Guitars... what you've got / what you want

https://www.thunderroadguitars.com/store/use-decca-ronin-mod-shop

Looking at a Squire jazz bass. Anyone have opinions on squire vs fender basses at a low price point?

can't see a link but Squier has gotten really good, esp the Classic Vibe stuff - Spottie has some good insight I believe in this thread or another

Squire has a reputation of being pretty reliable. I have a Classic Vibe p-bass. It's been solid. I've heard that even their Affinity (low budget) line is pretty good these days, although I haven't played one. Definitely worth checking out if you're on a budget.

I got an Affinity PJ bass. The build quality is good but the pickups weren't great, you'll probably want to swap them out if you get an Affinity. I'm personally not mad about the feel of the thick finishes on the necks but a lot of modern Fenders have this same feel as well.
I have a Squier strat that was like this but I sanded the back of the neck and put some danish oil on, I prefer it this way. Of course, some people probably like these thick finishes so it's highly subjective.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JBassCV70Nat--squier-classic-vibe-70s-jazz-bass-natural

This is the one I came across

The Squier Classic Vibe 50s Precision I bought secondhand last year is the best bass I own. Greco, SX, Ibanez, a couple of Fenders, all put in the shade.

xpost that would be great, I love that natural finish/black pickguard look

What I've got? A wood-grain Alcivar, a Japanese manufactured, Canadian-branded copy of a Gibson ES-335 from the 70s or 80s

I recently fooled around with a friend's Squier Precision and had no quarrel with it. Fast neck, solid feel. Not at all plasticky or el cheapo (as 1980s Squiers tended to be).

I think I have mentioned that my current Tele is a Classic Vibe Thinline; it has done everything I asked of it. My only complaint is the very flat neck radius but that is a minor concern.

Sweetwater has two of those basses and one is two pounds heavier than the other???

I guess variations in the wood but two pounds is a pretty big differential

interesting...Squier Classic Vibes are super common on Craigslist and FB marketplace you could get it a little cheaper if you wanted

I sprung for the heavier one -- also had really nice grain on the front. Photos next week!

I bought a squier cv jaguar off reverb this morning. Wish me luck.

nice! what color?

actually the vm not the cv; I bought a red one

My jaguar interest is only squier level, not fender level and 99% of the squiers on reverb were the 70s ones with the block inlays or were sunburst or surf green none of which wanted. There were a few white ones but red ones seem extremely rare or more than I wanted to pay, but the price dropped by $70 today and I couldn't pass it up.

so vm is a flatter radius and upgraded pickups i guess? so many squier lines nowadays. regardless congrats, should be a fun guitar!

Any thoughts on those Spark Go mini modeling amps being promoted?

The dudes in my band have them. They have a lot of features like Bluetooth app integration, the ability to generate chord sheets, modeling and onboard effects. They're cute.

They sound good... but so does a Blues Junior or whatever.

I don't feel a need to have an amp that talks to my phone but if you're into that, go for it

New one's not out yet. it's pretty small and ... $100?

Also beware wireless stuff in a gigging sitch. Friend of mine has a fancy PA that can be controlled from an iPad or phone, and it works fine in a studio or rehearsal. But one time at a bar gig it glitched and gave up.

There was some suspicion that it got confused because there were too many people there, all using their phones, and there were too many signals.

With normal wired gear that has cables and knobs and such, we could have done the appropriate troubleshooting

it was local, it was cheap, it's a 70s Japanese Fender copy, I literally had no choice.
https://i.imgur.com/KYXCPQc.jpg

with the competition stripe!

excellent

That's sweet

Apparently a low end mail order brand by Suzuki in 70s Japan

Sometimes ad algorithms get it right. I've never seen this model before, and I still can't tell if I love it or hate it, but a random Reverb targeted ad the other day enticed me enough to keep thinking about it.

