Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special Ss Review
Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar® Bass Special SS (Brusk Calibration)
Brusque scale bass with skillful sound, great playability and expert looks at an insanely low price
$269.99 MSRP, $169.99 "street"
http://world wide web.squierguitars.com
By Phil O'Keefe
Fender, the inventor of the first commercially successful electrical bass (and Squier'south parent company), has been making curt scale bass guitars since 1966, and Squier has released a few different models over the years as well. Brusque scale instruments are oftentimes considered "student models", although they take likewise been used to adept effect past many professional person musicians over the years. Currently there are iv Squier "Jaguar Bass" models, but only one that is a brusk scale bass. This model is officially chosen the "Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar® Bass Special SS (Brusque Scale)" (Effigy i), which is quite a mouthful, so nosotros'll just refer to it as a Jaguar for the sake of brevity.
Long favored not only by students and younger players just as well by adults with smaller hands, short scale bass models usually take a thirty" scale as opposed to the standard 34" bass scale length; the shorter distances between frets means less finger stretching, and this makes short calibration models much easier to play.
Figure ane: The Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass® Special SS (Short Calibration)
PICKUPS AND ELECTRONICS
The Jaguar'due south passive electronics are fairly straightforward. A split coil Precision Bass pickup is located in the middle position, and a Jazz bass single coil pickup is located near the bridge. Each pickup is connected to its ain 250K Alpha mini volume potentiometer, while a third 250K pot and a .050 microfarad capacitor function as a master tone control. (Effigy 2) The control and pickup cavities are painted with conductive paint for shielding. Hum is not an issue with the P-Bass pickup, although the J-Bass pickup of the review unit does suffer from a bit of racket. Curiously, information technology is also noticeably weaker than the P-Bass pickup, measuring 4.65K compared to the P-Bass pickup's 6.54K. The lower output and shut proximity to the bridge give the J-Bass pickup lone a brilliant and thin sonic grapheme. Fortunately, the P-Bass pickup is a real star. It sounds throaty and full, with smashing midrange note definition and punch, and not a trace of mud. Information technology likewise has much better annotation definition and resonance on the low Eastward string--a weak area for many 30" scale basses--than whatsoever other short scale model I have tried. I tin foresee even the folks who honey to modify their instruments leaving this stock pickup alone--it sounds really adept. The two pickups also sound practiced when running together, merely the J-Bass unit of measurement only can't measure up to the sound of the P-Bass pickup when running solo, so if you rely on the J-Bass pickup equally function of your sound, you will probably desire to upkeep for a pickup upgrade. It doesn't audio bad, but it is pretty weak.
Effigy ii: The Jaguar Bass uses 250K Blastoff pots for the two book controls and one master tone control
FIT AND FINISH
The Jaguar Bass (Curt Scale) comes in 3 colour combinations: processed apple tree cerise, argent, or blackness. Regardless of the color of the torso, all three have a blackness headstock, black pickguard and rosewood fingerboard. Cosmetically, the satin end on the maple neck isn't too bleached looking, just if y'all adopt a highly yellowed vintage cervix tint, you may notice the shade a little low-cal. The neck inlays announced to be white plastic dots inlayed cleanly into the rosewood fingerboard. There are also white plastic side inlays to further help you detect your way around. More often than not, this bass looks really prissy; fifty-fifty swish. Just every bit you start doing a detailed inspection, little things show up. In that location is a "scuffed" spot in the satin finish at the very end of the peghead on the review unit of measurement. A small unfilled gap in the "skunk stripe" on the dorsum of the neck. A small-scale burr in the plastic nigh one of the nut slots. Fortunately, that never afflicted tuning, and none of these very minor blemishes are especially egregious on an instrument at this price point, but they are role of the reason Squier can sell them so affordably; they're not using their best craftspeople to build them, nor are they using the finest materials and spending hours and hours sweating over the tiniest details of each individual musical instrument. And to be fair, these are actually minor blemishes that in no way affect the playability of the bass.
