Nj Guitar And Bass For Sale (2024 Update)

At the price, it's impossible to beat. The tuners and the bridge are better than I expected. Electronics work nicely, usable strings for a burn-in period. It needed less than 10 minutes to tune, adjust and intonate. The neck is unfinished, I'm going to seal it with tung oil and lightly scuff it with some steel wool. I'm already assuming the frets will have some high/low spots. Surprisingly, the fret ends are dressed nicely. I see people have complained about cutting their fretting hand on sharp fret edges. Not the case here but necks do shrink a tiny amount depending on climate and that shouldn't really be a valid complaint. It's easy to fix fret ends and at this price I would expect to do it. No pick guard so the patched area near the pickups can be seen if you look close enough. As I'll be putting in a pick guard eventually, it's no big deal. I did buy it as slightly scratched so that's it for the "issues". In short, I'm happy. It's also a fair bit lighter at the body than I expected. I don't see that as a bad thing.kfries-half

Posting stated 'Demo, minor scratch or scuff'. That's fine. But it was flawless. It was awesome and sounds great. Best deal hands down.paradisefla

For a guitar player getting into the world of the bass guitar this was almost too good to pass up. After a simple bridge adjustment and raising the pickups a tad this is a really functional bass to learn on. Sounds good, no fret buzz (outside of my poor playing). Pots work OK – really impressed for around $50!! It is lighter than higher quality bass guitars, but so far so good! Thanks!!velofan

The Mikro bass plays, looks and sounds great. The extra-short scale length does not compromise the traditional bass tone it produces. I have played 6-string guitar for over 40 years, including many professional gigs and teaching. I own over a dozen topnotch guitars. But this is my first bass, and I chose Mikro on the recommendation of a trustworthy friend. I have been doing my own repair work on guitars for decades, and can say the Mikro bass is impressively well made, and arrived decently set up with new, good strings. Fret work, neck, nut, tuning machines, bridge, fingerboard, finish, electronics are all virtually flawless; and the tobacco sunburst color I chose looks really nice, with a "vintage" vibe. I replaced the stock chrome dome knobs (which are nice ones) with Gibson-style knobs so I can see numbers for volume and tone settings. I really like the tone of the Mikro, especially the "Precision" style pickup–the one closer to the neck, from which it's easy to get a classic P-bass tone in conjunction with the tone control, which also works great. Ibanez chose a great capacitor value for the tone knob. The bridge position ("Jazz" style) pickup is just OK–usable, and not bad, but nothing remarkable, and it's especially lackluster when used solo, without any of the P-style pickup dialed in. That is the only part of this bass, other than the knobs, I would consider upgrading in the near future (maybe also the potentiometers, but even those feel smooth and responsive out of the box). The satin-finish neck feels great, and is a breeze to play, even for someone like me, who is coming to the bass from years on guitar. The tuning stability of the Mikro is remarkably great. So the latest versions of the Mikro basses are a phenomenal bargain! I would not hesitate to recommend a Mikro to anyone considering moving from guitar to bass, or to someone with smaller hands. From what my bassist friends tell me, the Mikro is great for any bassist PERIOD.NYC Slide Guitarist trying bass

Overall: I've been playing for years, mostly Fenders, Tobias and a heavily modified Decca short scale from the 60s. This is my first Ibanez bass and I am blown away! I chose the brown burst finish, and took a chance on the "blemished" version. Been looking at it all day and I can't find any imperfection anywhere. Definitely wanted short scale, light weight and a fast neck, this one has all 3 and then some. Set up out of the box was close, very close, with only a slight fret buzz on the E string. A very small adjustment at the saddle took care of it. The stock pickups sound good, the tone knob has useful range, everything sounds quite good through everything I've played it through so far (Fender, Orange, antique Earth head, etc.). Overall, I couldn't be happier!Bryan

An utterly great bass overall. It's perfect for someone with a low budget, or someone who's new to learning bass. Also good for children or people with small hands since it's a short-scale. This was my first bass and I still play it a lot. Not only is it cheap, but it has a really good tone, a nice feel to it, and a beautiful orange finish (if that is the finish you chose). The only bad thing I have to say about this is that it got some fret buzz to it but in all honesty, it's not that bad. I love Ibanez basses, I own several and this one is absolutly great.Logan

