This dude is a good player and makes them all sound good. To my ears the cheaper basses seem to have a little more shrill top end and lacking a little depth in the lows/low mids. Japanese sounded like it had a blanket over it. AP II and CS 64 sounded really great to me.
Sound coming direct from a bass almost means nothing these days. There are such amazing preamp units out there that can shape the sound of any bass in any way you want. Takea cheap $400 fender and run it through for example a darkglass alpha omega and it will sound like any of these high end expensive fenders with that classic ampeg sound. The technology has come so far that the bass itself has meant less and less over time. Thats not to say the expensive ones arent better instruments, they usually are, but to the average listener, plug any piece of crap fender into a good setup and itll sound great to almost everyone.
@@trenken yup especially with something like a J or P bass where the sound is usually just accepted as “good” by default. I still like to own expensive instruments myself, but it’s really just for my own internal satisfaction. One of my favourite gigging basses is a cheap G&L Tribute Jazz bass copy that I upgraded with EMG pickups. Cost me about $750 total but people hear it and think I paid thousands more for it.
Most of the differences are due to the pickups, the strings and the setup. None of these make an instrument much more expensive. I own about 10 Fender basses. If you go for really cheap, you get low quality hardware, electronics and pickups and bad quality control. Not worth it, but beyond this, the smallest amount of your money goes into a better sounding instrument. If you don’t get a gig with this Squier CV, a 5.000,- Custom Shop Fender might feel better, but it will not get you the gig. Better invest time into playing.
I got myself a fender am original 50s p bass, which is just fabulous out of the box and sounds so so sooooo good. I would normaly say no need to spend that much but goddammit, I had to do it. There was an instant harmony between me and the Bass and no matter what the seller gave me, everything just felt inferior to the P, both sound and feel (neck) and I gravitated to it. I just loved the meaty fat neck and it sounded sooo good, so much low end energy and that typical P bass 200 to 600HZ growl. Insane. Plus the gold look just gets me every day, so beautiful. However, I think the player is fine but still a bit too much tweaking for my taste, still would have to replace tuning machines for lightweight ones (as I did with my P) to get as little neckdive as possible and still would change the Pickups and especially the synthetic (!!!!!) saddle sadly which would bring me to about 350 400 ish extra Euros so I would pay 1.2k Euros for the final product. So I will very probably go for a partcaster J bass. Choose the neckprofile I like (probably a P neck for the jazz still) in roasted maple (deliiicious) with a black body and red pickguard and only put on high quality parts (lightweight tuners, high mass bridge, ...), put in lollar or CS 60s pickups and maybe even gold hardware if its available then. Then let it be put together by my luthier and add a bone saddle. All the parts will cost me 1k plus the setup and saddle (150€), there I go, perfect J bass for roughly more than 1k (depending on what neck I will choose). So all in all, I think you will be fine in most situations with a squire or a sire bass BUT, as you said, you need to bring it to a luthier which depending can cost. Especially if he has to adjust the frets and get in a new saddle. Which I would do anyway, cause playability is key. Plus then probably 150 Euros for extra pickups, so you allready land at 700 but then probably have a better instrument than those still mediocre player basses. But for me an instrument should be all round satisfying, including awesome look and the feel of a neck I prefer. Which, people, If you wanna get a big fat P bass neck for low money, the sire P5 has almost as fat of a neck as my american original P. I really was surprised by the sires quality, very very very good for 500 bucks. But the pickups didnt hold up and were not the tipical p sound to me, being overly bright in the mids at about 1k, very anoying.
I agree that whether you get the gig or not is how well you play. In a studio situation I'm sure you can hear more of a difference but in a live situation is it going to be that much of a difference? Your bandmates may be able to tell a slight difference but the people in the audience won't. Obviously the fit-and-finish of the more expensive instruments is going to make it feel better in your hands. And of course the components are going to be of better quality. But you can take a Squier bass and put a better output jack in it maybe better tuners and have a fairly decent bass. Maybe change the pickups and get a Keeley Limiter/compressor.
