MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 23, 2020 10:46:34 GMT -5
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Post by Taildragger on Feb 23, 2020 11:33:28 GMT -5
I notice that one of the Talman reviewers @ Sweetwater was dissatisfied with the stock pups and swapped them out. I swapped Dimarzio DR-123s into a used SX shorty "J" bass that had the ho-hum stockers in it and wow: what a difference. Similarly, a picked up a used SX shorty "P" that had poor string-to-polepiece alignment so I stuck DiMarzio DP-127s (with blades) in that one, also yielding a significant improvement.
Hope you like the bass fine as-is: just thought I'd mention my pup experience in case the bridge pup is noisy (as the one reviewer complained) or seems to fall a little short tone-wise.
Give us a review once you get her and she's "settled in". I'm a fan of shorties but have never tried one of those as they haven't been in stock in any music stores I've been in.
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 23, 2020 12:16:56 GMT -5
TD I spent some time watching youtube reviews and they all sounded good. If need be I'll change some parts in the future. At $180 I figure it's going to be hard to beat.
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gbfun
Wholenote
I eat cookies to provide you with the best possible experience.
Posts: 463
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Post by gbfun on Feb 23, 2020 15:24:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I just added bass back into my practice schedule too. It's a blast and it's easy to slop through almost any song that doesn't have too many bizarre chord changes. I limit myself to a half hour a day though. Playing bass messes up my guitar lead if I play too much bass. Bass is great for strengthening fingers for the thicker geetar strings though ! And after playing my Fender 5 those heavy geetars are no problem at all...  |
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Post by hushnel on Feb 23, 2020 18:18:40 GMT -5
Welcome home “o), I just recently picked up a Squire Jaguar with the P/J pickup configuration. Sounds OK and it’s great to play. The pickups should be fine, at least until the old P-Special makes it back into rotation. Not enough experience with the J style pick ups to know any better. Like you point out for a $150.00 I can put some money into it.
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Post by Taildragger on Feb 23, 2020 19:14:55 GMT -5
Like you point out for a $150.00 I can put some money into it.
I spent as much (in the neighborhood of $100/per) on the new, replacement pups for my used SX "P" & "J" as I did for the basses themselves and am happy with the outcome. I think that electronics is the aspect where most (though certainly not all) of the "scrimping" is done by companies to keep entry-level basses inexpensive. If you can make a good solder joint, you can improve them exponentially, provided that you pick out an otherwise-serviceable, individual unit. They may never be the equal of a "boutique" bass, but many can be upgraded to be perfectly-adequate, playable instruments.
One side note on replacing Jazz-style pups: the length of the pups, even the original Fenders, has varied a bit over the years (though I can't cite years/models). Some Jazz basses (both Fenders and knock-offs) have bridge and neck pups which are identical in length. Others have bridge and neck pups which are different in length. Measure what you have carefully and check the dimensions of the replacements you've selected before ordering. I know DiMarzio offers their replacements in both configurations (and has diagrams marked with dimensions on their website) and suspect that other, after-market pup makers do as well. Specify what you need when ordering. |
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 24, 2020 7:21:06 GMT -5
TD, good to know. I forgot about the variation in jazz pup sizes. I see Sweetwater is now out of stock for this bass, must be a hot seller.
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 28, 2020 20:54:37 GMT -5
 So here's my under $300 bass station. I've only had a little time with it but I think it was a good choice. After a 4 year hiatus I have to learn how to mute again and I have to get used to the short scale as I find myself over reaching. |
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Post by LTB on Feb 29, 2020 0:55:23 GMT -5
So here's my under $300 bass station. I've only had a little time with it but I think it was a good choice. After a 4 year hiatus I have to learn how to mute again and I have to get used to the short scale as I find myself over reaching. Nice! I like that color. Is that a Fender Rumble series amp? |
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 29, 2020 6:58:37 GMT -5
So here's my under $300 bass station. I've only had a little time with it but I think it was a good choice. After a 4 year hiatus I have to learn how to mute again and I have to get used to the short scale as I find myself over reaching. Nice! I like that color. Is that a Fender Rumble series amp? The color is Mint Green, very pretty. Yes, the amp is a Rumble 15, more than enough for my living room. |
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 29, 2020 8:30:21 GMT -5
After a little more playing time I have a couple more observations. Short scale means less string tension. Plucking over the J pup reduces fret buzz. J pup by itself has a little hum but that's to be expected. At this time I see no need to replace anything.
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Post by BluzLvr on Feb 29, 2020 11:46:21 GMT -5
Nice rig for $300 MJB. Hell, looks like a nice rig period. Love the color. Welcome back to the dark side.
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Post by chicagodude on Feb 29, 2020 14:12:45 GMT -5
Nice color! Is that a Fender bass?
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Feb 29, 2020 16:22:48 GMT -5
Nice color! Is that a Fender bass? Ibanez TMB30. Check the link in the OP. |
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Post by Taildragger on Mar 1, 2020 0:19:31 GMT -5
"I thought I was done with bass."
Evidently, bass wasn't done with you.
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Mar 1, 2020 6:21:51 GMT -5
"I thought I was done with bass." Evidently, bass wasn't done with you. And I'm glad!  |
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Post by LTB on Mar 5, 2020 7:20:48 GMT -5
Nice! I like that color. Is that a Fender Rumble series amp? The color is Mint Green, very pretty. Yes, the amp is a Rumble 15, more than enough for my living room. New Rumble series amps are really nice sounding. My cousin Pam who played bass in a band in 1970’s before marriage but gave it up. So About 2 years ago I gave her one of my 5string basses. Then about a year ago she wanted me to help her pick out an amp within her budget so we went to a local music store to look for her an amp. She ended up getting a Fender Rumble with a 15” speaker. It was the best sounding amp she could afford. |
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Post by BluzLvr on Mar 5, 2020 10:24:17 GMT -5
"New Rumble series amps are really nice sounding."
Agreed. I currently have 3 of 'em and 2 Rumble cabinets. For the money, they're the best thing out there. IMHO YMMV
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