https://i.imgur.com/iwzlAiZ.jpg

https://reverb.com/item/65144331-burny-fernandes-vertigo-h-65-1990-s-orange

feel like my brain is melting, probably how people felt when they saw the first Strat

Love the body shape and esp the color

I love that somehow it just fits in a normal case

I'm really getting obsessed with getting a very specific style of guitar that I don't even know what to call it...Japanese guitars of the late 70s, body shape is usually a wider Strat or sometimes a more double cutaway Les Paul shape but more contoured, always alway always a natural stain and often with a neck through design where it's lighter stained like a racing stripe kinda thing, mostly 2 humbucker configs

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--AXxDgXma--/a_0/f_auto,t_large/v1677505731/zquoubpwnzklk3t3brrt.jpg

https://reverb.com/item/66346010-ibanez-mc-400-1978-dark-stain

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--1dBE6YOi--/a_0/f_auto,t_supersize/v1674857068/qfbqsyo1ztirf7ckvz2t.jpg

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--U_G6OC5I--/a_0/f_auto,t_large/v1671855889/uy6ci6fomspewsh2o9tj.jpg

sold my Science Earthling because I have no place to blast a 50W amp anymore (and modeling works great for me), can't decide between putting the money toward a Dave's Guitars '62 JM or waiting to find a Lake Placid Blue AVII with the new headstock, planning to put either Novak Thunderbird pickups or JM-sized Wide Range Humbuckers in either one

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0592/2973/3018/products/V2216978C_1800x1800.jpg

haha UMS i love looking at those guitars too, i have a saved search for the ibanez artist AR305 on reverb--it doesn't have the neck-through but is otherwise in that wheelhouse. i think one of the things i thought was that it would be cool to get a guitar from my birth year that was high quality and not insanely expensive.

yeah Greco Go II is my bias in that dept, I think of it alongside the MusicMan Sabre II, Peavey T60 et al. The Vantage line are pretty good too. Classic 80s “at last, perfection” mindset.

I'll check those out, the ones I posted are all Ibanez, Yamaha, and Aria

Feels very "studio pro" aesthetically

oh yeah--https://reverb.com/item/44740102-vintage-1979-greco-go-ii-700-with-ts-vibrato-walnut-made-in-japan

The aluminum necked Kramers are cool for that vibe too

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--kT5V-SaU--/f_auto,t_large/v1647198797/jarjx3r63csouxnwzwwv.jpg

shocked that this weighs less than 10 pounds

https://reverb.com/item/66356544-kramer-dmz-4001-1979ish-natural-aluminum-neck-bass

I don’t know how I feel about those double cut neck-through wood ones. They’re kind of awesome but I also get vague unpleasant 70s vibes from them like jazz fusion guys in tan turtlenecks with half tint glasses.

I always imagine they play really well and weigh a ton.

yes when i browse them i definitely ask what exactly i see myself playing on these things....the part-coffee table aesthetic is an obstacle but my guess like yours is that they really shred and i should stop overthinking it

haha joygoat I think that fusion vibe is the attraction tbh but you are dead on

You can get em pretty cheap on Reverb if you wait for them to pop up in slightly tougher shape - sort of $700 range

(the Greco Go IIs I mean)

I always think of Aria basses whenever I see that design. They're nice to play - I could see getting into them if I needed to explore the sound of the 80s.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0550/4437/4714/products/medium_56446a17-bae4-4438-95e8-83fcb53b7c29.jpg

those are cool, though that top horn is a bit much for me. this is a cheapie on mpls craigslist right now, not exactly what I'm talking about but in the zone

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/msg/d/saint-paul-early-production-cort-bass/7598313549.html

basically a cheapie of the Kramer bass

I always associated that design with Alembics:

https://www.thewho.net/whotabs/images/equipment/bass/75_jae_alembicseriesi_f.jpg

that must have been the origin

Interesting. I love the fiesta red. The unpainted sections on the body are a little confusing. They're obviously meant to evoke a hippie sandwich, but I presume that it's not actually a neck-through?