I wasn't sure I could distinguish them at first, but the last two sounded thicker and fuller and better to my ear. Maybe it's just confirmation bias but that's how it seemed. Great video!
The big question is, what would the cheapest basses sound like with the pickups from the most expensive basses installed in them. In most cases the more expensive basses result in improvements in playing pleasure and the pickups and strings are more responsible for tone improvements.
I like the CS 60 best, it had the most scooped sound for slap with the most percussive low E. The Japan sounded a little flat and the Squier a little thin to me, but with all the others it's splitting hairs and I doubt I could tell them apart blindfolded.
The Squier finish is nicer than the Player with its darker fingerboard and vintage tint headstock. I would take the Japanese Fender; All of my Fender Japan basses have amazing fit and finish. Then probably that master built custom shop. I love jazz basses too much so would just take them all.
For those that are saying they all sound the same...you are wrong.The Am Pro 2 and the Master Build have incredible tone.I am interested in the Am Pro 2 as I can't afford 10 grand for the master Build.
the IMPORTANT question is how do they feel? How do they take a very low action setup? I can honestly say my Master Built is far nicer to play than a regular MIA, much less a MIM... how it feels in your hands matters a lot!
The difference in the quality in sound from mid tier to high end can end up being negligible but the difference in overall feel of the instrument can be radically different for sure.
@your problem largely agree with this, I think what people are trying to point to is that the overall feel of the neck from a CS or some other boutique builder is typically going to be much nicer and it goes beyond just low frets and general playability. You can get a squier or budget guitar to have low action but when the entire neck has gotten a ton of attention to detail and every ingredient is of very high quality, the overall feel can become something special and inspiring in it's own right.
@@blakedoingthings even most Custom Shop basses don't have crazy attention to detail. A couple of hundred dollars to a luthier to polish the frets sort out the nut, and it'll have the most attention to detail of any of them.
The only one that seemed to be at all lacking in tone was the Player Series. It almost sounded like it was harder to play or something, and all the rest of them had better mids. The best? Probably the blue 64, but most of them sounded great.
A setup issue on the Player Jazz perhaps? To me it sounds like the pickups may not be as close to the strings as the other basses or something minor like that, but tonally I think it holds its own
@@jkf9167 yeah I've tried them as well since they're probably the easiest basses to find in stores. Never had any issues. Even while comparing directly with a USA professional, it still held it's own
@@kingdeedee whatever problem it has is probably is specific to the bass. I've played a couple with sharp fret ends, but aside from that, they've all been good players and sounded really nice.
I’ve got a CS61 Jazz bass and it’s such a beast! It’s feel so good in my hands! I highly recommend it for those that play everyday and wanna have a nice/full experience of playing daily. I like knowing it was made with L O V E
I loved the sound of the Custom Shop 64'... But, let's get real for a moment: any lack of "refinement" that an original Squier CV may have, can be "corrected" with a new set of pickups and a setup, and you'll have a great sounding J-Bass for a fraction of the price of a Custom Shop!!! About quality over time: I own a Squier CV (its a P-Bass) for over 10 years now... most of this time playing with LaBella's flatwounds (45-105) and the neck it's as good as it was when I bought it brand new! So, having said that, there's no reason (sound wise) to put that much money on a Custom Shop, when you can get the same sound from a CV, taking it to a good professional to install a new set of pickups and a setup! Now, allow me to be clear about "playability": a Squier CV will never have the same "feel" of a Custom Shop J-Bass in your hands! When I say I'd choose the CV with a good set of pickups instead of the Custom Shop's, I'm talking about the sound, the tone... only that, ok? Great video! Thanks for sharing! P.S.: we have so many options of good quality pickups nowadays, that Fender is almost "unfair" with Custom Shop allowing Squier to launch CV... just saying... 🤷🖖
I had this video playing in the background while doing something else and I literally had to look up when I heard him playing the CS 64. The sound was actually different and "better" in my opinion. More full and smooth, less shrill. But yeah I agree you can get all the great sounds you need out of far cheaper instruments. I had a custom spector PJ bass that I would bring to gigs and no one said shit to me about my bass sound until I brought my roadworn P to the gig and the singer straight up turned around was like, "damn that bass sounds good!" Price difference of about $3k lol
What I like and what I know to be the most useful are two different things. I really enjoy the weight and punch of the American Professional II but the most refined and versatile sound is the Paul Waller Master Build. The Master Build has the fewest compromises. It has the right balance of weight, coherence, evenness of tone, presence and punch. It's not the most exciting sounding bass, but it's got more punch than the Japanese 60 while retaining its balance. More control and depth than the Squier 60 or the Player. Some of the heft of the AP II without the bloat. A bit of the midrange grind of the Custom 60s, without the jumpy frequencies or peaky highs. It's a more composed and more articulate instrument, that isn't boring but isn't flashy (which is really what you want in a great Jazz). The Precision is the bass you feel in a traditional context, or one which grinds in a hard rock context. The Jazz is the bass that sings, but in a mellow, bouncing way. I think the Master Build kind of nails the spirit of the Jazz perfectly.
