Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz Bass

Feature:
I got a gig bag and the salesman changed the input jack because it was cross-threaded. he even tried to attach a ground wire from the volume pot to stop the slight hum comong from the bass when you tsake your hand off the strings. We could not eliminate the small hum but it did not bother me because I rarely play my bass with out touching the stringd, Ha ha.

Quality:
The finish was a little cheesey for my taste so I stripped the body and danish oiled the body to get that natural look. Oh yeah, you can't beat the ebony finget board. I was weird that there was that little piece of sand paper under the neck. Wesed to put shime under the bolt on necks sommetimes to get the best possible adjustments. I was actually impressed that a factory made instrument had someone shim the neck. I later read that other people found that piece of sand paper shim...must be a factory correction for an over routing of the neck pocked or, over compenstion to lean the neck back.

Value:
They are giving the bass away. Everyone says a great biginners bass. I say a good pro bass. There is plenyt of room to add anything you want to the bass.

Desirability:
As I mentioned, as a custom bass builder I really do not like the factory starburst finishes, especially in the yellow and brown. That would be my only complaint. It does not look vintage in that color..it looks like a wanna be vintage..so why bother. I bet if they made the finish in a natural, or basic black it would be more appealing. I guess that natural would be hard to do because the woood selection would be more costly. I was lucly to have a good grain combo on the 3 pc body.

Sound:
I have been playing bass for 40 years. I playy upright, electric, and fretless. I also made basses with Fodera and Ken Smith. Having qualified to know alittle about building and playing, especially in the fretless arena I have to say that the Squire fretless is on on the best playing and sounding fretlesses i have played. I did not even want another bass. I was just window shoping with a friend who wanted to get an accessory for his paino. While I was waiting I picked up the Squire...plugged it in, and was amazed at the playability and punchy sound. Several people in the music store stopped brousing and came over to comment on the amazing punch the bass had. Within 15 minute I was purchasing the bass. I was lucky enough to get the bass and case for a remarkable $189.00. How could I resist a great sounding bass for that price. I would still have paid the going price of about $280.

Ease of Use:
By blending the pick ups I was able to get a Jaco sound by favoring the bridge pick-up and treble on the tone control. I agree with another reviewer who said that the bass treble spread is extremely wide, and the treble past 3 or 4 is over the top for me. Likewise if you play closer to the neck and favor the bass tone you can get a warn fretless jazz sound. The best thing about the instrument is that I was able to play close to the neck for a jazz gvove and move to the bridge when I wanted to get that jaco punch, without having to change any settings.

Support:
Great service.

Overall:
I'll have this for a long time.

Feature:
It has all the features of a Fender Jazz bass. Comes with no extras but would not expect them at this price point. Materials are basic but seem to work well for a budget instrument.

Quality:
I purchased a 'Blem' but could not find any cosmetic defects. However the pots were very scratchy. As expected the neck needed a small truss rod adjustment and the truss rod works well. I cleaned up the pots with contact cleaner which helped but there is still some crackling at times. I have decided to replace all the pots and re wire the electronics (for around 40 bucks) with USA made CTS pots and a Vitamin Q cap. I think that this will make a big difference and the guitar is worthy of that upgrade. The bridge is typical stock Fender which I may replace in the future. The pots are 500K but I am replacing them with 250K (as used on most Fender J's). For my taste the tone control full open is too bright and I have been turning the tone way down (also, there is quite a lot of hum with the tone turned up past about 2).

Value:
Very good value, even with the extra spent to mod the instrument.

Desirability:
It's a nice looking piece of gear, although I am also replacing the chrome knobs with a set of Fender J Bass black plastic knobs, I think that it will look cooler.

Sound:
Possible to coax a 'Jaco' like sound. Nice jazzy fusion vibe with some overtones, suits what I purchased it for. The instrument is capable of expressive tone and some dynamic range.

Ease of Use:
Ease of use as expected. Action is good and very playable.

Support:
Have not had cause to use them.

Overall:
It's a fun instrument to play. I worry how long the fretboard will last with Roundwound strings, I have ordered a set of Half Rounds in the hope of minimizing fretboard wear, I think that Flatwounds will spoil the overall tone that I am looking for but would be great for a real 'smokey club' vibe. I owned a MIM fretless J Bass some years ago and overall I think this Squier is more playable and sounds more authentic.