ShortScale.org

Well, in my quest to find a proper bass to play in a side project posted about in the Whore House, I chose the Jaguar bass. I realize this bass is not particularly well-liked around here, but after spending about a week with it I'm completely satisfied I made the right decision.

Prior to this, the bass I used was a black-on-black '97 Squier Precision. It has many small issues that were not a big deal when recording with it once in a while, but it just wasn't going to work for full-time use. With a budget of around $600, I set out to find a proper bass. I tried everything I could get my hands on -- even if it was out of my price range -- so I could have a feel for what felt and sounded good. A quick list, from memory, of what I sampled in two trips to different shops:

New:
Fender Standard Precision and Jazz
Fender American Standard Precision and Jazz
Squier Classic Vibe '50s Precision
Squier Classic Vibe '60s Precision
Squier Classic Vibe '60s Jazz
Squier Affinity Bronco
Gretsch Electromatic Junior Jet
Fender Jaguar Bass

Used:
Fender Standard (ca. 2000) Jazz
Music Man StingRay HH

I went into this exercise thinking I would likely end up with one of the Squier Precisions, either the '50s or the '60s. I have always preferred the body and neck of the Precision to the Jazz, as well as the simplicity of a single pickup. The Jaguar wasn't even on my radar at the time.

On the first trip to a local shop, the Squier '50s and '60s Precisions and '60s Jazz were demoed, and I really liked the look and feel of the '50s P. They all sounded great and the fit and finish was absolutely amazing. I'm convinced I could have ended the search here and would have been happy to just pick one at random and be done with it. I also gave the Bronco a try, but I was really not digging the short scale bass feel anymore.

After a trip to a second shop, a Guitar Center, I noticed a sunburst Jaguar bass. Thinking it was too extravagant, I left it alone and gave the MIM and American Ps and Js a whirl and all were terrific. There really isn't $600 worth of difference to me here between the MIMs and Americans, unsurprisingly. My favorite was the MIM Lake Placid Blue with maple neck.

While in a complete fog and taking a few minutes to try and make sense of everything, I played the Squier CV basses again (and photographed one here) to remind myself. I'm again convinced that any one of the Squiers, or now MIMs, would make me happy, so just make a decision, dickbag. For the hell of it, I picked up the Jaguar bass. I ended up playing it for about twenty minutes and it just felt right. A sales dude remarked that the Jaguar bass was discontinued and priced at $599 everywhere, but was still marked $949 here and told me to use their Ultra Mega Price Match Terminal to look around for a better price. He thought it was only the ridiculous Hot Rod Red version that was available at the lower price, but he'd check with the manager for me. I figured I wasn't going to be able to get it for that price -- and there was no way I was paying that much for it -- but I just kept playing it anyway while I waited. I also took a look around for it online, and I couldn't find any place that was selling any color other than the Hot Rod Red, at any price. I also checked various review sources (for the most part glowing, aside from the utterly unsurprisingly subpar CIJ electronics issues) and saw shortscale's generally unfavorable rating.

He ends up cutting me a "deal", and I ended up walking out with it for $600. After giving it a proper setup and playing it over the weekend, despite loving it, I couldn't shake the ol' buyer's remorse. I kept telling myself I could have paid $200 less for a Squier CV, or bought the nice used MIM Jazz I saw at the first shop for $325. After taking it to a session with some friends, I let a buddy who's a real bass player with a nice rig (Ampeg SVT-4 PRO into an 8x10 cab) rip into it. He played it for about two hours during the session, and after hearing it really played, any concerns I had about making the wrong decision were gone. He was raving about it, and compared to the sound of his bass, a StingRay HS, it was killer. We A/B'ed the Jag in all positions with the StingRay in all positions, and the Jaguar was much more alive and fit the mix better -- even in the passive settings. I was happy to see it used in this context, as I don't really have a proper bass rig at home. I've since used it in a few rehearsals and have completely fallen in love with it.

PROS:
- Terrific fit and finish
- Very comfortable Jazz-style neck with vintage frets
- Many sounds to be had with switching (neck, bridge, neck+bridge parallel, neck+bridge series; plus each of these available in active mode, which is a two-band boost-only EQ)

CONS:
- Poorly shielded electronics
- Inability to individually control pickup volume
- Slightly neck-heavy

Now I just need a suitable bass rig, but that's another thread.

PHOTO:

I think a lot of peoples beef with it here is that it is not short scale like the Jag and it doesn't have binding on the neck which some people think look weird with blocks.