Hence custom shop. It has an almost perfect, classic balanced clean tone to it, made for those who want it. But clearly not for the faint hearted or low budget
More importantly how they play. Do they hold up well under heavy use. What happens when you go from a cold car in winter in to a warm environment. Are they inspiring to play? Subtle nuance and dynamic expression matter to me. And a high quality instrument is a solid investment. Money in the bank if you take care of it.
I think I would be more interested in knowing the differences in the action of the neck and whether not any strings buzz on the frets due to fret leveling differences. Also playability differences ie does one guitar seem more effortless than the others. Definitely hearing reasonable differences when pickups are played in isolation, but when both pickups are played together at max tone, the differences are subtle.
Thought they all sounded almost identical. I had an avri 64 jazz. Picked up one of the 1st generation rosewood classic vibe jazzes as a backup, after a few months sold the fender, just wasnt as good. Balance and weight of classic vibe was better, neck was a little more to my taste, preferred the tone.
Geddy lee has an original of one of those green 64 jazz basses. He also has a rare red/pinkish looking one he paid $45,000 for from norms rare guitars out in california. I honestly cant hear THAT much of a difference between the cheap and the expensive ones. There are serious fender collectors and enthusiasts in the world that have money to spend and drive the prices of the old ones up. It has little to do with the actual sound or playability of them. If you ask me with playability, the modern fenders are MUCH better. Just better designed. Obviously they have decades of improvements that led to them.
Although feel is key and can’t be assessed with earphones alone, I have to say my preference is the squier in every demo. I would save an extra mortgage on the CS’s and get pup / bridge upgrades and add a John east preamp to make an amazing £1k bass all up including a set-up
What I got out of this is a good player makes good music no matter what instrument... Maybe th cv is ever so slightly lacking some depth and ever so slightly muddy ... Buuuuut ... Idk
Honestly, the 60s vibe and the Professional 2 are by far the best.
They all sound 99% the same. I’m gonna buy the model that has the color I want lol.
Tone comes from the paint for sure!
That’s a bingo.
Agree
This dude is a good player and makes them all sound good. To my ears the cheaper basses seem to have a little more shrill top end and lacking a little depth in the lows/low mids. Japanese sounded like it had a blanket over it. AP II and CS 64 sounded really great to me.
Sound coming direct from a bass almost means nothing these days. There are such amazing preamp units out there that can shape the sound of any bass in any way you want. Takea cheap $400 fender and run it through for example a darkglass alpha omega and it will sound like any of these high end expensive fenders with that classic ampeg sound.
The technology has come so far that the bass itself has meant less and less over time. Thats not to say the expensive ones arent better instruments, they usually are, but to the average listener, plug any piece of crap fender into a good setup and itll sound great to almost everyone.
A lot of difference could very well be the strings or just the inherent unavoidable inconsistencies from human hands playing an instrument
@@trenken yup especially with something like a J or P bass where the sound is usually just accepted as “good” by default. I still like to own expensive instruments myself, but it’s really just for my own internal satisfaction. One of my favourite gigging basses is a cheap G&L Tribute Jazz bass copy that I upgraded with EMG pickups. Cost me about $750 total but people hear it and think I paid thousands more for it.
