if I were professional I probably wouldn't get this bass, however I would definitely recommend it to (serious) players who need something to play with an broaden their styles. // 8
Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on april 02, 2012 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: C$ 300
Purchased from: Long and McQuade
Features: - Made in Indonesia in 2011.
- 34" scale, 20 medium jumbo frets, white pearloid rectangular inlays
- Solid Agathis body with Polyester finish with Maple neck & Rosewood Fretboard
- Jaguar body with standard 4-saddle bridge
- Two concentric controls, each control the tone and volume of a pickup
- Duncan Designed pickups, single coil jazz pick up at bridge, split single coil pickup in the middle position. // 9
Sound: I play througha Fender Rumble 15 bass amp. The bass is capable of sounding like a Fender Jazz Bass or like a Precision Bass. It has a great range of tones and can really growl. I play mostly Beatles. While it cannot sound like a Hofner, it does a decent imitation of a Rickenbacker 4001 for some of the later songs. When played by better hands than mine, it shows off very nicely. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: Factory set up required the truss rodd to be straightened and the action lowered. Pickups are finely balanced. Not a flaw otherwise in the finish. It holds its tuning perfectly (better than some more expensive basses I fooled around with) and the intonation is spot on. I still have the original strings on it (normally I change them as soon as I get home). // 10
Reliability & Durability: The bass could be dropped and is solid enough to withstand it. I have owned it for 1 year. The hardware seems solid, the strap buttons secure and I would have no hesitation taking it anywhere. It has gone gigging with a friend and handled it perfectly, infact he has asked if he could buy it from me, but I do not want to part with it. // 10
Impression: This is not an expensive bass BUT it plays above its price range. My two complaints are that the neck likes to dive and its overall weight. It is visually a beautiful bass with lots of versatility. Perfect for those not sure if they want a Jazz or Precision. I compared it to the Squier Jazz and Precisions, but this one was more versatile than either, seemed to fit my body better and looked five better with its black body and matching headstock (I wish more Fenders/Squiers had the option at least).
I have a Hofner Ignition at home to handle most of the music I play, but if the bass was lost or stolen I would be sorely tempted to get another simply because of its tonal range. // 10
can you select the pickups or do you have to have both running (as standard I mean, it sounds like you've done a lot to it )
I haven't modified anything (yet), just gave it a good set-up. Sadly there isn't a pick-up selector. You would have to just turn the volume down on the pick-up you don't want to use. I am going to add a pick-up selector switch to mines sometime this month though.
can you select the pickups or do you have to have both running (as standard I mean, it sounds like you've done a lot to it )
I haven't modified anything (yet), just gave it a good set-up. Sadly there isn't a pick-up selector. You would have to just turn the volume down on the pick-up you don't want to use. I am going to add a pick-up selector switch to mines sometime this month though.
If you have 1 vol, 1 tone then you can't change the pickup vol independently surely?
If you have 1 vol, 1 tone then you can't change the pickup vol independently surely?
They are concentric (stacked) pots, each has two knobs, the top one to control volume and the bottom to control tone. http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/images/p... they're exactly the same as the one in the right on this image. Hopefully that helps you understand.
now there is a good review of someone with sufficient knowledge about bass guitars....
go write something decent or just dont write anything at all!
apology for this anger.
the bass is awesome, tries it yesterday in the local shop. for it's price it's solid, but wouldn't give it such a high mark, it's not comparable to the high-class basses..
My Jag is impressive. Much more variety in tone than expected... you just have to be creative. Setup was poor from the factory, but after some intensive work on the neck and action, it is a real find for the price!
Brand new player here (~6 months), so maybe the following commentary doesn't count, but I find myself agreeing with snoogans on most areas. I bought my Jag because it looked like a good beginner's instrument (and the price was right); plus I was tired of beating on the used Ibanez GTR-50 I bought for $80. Out of the box it looked and felt great, but the low E string sounded, I dunno, flat or thuddy; no punch. Plus, something is wrong with the P-pickup volume/tone concentric control: when I turn up the tone, the volume cuts out. Must be a short. Other than that, I love it!
Beautiful fit and finish, fantastic tone from thump to jaco. Typical asian production means usually there's going to be something wrong with the bass; usually easily fixable. That said, this is an exceptional value.
Lame? P-J setup, matching headstock, comfortable jazz bass 70's block inlay rosewood neck, early 60's style concentric knobs, uniquely cool Jaguar style offset body. I have over 100 basses and I really love this one - even with the stock pickups I've used it on a half-dozen recording sessions already. It's not lame. Sorry.
I got mine recently and I am loving it! It didn't really have any huge problems with setup to be honest, the neck was quite straight, the pickup height was fine and the action medium to low, just how I like it. I get a small amount if fret buzz, but you can't hear it trough the amp, so I'm not really bothered by it. Either I got lucky with the setup or I have no idea how a setup bass should sound, but I am very happy with it! The sounds I get are quite versatile and it's a very sexy and cool looking body shape. Also I'm a huge fan of the neck, it's super comfortable and the block inlays make it look badass! Also it's not an instrument you see every day, so it sorta stands out (hipster points! ) I'd give it an overall 8/10. Amazing value!
Bought mine based on reviews. As a six stringer and 1st time bassist I haven't picked up my acoustic once. I'm converted to the bass based on the playability of my spiffing Jag!
)
) I'd give it an overall 8/10. Amazing value!