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Post subject: Help for my son's new fretless please
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:07 am
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My 15 year old son wants to get a fretless bass, and his birthday is next week. He currently has a Peavey Millenium and plays an upright w/ school and jazz band. He plays a wide variety of music from classical to rock. His amp has a number of settings to change the type of sound he wants. My price range is up to $600, but would prefer cheaper side of that.

He played a Fender or Squier ( I can't remember) fretless at a Guitar Center a couple months ago and loved it. I have done a bunch of reading but can't figure out what model would be the way to go for him (ie. Fender, Squier, VM, etc.) I am going to take him out to a few places in the Phoenix area this weekend and let him try whatever is in stock, but I also want to be able to give him some advice on products/models. Thanks for your advice, I would really appreciate it. - The Non-Musician Dad


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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:29 am
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Well, Fender makes a fretless Jazz bass whiich is about $1200 new, you could buy a used one, but I doubt you could get a decent one for under $600. However, the Squier Vintage Modified fretless Jazz bass is only $300 new, and it gets a lot of praise as being an excellent bass. Be aware the Squier has line markings (not actual frets) on the fretboard, some people like that, some don't, it's purely a matter of personal prefence, it doesn't affect the payability in any way. Just something to consider. If I were you, I'd go with the Squier. Take him to the store get him to try one (if he hasn't already) to see if he likes it.

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'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:14 am
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Thanks Bathead, The one he played did have the lines and I think he liked that or might still need those to some degree. The one he played also was right at $300 as well.

Questions: Does the "modified" in Vintage Modified mean anything imparticular or is it just a model name? How important is changing the factory bridge that I have read about?

Thanks again gang. Really appreciate it.


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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 12:28 pm
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CP3 wrote:
Thanks Bathead, The one he played did have the lines and I think he liked that or might still need those to some degree. The one he played also was right at $300 as well.

Questions: Does the "modified" in Vintage Modified mean anything imparticular or is it just a model name? How important is changing the factory bridge that I have read about?

Thanks again gang. Really appreciate it.

The Modified in "Vintage Modified" simply means that the particular bass is modelled after a particular vintage instrument, but is not an exact copy, as an instrument referred to as a "reissue" might be. In other words, it looks the same but isn't necessarliy made to the same exact specifications or of the same exact materials (i.e. the wood) as the original. This particular bass is modelled after Jaco Pastorius' Jazz bass on which he removed the frets and filled them with a lighter colored material, making the lines, and removing the pickguard.
Changing out the bridge on a Squier for a new one is absolutely NOT necessary. That's usually reserved for those nit-picky bassists (no offense intended) who like to tinker with their basses. The bridges on Squiers, especially on the Vintage Modiified and Classic Vibe series are fine as is.

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'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 2:02 pm
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Thx again, appreciate the info that was very helpful to me.


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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:54 pm
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nicely done Bathead :O)
I really like the Squier Vintage Modified Series. good stuff.

CP3 hope your son enjoys whatever he ends up with. Pretty cool to have a dad who chips in with a new instrument.


Best,
rob


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Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:57 pm
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Thanks Rob, I like 'em as well. I have two, the VM Jazz and the new amber VM P, I call them "The Twins". :lol:

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'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


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Post subject: Re: Help for my son's new fretless please
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:11 am
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CP3 wrote:
My 15 year old son wants to get a fretless bass, and his birthday is next week. He currently has a Peavey Millenium and plays an upright w/ school and jazz band. He plays a wide variety of music from classical to rock. His amp has a number of settings to change the type of sound he wants. My price range is up to $600, but would prefer cheaper side of that.

He played a Fender or Squier ( I can't remember) fretless at a Guitar Center a couple months ago and loved it. I have done a bunch of reading but can't figure out what model would be the way to go for him (ie. Fender, Squier, VM, etc.) I am going to take him out to a few places in the Phoenix area this weekend and let him try whatever is in stock, but I also want to be able to give him some advice on products/models. Thanks for your advice, I would really appreciate it. - The Non-Musician Dad


For what this is worth, I was extremely happy with how the Squier fretless Jazz plays, but was disappointed in the electronics, specifically the output level from the pickups.

While it PLAYS good it sounds WEAK. Just my opinion, but at $300 or so, it is a good value. At this point in your son's career, it is more important that it play well than sound like a million bucks. A poor playing bass is an invitation to NOT play it. AND unless you compare it to a higher output instrument you won't really notice the lower output. OTHER than the low output, I was quite taken with now the Squier Fretless Jazz played. With a powerful amp it would be usable for me. For the money you probably won't do better. I could not build one out of spare parts for the price.

So if he wants fretless and is used to the Fender/Squier stuff...even if he does not like it you can get 50 to 75 cents on the dollar in trade or on eBay so since Squier only has ONE fretless, it is an easy and frankly your only choice or at least twice the money!


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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:12 am
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Thx again for all the comments and info. Much appreciated. - CP


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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:37 pm
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Please, let us know what happens.

_________________
'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:55 am
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Update: Well he tried some other brands, but he kept coming back to the Squier VM Jazz model without a doubt, so he is a new proud owner now. I gave him the link to this forum and will let him run with everything here forward. Knowing him he will be a lurker, but he might post a question someday.

Rob - he had bought his first bass (Peavey) with his own money he had saved and has really enjoyed playing, so I had no problem helping him out this time. He's a good kid, but I am probably biased. : )

Thx again for all the comments and info. I think it gave us the confidence to pull the trigger on the purchase. - CP


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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:15 pm
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Congrats, and good luck to you and your son. I'm sure he will be happy with the Squier. I agree it would be a good idea for him to check in with this forum on a regular basis, he'll find a lot of good info and helpful people here. Another good forum exclusively for bassists is Talkbass. Great stuff there, too.

_________________
'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD


Top
Profile
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