PLAYTIME
Straight out of the box, the action was well-set; low enough to exist comfy and fast, merely with none of the buzzing or fretting out that results from it being set besides low. The tuners and tiptop loading bridge are solid and tuning stability is very practiced. The truss rod was perfectly gear up and the neck was straight and truthful. The medium jumbo frets are really well installed. They are nicely crowned and have no abrupt edges.The intonation was reasonably shut too. Close enough that most novice players would probably never observe it was a touch out on two strings. The four saddle span can be individually adapted for height and intonation, and forth with the placement of the truss rod adjustment at the headstock, this makes fine tuning the "setup" (the action and intonation) a breeze. A pair of Allen wrenches for truss rod and bridge saddle height adjustment are the simply accessories that are included with the bass. New and novice players are not likely to know how to adjust the activeness, truss rod and intonation, and they'll have to figure that out on their own. Unfortunately, there is no transmission or instruction sheet included to help walk them through information technology, or to suggest them on the care and maintenance of their new musical instrument.
The smooth, fast and comfortable neck is a joy to play. The neck's profile is somewhat reminiscent of a Jazz Bass or full sized Jaguar Bass in that information technology is very narrow at the nut (ane.5" wide) and gradually gets wider as you move further up the neck towards the body of the bass--although it never gets quite as wide in the upper registers equally a Jazz Bass, and because of the much shorter scale length, things are much closer together and easier to reach, even for those of us with smaller hands. The offset waist Jaguar torso makes the bass very comfy to play, whether y'all are seated or continuing and using a strap. A forearm profile for the player'south correct arm, and a rear "tummy contour" farther increase playing comfort. The balance of the bass is pretty good, which isn't always the case with brusque scale models. When hanging from a strap, it doesn't really desire to "neck swoop" so much as "cervix level" - information technology seems to want to hang with the neck parallel to the floor.
PUT A BOW ON IT
It plays actually nice, and sounds pretty darned adept. And nit-picky niggling niggles aside, it'due south a proficient looking bass. I really similar the matching headstock on the black review unit. About the merely thing I call up that would "add" to the expect would be a tortoise trounce pickguard, similar to what Squier uses on some of the other Jaguar Bass models. If you wanted one, yous could always have one custom cut from one of the various aftermarket parts companies. Speaking of customizing, this bass would be a skillful platform for modifications. Different knobs, pickups, a custom pickguard, strap retainers / locks - the Vintage Modified series Squier models are affordable plenty that you can buy in at a low toll, and modify and upgrade the instrument to suit your tastes and preferences, and yet do it all on a very small budget.
It would brand a groovy gift for a older child or teenager who wanted to learn how to play. As a educatee instrument, it'southward less intimidating than a full scale bass, and affordable enough that mom and dad are non taking a huge financial take chances if junior's musical interests wane. As important, it's all the same nice enough that inferior is actually going to exist inspired to play it and want to practice. It is also of sufficient quality that he won't be handicapped in his efforts by a poor quality instrument that is difficult to play or that he'll quickly outpace. Only again, I see this bass having broader appeal than just to novice players and students, and while the materials and workmanship are apparently non as dainty as on a higher-end model, at this toll betoken--an almost unbelievably low $170 "street" toll; roughly the price of a decent stompbox--it's a very nice sounding and playing bass that guitarists, habitation recordists and those who just bask the fun of playing a nice short scale bass are going to dig. Even though I already have 2 other basses, I am more than a trivial tempted to purchase the review unit. It's only a really fun musical instrument to play. Chances are if you become one, yous won't want to allow it get either. Bravo Squier, Bravo!
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Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Key. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa'south Wish. He is a sometime featured monthly columnist for EQ mag, and his manufactures and production reviews accept likewise appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.
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Source: https://www.harmonycentral.com/expert-reviews/bass-guitars/squier-vintage-modified-jaguar%C2%AE-bass-special-ss-short-scale-r41/
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