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Bass recommendations.


girl anachronism

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So, I'm in the market for my first bass, I've recently started playing and am jamming with a few folk, it's fun, I'm really starting to get quite into it. At the moment, I'm playing a borrowed Squier Mexican P-Bass, it's nice, but I'm left handed, and as it's not, the balance is all off and I'm getting the most ridiculous friction burns on my wrist off of the volume pot. Aside from that, I really like how it plays and sounds and would ideally want to pick up something similar.

As it's my first instrument, I'm not looking to spend a fortune, but I don't want to end up with an absolute shed either. I can't seem to find a standard Squier P-Bass in left handed, only these "Special" models. Anybody know if these are any good? I had been considering one of the Squier Vintage-Modified Jazz Basses, but I tried the one with the maple neck/block inlays in R&B and was really disappointed with it, I'm not sure if it was just the finish on it, but it felt a bit like a toy instrument, and I just couldn't get a decent sound out of it. Other than that, I'm considering either a G&L L2000, a Fender Mexican Standard Jazz Bass or a Sterling by Musicman Ray34. Does anyone have any experience with any of these or have any other recommendations? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

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Cool, thanks for the input folks. Monk- I'd definitely consider something second-hand, but it's a task to find something local to try out first. It transpires that I'm fussier than I thought, so I wouldn't want to take a gamble and take a punt on something, I'd imagine it'd be pretty tricky for me to shift again. I actually got all excited because on the Dolphin website they'd listed the new Squier SS Jaguar Bass as lefty, but when I enquired it turned out to be a mistake. :(

Matt, I do prefer the chunkier P-Bass neck, but I'd be open to giving a Jazz bass a good go, I had a shot of my friend's American one and loved it, can't really justify dropping >£1000 though. Just couldn't get on with the new Squier vintage modified one, which is a shame as it looks lovely! The G&L might be the best bet to getting as close as possible to what I want, all those switches sort of scare me though!! There's one in Guitar Guitar in Glasgow though, so I'll hopefully be able to get down and give that a go.

Dubya- I think the same applies to lefty people, which is why nobody makes instruments for us, because we're just flipped images that don't register. Damn.

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The switches aren't scary. You can ignore the last one - it's passive/active/active with treble boost. The EQ is passive cut only, the "active" setting is just a line boost and the treble boost sounds pretty horrible to my ears anyway. I just leave it in passive - the MFD pickups are plenty hot on their own. That leaves you with pickup selector and series/parallel. I think the trick is to find a favourite setting (or one you can hear over whichever band you're playing with/against) and leave it there.

Also if you want some second hand ideas then try this thread on basschat.co.uk: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/36318-big-lefty-market-thread/

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The switches aren't scary. You can ignore the last one - it's passive/active/active with treble boost. The EQ is passive cut only, the "active" setting is just a line boost and the treble boost sounds pretty horrible to my ears anyway. I just leave it in passive - the MFD pickups are plenty hot on their own. That leaves you with pickup selector and series/parallel. I think the trick is to find a favourite setting (or one you can hear over whichever band you're playing with/against) and leave it there.

Also if you want some second hand ideas then try this thread on basschat.co.uk: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/36318-big-lefty-market-thread/

Thanks, that's really helpful, I'll keep an eye on that thread too!

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If you can get your hands on a Japanese model, get all over it like a dog eating beetroot. I've got two Jap models and one USA and the Jap ones are just superb. I'd be hard pressed to find a more playable, versatile, awesome sounding bass than my '85 Jazz Special and my '62 reissue Precision is a peach as well. The build quality of the Japanese models set them apart from other non-US Fenders.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would say stay away from this , it looks like a home made hotch potch of bits made to look a little bit like a '70's telecaster bass , the headstock is the wrong shape for a tele , it has a precision logo but is not a precision headstock either (could be a precision neck that's been home chopped into nearly a tele shape)

The 3 bolt neck plate is correct for a post '72 tele but if the neck was a post '72 tele there would be a bullet truss rod at the headstock (like on a 3 bolt jazz neck) the body and scratch plate "could" be real , ask for more photo's of under the scratch plate and the wiring.

Also ask for phot's of the neck off , If it is a P bass (or cheap copy) neck you'll be able to see where the 4 screws used to be before it was fitted to this 3 bolt body

.........then walk away :)

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I have to say that I agree with the above. The neck is a replacement, there are no fret dots, truss rod adjustment should be at the head, bullet style as mentioned above. The headstock shape looks a bit homemade. There are clearly some genuine Fender parts on this but it is by no means complete. I'm guessing that the micro tilt stuff at the heel is missing. Also the Fender Wide Range humbucker has been replaced with a DiMarzio Model One. The logo is home made - font is wrong, Fender logo is too small. Hard to tell from the photos but the strings don't seem to be lining up so well with the neck and the pickup, but maybe there's some room for lateral movement in that ol' 2 saddle bridge.

At best I'd say the following parts are genuine: body, pickguard, bridge, neck plate, tuners.

Up to you if you still want to go for it, but be aware of all the above and bid accordingly!

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Wow, am I glad I post on here sometimes! Thanks guys! I'm staying well clear of this one, I did ask the seller a load of questions, so it'll be interesting to see what response I get. I guess I've just been on the lookout for a lefty Fender with a wider neck for a while and when I saw this I got pretty excited! I'll keep looking though, this might well be the sort of bass that would suit my playing, but I'm not shelling out for a fake, and if I hate it then it'll have no re-sale value!. I'll wait until I can try out a G&L.

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