Good quality. Mine was made in Indonesia. Plays better than my 70's Gibson EB-3. There's nothing wrong with the bridge; read the forums to learn how to set it up. There is mild neck dive, but the bass is light so it's manageable. Don't expect it to sound like an original EB; that can be a + or – for you. The tuners are adequate but a little sloppy. If you are going to play live regularly you'll want to upgrade these. It does not sound like an original EB. The pickup has plenty of high end. The low mids are unfocused, and the low end is excessive and unusable. You might have to turn your amp's bass knobs way down compared to your other basses. Before I replace the pickup, I might change the tone control to a passive bass cut. Make sure your A & E strings are heavy enough for adequate tension. I like it a lot but it's not my primary. Play any bass first acoustically, then compare that sound to it amplified. The EB-0 is evenly resonant; that's why I say it's an excellent foundation.Paco

Years ago I owned a Gibson EB-3 short-scale bass. This Epiphone has a familiar feel, but it is not the same animal. However, other than a drilled hole slightly out of place (holds the pickup cover), the fit and finish is very good. The fret ends are smooth and the truss rod functions properly. The nut is cut well, and the cherry color is attractive. Other than intonation, the bass came basically set-up. I was glad to see that the fretboard is still made of Rosewood. Yes, there is very little tonal range to this bass, but I like the way it sounds, with a deep, punchy rumble. The neck is only 1 1/2" wide (like a jazz bass), but the contour fills my hand and is comfortable to play. Some folks may object to the high gloss finish on the neck, but that can be easily subdued by using Scotchbrite or 0000 steel wool. The tuners on mine work well. One common complaint is neck dive. Although it is present, I don't find it to be a problem. Another complaint often heard is a muddy pickup. You can swap out a more expensive pickup, but I happen to like the sound of the original if I roll back the tone control and dial in the right setting on my amp. This is rapidly becoming my favorite bass! I was intending to install flatwound strings, but I think I'll give the roundwounds a chance. This Epiphone is fun to play, and will rock the house.Jimmy J

I bought my first EB-O in 2016. I still have it today, and it sounds awesome with the same short-scale flat-wound strings I put on it back then. I also changed the bridge with a Hipshot replacement for a more solid sound and easier string changing (which I still haven't done). Now then, one review writer mentioned that having a drop-D on this bass doesn't sound quite right. I agree. I miss the B-string as I am mostly a five-string player and use the B a lot, soooo, In 2021, bought another EB-O and put B-E-A-D flat-wound strings on it. The results were amazing. I still have good tone and voice on the B-string. I don't use the G-string all that much, so I got the best of both worlds on a short scale bass. It might be the answer to the other bassist's preferences. It might be worth a try. Worked very well for me. The only thing now is, I wonder if I could find an 8-string version.Jeff, Young Old Timer

This popped up on Stupid Deal of the Day and I am not in the least disappointed. It was well packaged, box in a box, from Dean. My intended use will be jamming with friends at the park, campground, or beach. But, it could see small venue use as well. It is big (it is a bass after all): 34", 24 fret scale with the neck joint at the 17th fret. The lower bout is 18" wide and just shy of 5" deep. If you really feel the need to go above the 17th fret…get the cutaway. Because of its size it has a decent acoustic tone. Set up, including intonation, was very good considering it was last touched at the factory. It is strung with D'Addario EXP 45-100 lights. The strings showed some age (string cleaner should take care of it) but still have decent tone, especially for my intended use. All the electronics work as they should. The battery box and input jack are a single unit located on the lower bout. It appears to be a sturdy unit that does not require any tools for 9V battery replacement. Using the onboard tuner silences the pickup. The top is book matched and looks better than some of my solid top guitars. The Dean Playmate EAB Gig Bag (SKU 548316 000000000) does fit. I'm so glad that neither the bass or gig bag are emblazoned with "Playmate" anymore. Seriously, if so, I would not have purchased them. Overall, I am very pleased and believe it is money well spent.Vintage Bassist

The action is easily correctable by lowering the saddle. Sadly, it is not very loud if you finger pick while in the acoustic mode. It is however loud enough to practice alone in a quiet room with soft backing track. Electrically, it is like most EA guitars and you have to watch which way you're standing in relation to your amp. The tone is pretty bright acoustically but can be dialed back in the electric mode for that bassier sound most bassists are looking for. I would consider playing out with this bass for a folk gig. I got this bass on a "stupid deal of the day" promotion and I still can't believe Musicians Friend could make any money at all with a price like that.CA$H

