First bass in a while...

JackANSI · Post by **JackANSI** » Friday Aug 14, 2015

So I've been pretty good about avoiding falling back into the never-ending cycle of buying/collecting/etc basses. This is my one relapse back into the fray:

It is everything I hate in a bass, all rolled into one.

1. Red(ish) basses look flat/2D to me.
2. Tort pickguards only look good on white.
3. Fender.
4. Doesn't have 24 frets.
5. Block inlays.
6. Glossy clear on back of the neck.

This one just won me over though...

Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass

So in the last 5 years I've done the two things I thought I'd never do. All-tube Ampeg amp and a Fender. Getting older sucks.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Saturday Aug 15, 2015

Cherry bass, Rob. There's a lot of great stuff coming out of the Fender custom shop right now. What kind of pickups are those?

It's funny how tastes in gear changes. I have some stuff that I never thought I'd use five or so years ago. I still don't think you'll ever see me with a set of flatwounds on one of my basses, though. *blah*

JackANSI · Post by **JackANSI** » Saturday Aug 15, 2015

Pickups are the vintage noiseless pickups, same as on an american deluxe.

I've backed away from flats lately. I think I'm hooked more on how they feel than they sound now. Way more finger friendly to those like me who don't play often but like to put in a few hours when I do play (no callouses required).

MOONDOGGY · Post by **MOONDOGGY** » Sunday Aug 23, 2015

You still have that Fodera?! I never got to drool over that bass!

JackANSI · Post by **JackANSI** » Monday Aug 24, 2015

Traded it off fairly quick (for me anyway). Sadly found that I'm a cheap bass guy at heart.

This Fender is kinda expensive on the cheap bass scale, but I really wanted one of the newer generation Fenders. They are some versatile basses with some of the best wood work out there right now. The 2008-2011 Fender basses seem to be made with some quality planks too. I hope they get into another good set of planks again because I think I want a P next.

I still have yet to find something I can play as easily as my BBN 5. Even other BBN 5's I've bought don't seem to be up there with it. At least I learned why vintage basses are so good... All the ones that weren't great died a long time ago and we are left with just the best examples. So buying new isn't best thing all the time. (Unless it involves a CNC copy of one of those "prime examples", hehe)