suggestions for cheap J bass?

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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by øøøøøøø » Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:07 am

Took almost 6 weeks, but my cheap CIJ jazz bass finally arrived.

I didn’t even play it before yanking the original electronics out and replacing them with a Lollar J bass set, CTS pots and a 225p orange drop + Switchcraft jack

I bought a vintage reissue J bass bridge, but ended up using only the saddles. The CIJ bridge plate was slightly thicker and heavier, which I liked.

After a quick setup it sounded great, but I couldn’t get the setup quite dialed in.

Decided to yank the neck and do a quick fret level and crown. The frets did need some work, it turns out. I didn’t want to take a ton of material off and then have to deal with adjusting the nut… but was able to get it pretty much level—better than new, I’m sure.

Now it sounds great and plays great.

Pretty impressed as usual with the CIJ quality, save for the electronics (and the frets this time). Neck pocket fit is almost as perfect as I’ve seen on any guitar.

Original pickups were cheap with ceramic bar magnets on the bottom. Pots were tiny mini pots. Jack was clearly inexpensive too.

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jvin248
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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by jvin248 » Sun Mar 06, 2022 1:00 pm

.

Ceramic bar pickups can actually be really good.

I've measured a lot of the Strat styled ones (like Squier) and they often have half the internal capacitance of 'the proper aftermarket brand', a lot like the hand-boutique-scatter-wound kind. High internal capacitance makes pickups muddy and mushy.

The only real problem with ceramic magnets is they are stronger than Alnico -- so if someone sets ceramic magnet pickups at the factory height spec for alnico (which is all that is published) they will sound 'bad'. Use your ears and they can sound great too, but you'll find that best tone point is often lower to the body/further from the strings than you might usually place pickups.

Recently I've found a trend for some Squier ceramic magnet pickups in Strats are being wound with 3-4kohms wire instead of 6kohms wire used on Fender MIA models with Alnico. Which is the same path Leo Fender went with his G&L pickups for a larger signal to noise ratio. Those import pickup builders are getting more clever and the old saws about junk pickups are not the automatic problems they once seemed.

Certainly, swapping the pots, switch, jack is a great move.

.

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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by øøøøøøø » Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:13 pm

Interesting thoughts. For whatever reason, I've never heard a ceramic bar-magnet Fender style single coil I liked.

I do like the quasi-soapbar-looking G&L pickups on the earlier ASATs, though--but that's kind of a different animal to me.

I admit that I didn't even listen to these before yanking them out, because I have had such a good track record of being very psyched about the sound of Lollar pickups (and they were kind enough to send these to me).

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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by mackerelmint » Sun Mar 06, 2022 4:56 pm

MatthewK wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 10:58 pm
I'm loving the SX Vintage Series I bought used a few weeks back. Plays great, sounds great, well made, no apology needed. Looks pretty good too.
Image
They're $350 brand new but I paid a fair bit less http://www.sx-guitar.com/index.php/Prod ... /25/id/284
I love my SX short scale PJ.

Laura Lee of Khruangbin plays an SX vintage series J bass with dimarzios in it. It's pretty cool seeing a touring pro playing a cheap-ass SX with some good pickups in it. Those SX instruments have good bones.
This is an excellent rectangle

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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by MattK » Mon Mar 07, 2022 4:27 am

mackerelmint wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 4:56 pm
Laura Lee of Khruangbin plays an SX vintage series J bass with dimarzios in it. It's pretty cool seeing a touring pro playing a cheap-ass SX with some good pickups in it. Those SX instruments have good bones.
whaaaat? There’s absolutely NO WAY I would have sought out the exact model of Leezy’s bass because I think she’s brilliant and I love her work. No way at all. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Anyway I have a set of flatwounds to install, I don’t have time for this …

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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by mackerelmint » Mon Mar 07, 2022 10:27 am

MatthewK wrote:
Mon Mar 07, 2022 4:27 am
mackerelmint wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 4:56 pm
Laura Lee of Khruangbin plays an SX vintage series J bass with dimarzios in it. It's pretty cool seeing a touring pro playing a cheap-ass SX with some good pickups in it. Those SX instruments have good bones.
whaaaat? There’s absolutely NO WAY I would have sought out the exact model of Leezy’s bass because I think she’s brilliant and I love her work. No way at all. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Anyway I have a set of flatwounds to install, I don’t have time for this …
:D
This is an excellent rectangle

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Re: suggestions for cheap J bass?

Post by postboredom » Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:21 pm

i have a squire Vintage modified Jazz Bass. its great.
I upgraded with pickup wizard pups.

its solid and sounds great.

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