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Post subject: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 2:45 am
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Hello everyone,
Been reading the forums on here, finally caved in and signed up. I've been playing bass for about 12 years. Aside from little local bands here and there, I mostly just enjoy playing with friends or jamming by myself at home. I play a 2004 US precision bass, standard I believe. I have it strung with Fender nylon tapewound strings. That being said, I've been thinking about a second bass lately. I know there are many, many options. Two basses that've popped up lately that I'm interested in are a mid 80s Jazz bass special and a 90s Precision bass Lyte. I imagine my best bet would be playing them and seeing what I think of them, but does anyone know much about these two models? They both seem similar to me. Both Japanese, have P/J pickup setup and both are active. Correct me if I'm wrong. Is there anything I should look for, are these generally good basses? Thanks everyone for their time and patience. Any info, advice and opinions will be helpful.


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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 3:22 am
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The Jazz Bass Special is a passive bass with a TBX tone control and PJ pickups, the precursor to the "Duff" P-Bass we know. The active bass you're talking about is the «Power» version; it came with a 22-fret neck and a reverse split pickup.

There were 2 versions of the Precision Light, standard and deluxe, both being the precursors to the shortlived Zone series, introduced in 2003. The P-Light Standard featured a PJ setup and a 2-band active EQ; the P-Light Deluxe sported a solid mahogany body, gold hardware, 3-band EQ and a humbucking Jazz Bass pickup in the bridge, here's mine:

Image

One of the screws securing the bridge humbucker is missing.


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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 3:58 am
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This stupid board logged me out and blew away my long reply.

Basically what I was saying was watch out for the 1.5 necks vs what you've got today.

If I hit Submit real quick, maybe this one will survive. :evil:

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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 6:14 pm
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Craig,
What's a 1.5 neck? Is that the diameter or referencing the nut? I guess I'm not familiar with that term. My searches online haven't turned up anything negative about these basses, seems just a matter of me playing them.


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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:42 am
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Oh no, it's not a negative, just a different nut width. Many people like the 1.5 width. But I always had two problems with it. (Actually three, but the third may have been fixed by now. Dave would know.)

1. Pencil neck. I have long fingers. Below (toward the nut) the 5th fret I get all jammed up. There's just no real estate on the fretboard to work with. However, many super-duty players seem to be ok with a 1.5. I tried and tried and tried, but eventually gave up. It's just not my cuppa.

2. Going back and forth between a 1.6/1.75 and a 1.5 was always a problem for me. Maybe not for others. But I always seemed to have to re-learn the neck when I made the change. Fair disclosure, though -- this was back when Precisions were all 1.75, so it may have been a bigger jump than it would be today with whatever neck you have on your Precision.

3. I lost count of how many warped and/or twisted 1.5s passed through my hands (and yeah, I do know how to do proper setups). But again, this was long ago, back in the mid-late '70s. I think half the 1.5s I used to run across in music stores' *new* stock were already starting to twist. But like I said, Dave would know whether the problem's been solved in current production. I don't care one way or the other personally, since I can't play the 1.5s.

Hth...

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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 11:08 pm
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And I'm just the other way with this, I LOVE the 1.5 nut. In fact, I converted both my Squier basses using P-Bass Special necks which have the thinner nut.

Ironic sort of because I'm not a big fan of the Jazz bass. Jazz bass are certainly important and I'm glad they exist, just not my style. But their neck width is to die for!

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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 6:23 am
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The Boner P-Bass employs the "B" nut width.

Image

(pictured bass is not mine).


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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:38 am
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Just curious, have you played an American Standard Jazz? Would seem the perfect companion to your American Stendard Precision. And no batteries!

+1 chromeface description above

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Post subject: Re: MIJ Jazz bass special vs Precision bass Lyte
Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 4:51 pm
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Hi affprod,
A while ago I had a chance to play a used American Standard Jazz bass and it was pretty damn nice. I'd have to play one again, it's been a bit. While I definitely like the tones it produces, I can't remember how I felt about the neck. I don't know if it's just me getting comfortable after so long, but I really enjoy the P-bass neck. Unfortunately the one I hesitated on the one I found a year ago or so and it sold. I'm not actively looking, but always browsing for another bass to add to my lineup. I'm kind of liking the P-bass lyte recently, though not yet sure on my feelings regarding active pickups.


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