Very surprised how good the classic vibe sounds
it's the Squier top level Jazz bass series
Custom shop' s and Japan made sounds great. Squier vibe best value for a price. Great comparison 😉 thank you so much!!!
Most of the differences are due to the pickups, the strings and the setup. None of these make an instrument much more expensive.
I own about 10 Fender basses. If you go for really cheap, you get low quality hardware, electronics and pickups and bad quality control. Not worth it, but beyond this, the smallest amount of your money goes into a better sounding instrument.
If you don’t get a gig with this Squier CV, a 5.000,- Custom Shop Fender might feel better, but it will not get you the gig. Better invest time into playing.
I got myself a fender am original 50s p bass, which is just fabulous out of the box and sounds so so sooooo good. I would normaly say no need to spend that much but goddammit, I had to do it. There was an instant harmony between me and the Bass and no matter what the seller gave me, everything just felt inferior to the P, both sound and feel (neck) and I gravitated to it. I just loved the meaty fat neck and it sounded sooo good, so much low end energy and that typical P bass 200 to 600HZ growl. Insane. Plus the gold look just gets me every day, so beautiful.
However, I think the player is fine but still a bit too much tweaking for my taste, still would have to replace tuning machines for lightweight ones (as I did with my P) to get as little neckdive as possible and still would change the Pickups and especially the synthetic (!!!!!) saddle sadly which would bring me to about 350 400 ish extra Euros so I would pay 1.2k Euros for the final product.
So I will very probably go for a partcaster J bass. Choose the neckprofile I like (probably a P neck for the jazz still) in roasted maple (deliiicious) with a black body and red pickguard and only put on high quality parts (lightweight tuners, high mass bridge, ...), put in lollar or CS 60s pickups and maybe even gold hardware if its available then. Then let it be put together by my luthier and add a bone saddle. All the parts will cost me 1k plus the setup and saddle (150€), there I go, perfect J bass for roughly more than 1k (depending on what neck I will choose).
So all in all, I think you will be fine in most situations with a squire or a sire bass BUT, as you said, you need to bring it to a luthier which depending can cost. Especially if he has to adjust the frets and get in a new saddle. Which I would do anyway, cause playability is key. Plus then probably 150 Euros for extra pickups, so you allready land at 700 but then probably have a better instrument than those still mediocre player basses.
But for me an instrument should be all round satisfying, including awesome look and the feel of a neck I prefer.
Which, people, If you wanna get a big fat P bass neck for low money, the sire P5 has almost as fat of a neck as my american original P. I really was surprised by the sires quality, very very very good for 500 bucks. But the pickups didnt hold up and were not the tipical p sound to me, being overly bright in the mids at about 1k, very anoying.
I dont know why.. but the Orange Player Series stands out to me the most
I agree
This is bc the pickups are potted and wired the same as 1960s. Nothing comes closer to a 1960 sound than the Squiers or player series. So odd.
I agree that whether you get the gig or not is how well you play. In a studio situation I'm sure you can hear more of a difference but in a live situation is it going to be that much of a difference? Your bandmates may be able to tell a slight difference but the people in the audience won't. Obviously the fit-and-finish of the more expensive instruments is going to make it feel better in your hands. And of course the components are going to be of better quality. But you can take a Squier bass and put a better output jack in it maybe better tuners and have a fairly decent bass. Maybe change the pickups and get a Keeley Limiter/compressor.
Squier sounds good👏🙌
Great demo! They all sound good. If you forced me to choose, probably the MasterBuild 1964 Paul Waller
I wasn't sure I could distinguish them at first, but the last two sounded thicker and fuller and better to my ear. Maybe it's just confirmation bias but that's how it seemed. Great video!
The big question is, what would the cheapest basses sound like with the pickups from the most expensive basses installed in them.
