Vista Musicmaster?

[Freddy V-C]

I mentioned in a recent Diary Thread post that I've got a hankering for a new bass. I've been playing an Ibanez TMB30 for the past four or five years and it's decent (I certainly get on with it much better than the Epiphone EB3 I had before), but it feels best suited to noodling at home and recording laptop demos, not so much for playing out.

I'm playing bass in a band now (Solderer) and it's probably the thing that brings me the most joy currently in my musical life. Don't get me wrong, Thank still has its charms, but being in a moderately successful band (lol) is kind of the worst of both worlds; there are a lot of expectations and obligations that make it feel more like a job, but you're still not making any money from it, and you still have to do your actual job.

It's kind of interesting that I've landed back enjoying bass so much, I played bass before I played guitar (unless you count six months of classical guitar lessons aged 10, which I do not count), and was the bass player in my first few shortlived bands. In retrospect, I pretty much switched to guitar and vocals because I was the most motivated of my friends, and it was easier to make a band happen as the "leader", which is much easier as a singer/songwriter than a bassist.

Anyway, I digress! I played a pal's 70's Precision for a recording session a couple of months ago and I've barely stopped thinking about it since. I wouldn't be able to afford something like that, and as much as I love P basses (if I see a band for the first time and the bass player is playing anything else they've gotta be like 10% better in order to win me over) I don't think a full scale bass is quite right for a tiny man like me. I think I do want something vintage though, something about playing an older instrument just felt right.

A few years ago (I say "a few" but I probably mean like 10+ years) it seemed like you could find a late 70's Fender Musicmaster for £600-700 all day on eBay, but now you're looking at over a grand, and unfortunately that just ain't gonna happen for me. The Squier Vista Musicmaster seems like a pretty good option, and I've seen a few come up recently in the £500 range. I know Vista series guitars are highly regarded in general, but does anyone have experience of the Musicmaster bass specifically? I'm led to believe that unlike the rest of the Vista series which were made in Japan, these were made in China for some reason. I don't necessarily think the country of origin matters too much, but I'm curious if anyone has played one of these? And if so, would you recommend or warn against?

Gonna be a couple of months before I can afford this anyway, but please help me to daydream more accurately.

[dots]

i don't have experience with the Vista basses, but i've played a few of the Bronco models out currently. they're pretty inexpensive (in the US anyway) and punch well above their weight (literally!) in quality to mine ear'n and feel'n.

[plopswagon]

http://reverb.com/p/squier-badtz-maru- ... -2006-2009

I haven’t played the Vista series Musicmaster bass, but I’m curious if in true Musicmaster bass fashion if the pick up is just a musicmaster guitar pick up like they did on the originals?

[Freddy V-C]

It certainly looks to be four pole pieces on this one near me: http://reverb.com/item/92075388-squier ... ctric-bass

I have considered a Bronco, but it doesn’t feel like that would be much of a step up from the Ibanez.

Another option I’ve considered is the old Mikey Way Mustang in scumbag sparkle. I’ve lusted after one of those for years and they seem to have started cropping up for okay prices recently (you’d think the MCR reunion would have caused prices to inflate, but at least anecdotally it seems to have been the opposite. Main thing putting me off is that I really don’t want a neck with a skunk stripe. I don’t know if I’m just hypersensitive to it, but I’ve played a few guitars (including my old much-maligned Shedcaster) where you could feel the join on the back of the neck, and it’s huge ick for me.

[plopswagon]

That looks cool.

[Bacchus]

Main thing putting me off is that I really don’t want a neck with a skunk stripe. I don’t know if I’m just hypersensitive to it, but I’ve played a few guitars (including my old much-maligned Shedcaster) where you could feel the join on the back of the neck, and it’s huge ick for me.

This might be the only thing in all of guitar nerdery that I don't have a weird preference on. I get turned off by lots of small stuff (wrong font on the headstock logo etc) bit I'm sitting on a bus trying to remember which of my favourite guitars have skunk stripes and I couldn't confidently say for any of them.

[plopswagon]

My Tele has a skunk stripe and it is quite simply THE BEST GUITAR IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!