Personally, I'm not a fan of short scale basses. I think they feel like a guitar and that is not what I want when I play bass. I want to feel like I'm playing a bass. I understand I'm probably the minority on a short scale forum but for me, basses HAVE to be full scale.

With all of that said, I also don't mind the lack of binding. At first, I thought that it sucked but you get used to it. And no one other than a few people ever notice. I absolutely love mine. I've played a lot of basses, mainly being a bass player, and I have never played a bass as versatile as the Jaguar bass.

here is mine

I like shortscale guitars and full-scale basses also. Not a huge fn of the Jaguar bass looks-wise because of the lack of binding and because I'm not sure it translates that well into a bass from a guitar. Never played one though.

if they were shortscale with dots, i'd have one already. i can't get on with the weird weight distribution. very nice sounds, however.

i also think they should've done a different kinda bridge instead of a jazz bass bridge.

Nice one, willie. I knew I remembered seeing a few around that owned and liked them. The Hot Rod Red doesn't actually look as bad as I thought there, I just could never pull off such a bold color.

Gavin, I didn't really find the lack of binding that distracting. I might even go so far as to say it might look a bit too much when applied to such a giant neck. That damned neck sure feels great though.

Oh, and I added a photo to my original post.

i like them, generally. they sound nice, feel pretty good, and i like the looks. the active circuit is pretty damn noisy, but not the end of the world.

the hot rod red actually isn't too bad in person. It changes a lot with light but usually it looks more of a salmon color. The burst would look hot with a black pick guard.


Also, the neck is one of the thinnest necks I have ever played on a bass. Again, I love it but understand why some people like the P bass neck profile more.

As far as the active circuit being noisy: I take the battery out of mine and don't ever use it. Not a fan of active PUPs

I really like them, mainly for the looks though. But when I saw Get Cape, Where Cape, Fly... his bassist had one and it sounded and looked amazing.

Mind I've never played one, nor do I really play bass. Yet I want one.

i bass should be chunky and heavy not elegant and easy but like intimidating, it's personal preference of course but i like a bass to have a bigass chunky neck and some weight so you feel like you wanna dig in the strings and play rough not all refined and careful. it's why i love playing bass so much and i miss it with guitar, it's much more physical and that whole thing of 'fuck, my neck hurts, i hate you bass, i'm gonna abuse you because you piss me off' lol i know it sounds weird but it's what i love about proper bass guitars, a wal mk1, a fender p, an ovation magnum, a thunderbird, a ricky, they have so much more character and stand out as 'the bassist' and you're the funding with the drums, not the 'lower sounding guitar thingie' to people who are not musicians but go see a band.

kim wrote:i bass should be chunky and heavy not elegant and easy but like intimidating, it's personal preference of course but i like a bass to have a bigass chunky neck and some weight so you feel like you wanna dig in the strings and play rough not all refined and careful. it's why i love playing bass so much and i miss it with guitar, it's much more physical and that whole thing of 'fuck, my neck hurts, i hate you bass, i'm gonna abuse you because you piss me off' lol i know it sounds weird but it's what i love about proper bass guitars, a wal mk1, a fender p, an ovation magnum, a thunderbird, a ricky, they have so much more character and stand out as 'the bassist' and you're the funding with the drums, not the 'lower sounding guitar thingie' to people who are not musicians but go see a band.

Absolutely brilliant, Kim. Well said.

I had one for about 2 years and it was okay.

Tonally versatile, the aforementioned tiny neck felt fine, fairly comfortable with all those great offset contours, hung well on the shoulders, and looked great in black, but it didn't get what I wanted: Anything close to the Jazz Bass tone of the '78 I had (presently chilling at Casa Fredo). It could be just be modern pickups that needed a switch-out for something slightly weaker, but I simply couldn't get both sweetness and chime from them two magnets , and without separate volume controls for each I felt put in a box.

Wouldn't mind giving another a go someday, but not without preparation to do something drastic to the thing.

Not sure EXACTLY what's calling your name but there are TONS of great basses for under 600$ . You want originality or something different ? Quality ? deep tone ? Tinny tone ?

Eastwood makes the High Flyer for $400 ( cheaper on Ebay ) . I have one . GREAT FOR THE $$$



Here's the EEB , an Ampeg copy that I believe Ampeg doesn't make anymore . Can find them used for $4-500 . They're awesome . BTW the white in the bass ? Those are cutaways through the bass.



The Squier 60s P Bass is awesome . My buddy has a fiesta red one . Way better than my Dirnt ( Never admit that to him though ) .