The band I'm in decided that we were going to do an acoustic show for a big fundraiser called Gettysburg Rocks. Great! But one major problem I didn't have an acoustic bass, so I had to get one for this show. After doing extensive research and considering the budget I chose this model. When I got the bass there were a lot of high frets which caused major undesirable fret buzz. The strings that were on it from dean were horrible so I took the bass to my local guitar shop and had it restrung and set up. After this was done this bass played amazing and had great tone unplugged. Then I plugged it in to my di box and it sounded pretty bad through the pa. The electronics in this bass didn't sound good because The strings were not evenly voiced. In my particular case the e string was the loudest and over powered the a d and g strings. I had 4 days before the show and had to figure something out quick. My solution was to run a limiter pedal. Once I had the limiter dialed in I was able to get a very good sound out of the bass, And through eq settings I was able to make the bass sound great. Then the night of the show came around and I had all the kinks figured out . The bass sounded great and the show went beautifully. This bass is by no means a high end bass but with a little tweaking itcan be made to sound really good. I've noticed that I will grab this bass and just start playing it when I'm trying to learn new songs and licks because it sounds so good and it is nice to not always be tethered to an amp. This bass is great to practice with but in a band setting it will need to be amped if you want to be heard with more than one acoustic guitar. Overall I am very pleased with this instrument and would buy another if it broke. I was apprehensive at first thinking that this would sound like $150 bass. Looking back I'm glad I got this model. I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence about buying this bass.v1637

Right out of the box this bass sounded good. Dean sold me. Played a little venue at a friends house and got lots of complements on the sound and looks. Sure made me feel good. People asked to sign my bass and made me think how cool that would be? Maybe after some wear and tear that will happen. Can't say enough about this bass. What a find, really. Only been learning for over a year and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but for now I'm talking Dean. Being a beginner at 63 sure is fun. Rock On kids cause that's how I feel….wunschy

This is a decent package for anyone wanting to learn the bass guitar. The bass guitar holds tune fairly well and is good quality. The amp that is included in the package is average at best for what it is, nothing impressive but good for solo practicing. The instrument cable is low quality without a right angle plug. The packaging is low quality and the guitar head was damaged in shipping as a result of the inadequate packaging. Sam Ash took immediate attention to my claim on the damage, their customer service is awesome. Overall is it a good bass guitar package.Aubrey

I'm an older ex weekend warrior who has played in bands for years. I've owned many other basses including Fender P-bass, Hamer Cruisebass, and Carvin LB-70 to name a few. I've been out of the music scene for awhile but really missed having a bass around to mess around with so I ordered this one in the satin finish. I knew what I was getting because I had been to Dean's website where they have accurate pics of this bass. I wasn't disappointed! This bass is an amazing value for the money. The tone is great right out of the box. Action is right where I like it. No fret buzz as long as you are fretting properly. I did change the strings right away to black nylon tape wounds. They lend a smooth attack (almost like a double bass) and are super easy on the fingers yet still get that P-bass like growl if you open the tone knob up. Construction is very good especially for the money, fit and finish is great except for the fret work. I'll need to file down the fret ends as they are a bit too long for the (nice) rosewood fretboard. They aren't sharp or dangerous so it could be worse and using proper technique you'd hardly notice it. The only other gripe is the tuners. They look nice but don't hold tuning for long periods of time. I end up having to re-tune the bass nearly every day. The tuner on the G string could be smoother as turning tension goes from tight to loose and back to tight as it turns. These are really minor complaints for such a low cost bass. The finish is really good. It appears they put a matching basswood veneer on the top and back so you can't even see the slab joints. I wouldn't hesitate to take this on stage, it looks that good with the black tuners, bridge, knobs, and strings (in my case). The neck is nice and thin and fairly fast with a satin finish on the back of the neck. The electronics are way above average for this price range. The pickup, volume and tone knobs work together very well to give a wide variety of tones.VTbassman

I bought this bass awhile ago. After reading several negative reviews I think the issues they have is this bass is shipped with no tension on the truss rod/neck. Out of the box it is not playable, sounds horrible and you need to adjust the truss rod to add relief to the neck. After making that adjustment this bass is a great beginners bass and sounds good. You will not be disappointed. Just watch a YouTube vid on how to add relief to a guitar neck / adjust truss rod.Gerald

I got this just to use for home recordings after YEARS away from bass playing. I've owned better in the past, but this is not bad! It has a good tone and the neck is easily playable. Sounds good playing through a Fender Rumble 25 watt amp. If there is one thing I don't like, it's the round-wound strings. I first started with flat wounds, playing funk and R & B, so the strings aren't as "warm" as I'd like. Still good for slap styles or for rock.Lee

I bought this bass back in 2003, and wanted to start playing again. I played bass in the early 1980's till 90's. I grew up with Rock to Metal days and had a Fender bass. I got caught up in marriage and working 12 hr days , so I sold my equipment. This bass plays well once you get it set up. Sounds great for a budget bass. I still have it among other upgrades bass guitars I now have. I still like playing it. And it still looks like new . Great bass for the money.Jbrocky0