[MattK]

I had, and sold, one of the Vista Musicmaster basses. It looked great, pickup was great, and felt like a dead inert lump in my hands. The neck was nicely made but somehow felt like cheap furniture, and too slim for me.
I am a huge fan of current Squier production stuff I’ve tried, and love my Japanese and Korean guitars of the 70s-90s, but at that price point Chinese-made stuff from the 90s is really lacking to me. Slightly odd wood, plasticky finishes and so on.
I also tried a Squier Affinity Mustang Bass from the 10s, a much nicer instrument but still a bit raw feeling. Classic Vibe was next on my list before a 70s Fender MB came up at a good price locally and I was stupid enough to go and try it.
Your mileage may vary but it’s one guitar I wish I’d had in-hand before buying it.

[Freddy V-C]

That’s useful insight, thanks Matt! The blue one I linked above is only about an hour away from me, so if it’s still available by the time I manage to get my arse in gear then I’ll certainly try before I buy. In general I do seem to get on well with Chinese-made Squiers, my mid-00’s Squier Affinity Tele is one of my favourite necks I’ve played.

[MattK]

Glad you can try it - I did like the Affinity Mustang Bass but the Vista MM felt like SX stuff from the 2000s, if that's familiar to you.
The pickup is a 4-pole "Vista Tone" which folks seem to like more than the 70s Musicmasters' 6-pole ones. But there are also really nice 4-pole Tele Bass / Precision Bass alnico V pickups on eBay which I'm eyeing as a swap for my Classic Vibe 50s Precision.
Actually that would be my #1 recommendation for a reasonably priced bass - mine is MII, 2019, and just the most divine instrument to play. Stainless flatwounds are a major factor I think.

I've since modified it to a 2-saddle string-through bridge for the whole 1954 package.

[NickD]

I had a mid 70s Musicmaster bass for a few years, and have played the Squier. I'd say the Squier played better - the 70s was not a great time for Fender QC.

[BearBoy]

Would Mustangs be of interest? There's a load of them available (Squier/Fender, MIM/MIJ/MIA etc with different pick up combinations in stacks of colours).

I've got a Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS (something of a mouthful), which is great for a cheap fun bass. 30" scale, PJ pickups (the Jazz Bass pickup is fairly low output but an easy swap if it bothers you). They were discontinued some years back but I'd imagine are available fairly cheaply. Does have a skunk stripe though (not that you can feel it on mine).

[Bacchus]

Thinking about shortscale basses in general led me to this:

http://www.andertons.co.uk/sire-versio ... er-4-mint/

I reckon that's probably brilliant, any Sire I've played has been. However the lack of pickguard makes it look a bit like a fancy wanker bass for playing Seinfeld on. But then, you've never shied away from subverting that sort of genre-specific-instrument expectation before.

[plopswagon]

, you've never shied away from subverting that sort of genre-specific-instrument expectation before.

[NickS]

My son Matt picked a Sire Marcus Miller for his touring bass gig with Misery Kids. He's pleased with the quality.

[Bacchus]

Yeah, a the five string j bass has been on my list for aaages. Keep trying to save up birthday/Christmas monies but other things come up.

I expect their prices to rise sharply at some point. I suspect the low price is an attempt to aggressively get after a certain part of the market.

[dots]

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special

my word, where have you been all my life?

looks like i can pick one up for around $400 shipped off Reverb.com. i'm thinking xmas list this year for sure...

[plopswagon]

Jiri has one of the cheap Squire Jaguar basses with the shitty humbucker. It could be a good bass with an electronics upgrade.

Meanwhile more skunk stripe

IMG_7367.jpeg (5.35 MiB) Viewed 484 times

This is my Music Man Stingray fretless* with a rosewood fingerboard. Meanwhile my fretted Music Man Stingray with a maple fretboard doesn’t have a skunk stripe.

*Look for another post soon concerning this bass!

[dots]

the skunk stripe haet is interesting... 3 of my Fenders have them (including my HH Jag that i adore), and i never was aware there was anything beyond aesthetic gripes to them.

[JesusRancher]

I've got one. She's a beauty.



My only negative is that I need to use lighter gauge strings on it. If they are too thick they always seem to break at the bridge.