superheavydeathmetal wrote:
Has anyone played the Jazz? How do they compare with the Vintage Modified series?
If nobody has, I am willing to be the guinea pig for the group.
I would also be willing to put some money into it to upgrade the hardware (the bridge, in particular, looks a little flimsy), but I don't want to bother with something that is going to have playability issues.
I ask because, while I am "happy" with my tone, I feel like there is something missing, and I am really digging the tone lf this bass in this video (playing starts at 2:00):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRXLqxtR4c#t=120I have owned the VM 70's Jazz in natural (and painted mine blue) and currently own the CV 70's Jazz, there are some major pros and cons to both for me - but the current CV Jazz is much improved.
The pickups and body wood selection on the CV 70's Jazz are much much better than the old VM version, I really hated the Duncan Design pickups in the VM. The new ones are built with An5 pickups, and they sound really good.
The best feature, the pickups are in exactly the right spot. The bridge pickup is definitely in the 70's position and it really adds to the quality of the tone.
I'm not a big fan of the heavy coat of tinted gloss on the CV version, my neck looks like it's coated in pure amber.
The machine heads and bridge on the CV are the same as the VM, and are pure suck - they're the first thing I replaced. I put a Fender BA style hi-mass bridge on and a vintage style set of classic Schallers on for tuners. More mass on both ends is good.
It took a few neck adjustments for me to get the setup dialed in to where I like it, and I think the next thing I'll invest in is a fret level and dress. Again, the workmanship is ok - but the frets are a bit pokey in spots and not 100% perfectly level. I tend to setup with as close to "credit card" action as I can.
Overall, the black CV 70's Jazz is totally worth it. It's a very solid platform for modding, and it's even a pretty good bass if you leave it alone.