In most cases the more expensive basses result in improvements in playing pleasure and the pickups and strings are more responsible for tone improvements.
I like the CS 60 best, it had the most scooped sound for slap with the most percussive low E. The Japan sounded a little flat and the Squier a little thin to me, but with all the others it's splitting hairs and I doubt I could tell them apart blindfolded.
What I've learned about owning serval Fender Jazz Basses: Get a Japanese made one and change the electronics.
The Squier finish is nicer than the Player with its darker fingerboard and vintage tint headstock. I would take the Japanese Fender; All of my Fender Japan basses have amazing fit and finish. Then probably that master built custom shop. I love jazz basses too much so would just take them all.
a high mass bridge on the Squier and it'll sound the best of the bunch
For those that are saying they all sound the same...you are wrong.The Am Pro 2 and the Master Build have incredible tone.I am interested in the Am Pro 2 as I can't afford 10 grand for the master Build.
I have the Am Pro 2, I highly recommend it!
Keep cope alive
the IMPORTANT question is how do they feel? How do they take a very low action setup? I can honestly say my Master Built is far nicer to play than a regular MIA, much less a MIM... how it feels in your hands matters a lot!
Thank you! I don't know why this seems to be no longer discussed. How it feels in your hands is so important!
The difference in the quality in sound from mid tier to high end can end up being negligible but the difference in overall feel of the instrument can be radically different for sure.
@your problem largely agree with this, I think what people are trying to point to is that the overall feel of the neck from a CS or some other boutique builder is typically going to be much nicer and it goes beyond just low frets and general playability. You can get a squier or budget guitar to have low action but when the entire neck has gotten a ton of attention to detail and every ingredient is of very high quality, the overall feel can become something special and inspiring in it's own right.
@@blakedoingthings even most Custom Shop basses don't have crazy attention to detail. A couple of hundred dollars to a luthier to polish the frets sort out the nut, and it'll have the most attention to detail of any of them.
Nah the important one is what’s not gonna destroy your wallet
The only one that seemed to be at all lacking in tone was the Player Series. It almost sounded like it was harder to play or something, and all the rest of them had better mids. The best? Probably the blue 64, but most of them sounded great.
A setup issue on the Player Jazz perhaps? To me it sounds like the pickups may not be as close to the strings as the other basses or something minor like that, but tonally I think it holds its own
@@kingdeedee I've played one. It certainly seemed fine.
@@jkf9167 yeah I've tried them as well since they're probably the easiest basses to find in stores. Never had any issues. Even while comparing directly with a USA professional, it still held it's own
@@kingdeedee whatever problem it has is probably is specific to the bass. I've played a couple with sharp fret ends, but aside from that, they've all been good players and sounded really nice.
I’ve got a CS61 Jazz bass and it’s such a beast! It’s feel so good in my hands! I highly recommend it for those that play everyday and wanna have a nice/full experience of playing daily. I like knowing it was made with L O V E
I loved the sound of the Custom Shop 64'... But, let's get real for a moment: any lack of "refinement" that an original Squier CV may have, can be "corrected" with a new set of pickups and a setup, and you'll have a great sounding J-Bass for a fraction of the price of a Custom Shop!!! About quality over time: I own a Squier CV (its a P-Bass) for over 10 years now... most of this time playing with LaBella's flatwounds (45-105) and the neck it's as good as it was when I bought it brand new! So, having said that, there's no reason (sound wise) to put that much money on a Custom Shop, when you can get the same sound from a CV, taking it to a good professional to install a new set of pickups and a setup! Now, allow me to be clear about "playability": a Squier CV will never have the same "feel" of a Custom Shop J-Bass in your hands! When I say I'd choose the CV with a good set of pickups instead of the Custom Shop's, I'm talking about the sound, the tone... only that, ok? Great video! Thanks for sharing! P.S.: we have so many options of good quality pickups nowadays, that Fender is almost "unfair" with Custom Shop allowing Squier to launch CV... just saying... 🤷🖖
I had this video playing in the background while doing something else and I literally had to look up when I heard him playing the CS 64. The sound was actually different and "better" in my opinion. More full and smooth, less shrill. But yeah I agree you can get all the great sounds you need out of far cheaper instruments. I had a custom spector PJ bass that I would bring to gigs and no one said shit to me about my bass sound until I brought my roadworn P to the gig and the singer straight up turned around was like, "damn that bass sounds good!" Price difference of about $3k lol
OMG this Custom 64 is killer!!!