A Used Schecter Model T . $400 used . Duncan Basslines 1/4 pounders , 1 split , 1 jazz. Killer bass.



And that's just the beginning .

he's already bought the jag, so new suggestions are a bit redundant...

Rox, note that avj's selection wasn't purely about pricing, as he was serious about trying out basses prior to purchase. I might add that at least 2 out of 4 of the affordable basses you posted aren't especially easy to find and demo.

ultratwin wrote: without separate volume controls for each I felt put in a box.

I agree with you, not having two separate volume controls does suck, the one thing I have never felt with my Jag bass is trapped in a box. haha.

Also, it could use a pickup change. The pickups are okay and good enough for my needs but if I was going to really gig the thing consistently like I did my Jazz bass, I would change the pickups.

I tried one before settling on my mustang, I liked the sound, but the pricetag was just too much for me at the time. That is until I bought the mustang for more money.
Binding would be nice, but even without it it still manages to look decent enough. If I remember correctly the active electronics was the main turn-off and the pup's.

No hate for it, it just wasn't for me at the time.

ultratwin wrote:I had one for about 2 years and it was okay.

Tonally versatile, the aforementioned tiny neck felt fine, fairly comfortable with all those great offset contours, hung well on the shoulders, and looked great in black, but it didn't get what I wanted: Anything close to the Jazz Bass tone of the '78 I had (presently chilling at Casa Fredo). It could be just be modern pickups that needed a switch-out for something slightly weaker, but I simply couldn't get both sweetness and chime from them two magnets , and without separate volume controls for each I felt put in a box.

Wouldn't mind giving another a go someday, but not without preparation to do something drastic to the thing.

Hilarious. I saw this same photo on TDPRI while searching around for photos of Jag basses with the Jazz bridge cover. I knew I recognized that pink Esquire! You sneaky Telegazer.

Rox wrote:Not sure EXACTLY what's calling your name but there are TONS of great basses for under 600$ .

As the gents who made it past the second paragraph in my giant wall of text pointed out, I've already chosen the Jaguar. Those are some nice choices though, but also nearly impossible to find to demo as ultra pointed out.

portugalwillie wrote:Also, it could use a pickup change. The pickups are okay and good enough for my needs but if I was going to really gig the thing consistently like I did my Jazz bass, I would change the pickups.

If I have time this weekend, I'm going to clean the electronics up and add some shielding tape. I'm going to ride these pickups out for a while, as I haven't even settled on an amplification setup yet. I suspect I'll discover them to be a little hot for my taste, but I'm not going to jump to any early conclusions without a proper courting period.

colabonham wrote:I tried one before settling on my mustang, I liked the sound, but the pricetag was just too much for me at the time. That is until I bought the mustang for more money.

Oddly enough, I had thought of a Mustang bass early on because of the short scale, but the price and inability to find one locally to demo turned me off. I did have a chance to try some other short scale basses though and decided I liked the feel of the full scale. It sure looks nice though.

avj wrote:

portugalwillie wrote:Also, it could use a pickup change. The pickups are okay and good enough for my needs but if I was going to really gig the thing consistently like I did my Jazz bass, I would change the pickups.

If I have time this weekend, I'm going to clean the electronics up and add some shielding tape. I'm going to ride these pickups out for a while, as I haven't even settled on an amplification setup yet. I suspect I'll discover them to be a little hot for my taste, but I'm not going to jump to any early conclusions without a proper courting period.

if that's the case, holler when you swap them out, and i'd like to try them on for size.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:

avj wrote:

portugalwillie wrote:Also, it could use a pickup change. The pickups are okay and good enough for my needs but if I was going to really gig the thing consistently like I did my Jazz bass, I would change the pickups.

If I have time this weekend, I'm going to clean the electronics up and add some shielding tape. I'm going to ride these pickups out for a while, as I haven't even settled on an amplification setup yet. I suspect I'll discover them to be a little hot for my taste, but I'm not going to jump to any early conclusions without a proper courting period.

if that's the case, holler when you swap them out, and i'd like to try them on for size.

Dibs'd.

I've tried a few and I've gotta say I'm not a fan. I also don't like the look of the neck without binding. But even more importantly than that I don't like the active/passive switch thing. It was like they focused too much on making it capable of both that neither setting really sounded great compared to other basses in that price range. You could get a musicman SUB or the Fender MIM Deluxe jazz bass that both do active way better in the same price range, and the MIM standard jazz basses do the passive jazz bass tone way better than the jag bass too. It just sounds mediocre at both active and passive tones to me.