Great comparison - very well executed 👍
Very nice. I own a Mexican standard myself, these are great basses.
All seemed pretty negligible but the MIJ sounded the tightest to me.
I’ve got a vintera 60s in blue with some flat wounds and a pick-up cover and. I love it!!!
What I like and what I know to be the most useful are two different things. I really enjoy the weight and punch of the American Professional II but the most refined and versatile sound is the Paul Waller Master Build. The Master Build has the fewest compromises. It has the right balance of weight, coherence, evenness of tone, presence and punch. It's not the most exciting sounding bass, but it's got more punch than the Japanese 60 while retaining its balance. More control and depth than the Squier 60 or the Player. Some of the heft of the AP II without the bloat. A bit of the midrange grind of the Custom 60s, without the jumpy frequencies or peaky highs. It's a more composed and more articulate instrument, that isn't boring but isn't flashy (which is really what you want in a great Jazz). The Precision is the bass you feel in a traditional context, or one which grinds in a hard rock context. The Jazz is the bass that sings, but in a mellow, bouncing way. I think the Master Build kind of nails the spirit of the Jazz perfectly.
Hence custom shop. It has an almost perfect, classic balanced clean tone to it, made for those who want it. But clearly not for the faint hearted or low budget
Many thanks! I was looking for a straightforward comparison like yours!
that was soo well done!!! please make a P bass version :)
He makes all of them sound great, so I dunno lol
Thanks for sharing 👍🎸🎵🎶🇬🇧
Great video!! Love it
More importantly how they play. Do they hold up well under heavy use. What happens when you go from a cold car in winter in to a warm environment.
Are they inspiring to play? Subtle nuance and dynamic expression matter to me.
And a high quality instrument is a solid investment. Money in the bank if you take care of it.
I think I would be more interested in knowing the differences in the action of the neck and whether not any strings buzz on the frets due to fret leveling differences.
Also playability differences ie does one guitar seem more effortless than the others.
Definitely hearing reasonable differences when pickups are played in isolation, but when both pickups are played together at max tone, the differences are subtle.
i prefer the sound of the orange player
Thought they all sounded almost identical. I had an avri 64 jazz. Picked up one of the 1st generation rosewood classic vibe jazzes as a backup, after a few months sold the fender, just wasnt as good. Balance and weight of classic vibe was better, neck was a little more to my taste, preferred the tone.
I feeling god japanese and CS 1960.
for me: Pro II or CS64
Awesome 😮
Geddy lee has an original of one of those green 64 jazz basses. He also has a rare red/pinkish looking one he paid $45,000 for from norms rare guitars out in california.
I honestly cant hear THAT much of a difference between the cheap and the expensive ones. There are serious fender collectors and enthusiasts in the world that have money to spend and drive the prices of the old ones up. It has little to do with the actual sound or playability of them. If you ask me with playability, the modern fenders are MUCH better. Just better designed. Obviously they have decades of improvements that led to them.
l love it professional 2 !
I go with the cheapo Bacchus BJB1RSM .
Although feel is key and can’t be assessed with earphones alone, I have to say my preference is the squier in every demo. I would save an extra mortgage on the CS’s and get pup / bridge upgrades and add a John east preamp to make an amazing £1k bass all up including a set-up
Seem not much tonal different on those J when set both pickups run , I only able hear the Am Pro ll J sound thin on slap playing.
Custom Shop64
I cant tell large differences in tone performance
What I got out of this is a good player makes good music no matter what instrument... Maybe th cv is ever so slightly lacking some depth and ever so slightly muddy ... Buuuuut ... Idk
CS64
They all sound the same.....
I guarantee they don't all play the same.