I've been using this bass for around 2 years now and its my first its an amazing value this and a 20 dollar amp and I was blasting off I used a tuner off of my phone the notes played really well and true it's been my baby ever since I got it. I got a case for it and its pretty easy to manage not overly heavy and not too awkward to take with you to a park or something like that. Anyways this has been a great value and I assure you that you will not only be happy with the product but it will last you and it is a steal price wise.wilkiw_h4urof

I had a bass similar to this, never played it and when I moved to another state I gave it away and regretted that later. I have always wanted to learn bass and bought this guitar because it was inexpensive and the reviews were good. I didn't want to spend a ton of money if I decided later on that I didn't want to continue with learning this instrument. Although I am just starting to learn the bass, this guitar is going to work out perfectly for my needs. It's a smaller sized bass but not too small. It is really nice, light in weight and it looks well constructed. I got the black one and it looks really cool. If you're considering a bass you've got nothing to lose with this.Jay

Bought it for grand daughter. Wanted to learn bass guitar. Checked it out when arrived. Action was ok. Tuned it by ear and frets. Action a little high. But it's a starter. If she keeps interest I'll probably get her a better model. Or some flat wounds. Good starter for the $. Long scale.jammin_joemusic

This fretless bass is a great value! This bass is about 1/3 the price of the next cheapest fretless. The sound is very good with a wide range of tonal possibilities. Exactly what I was hoping for. The flat wound strings have amazing treble, similar to round wounds. I was able to lower the action quite a bit by adjusting the bridge with the provided Allen wrench. On the downside, while the A, D, and G strings were flawless, the E string was dead. It was totally mismatched to the sound of the other strings; thumpy without any treble. I guessed that the outer wrapping around the core had unwound at the factory and was not tight. Removing the E from the tuning peg and twisting it to tighten the wrap around the core improved the sound dramatically. Endemic to this model is a design flaw (I tried 3 of these basses previous) wherein the two tone controls are wired in series rather than in parallel. Either tone control can control the tone of either the bridge or neck pick-up, so that it is impossible to control the tone of the two pickups independent of the other. Consequently, you can roll off the treble fully with one tone control and then roll it off again with the other for an insanely deep bass sound. You can easily re-wire this unforgivable defect in a few minutes, if you own a soldering iron. You can Google this slip-up and get a correct wiring diagram online. I may leave it for now, as I am getting into the tonal possibilities of the "extended bassy" sound. Finally, the fret board is unmarked. Being a visual player, I found it helpful to pencil in fret lines. The side markers provided on the neck are not so helpful, as they are in the traditional fretted positions, one half fret back from the place where you need to finger. These drawbacks are not a deal breaker in my opinion. The bass is a blast to play and the tone is completely different than my fretted basses. GET THIS BASS! I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT!Lenny

To be honest, I bought this bass mostly because of a great discount offered by Musician's Friend. I didn't want to spend a lot on the bass since I only wanted to experiment with fretless playing. However, this bass was a pleasant surprise. It looks great, plays great and has provided me with a bass sound I always wanted but could never get with my fretted basses. I was concerned that I would play out of tune without the frets, but it was easy to get used to finding the correct notes. The pickups are excellent! I've recorded several tunes with it now and honestly love the results. I'm impressed by Rogue basses, which many of my bass-playing friends shrug off as being "cheap" and not a brand name. They don't know what they are missing! I intend to buy a fretted version ASAP. It is lighter than my Fender Jazz basses and the smaller neck is easier to play. In conclusion, I'll never be a bass 'snob' again. Rogue products are an excellent bargain and not just for "beginner" bass players.lcad1953

I am mainly a guitarist but have always had an interest in a fretless bass. It sounds surprisingly good. To get intonation right I had to replace the bridge adjustment screws with longer 3X50 mm screws. Without that fix it is unplayable. Another fix would be to move the bridge plate 1/2" towards neck.Tom

As the headline says…it's very enjoyable to play. I've even made several recordings using it instead of my Fender USA Pro 2 Precision. It does a decent job on the P pickup; the J has lower output. To my surprise I'm really digging the "raw" feel of the neck; it's bare, tho sanded well. Another surprise: neck profile width and taper is like a J bass, yet the depth/shape feels more like a P! Huh!? Hey, works for me! With its black body and pickguard and the maple fingerboard it looks like it means BUSINESS! Point removed for the too-stiff tuner action. And then…I've managed to get the action very low, just where I like it. (FWIW, even on my USA Pro 2 I had to shim the neck to be able to get the level of low action that I prefer.) Yes, ladies n gentleman, I really appreciate this Affinity PJ. I am considering using it for punk and classic rock parts of the band's gigs; not out of the question at all!Leo

This bass looks, feels, and sounds great! Did they nail the bodywork and neck lines? No, not completely. But that's about as much as I've got for negatives. This is one of the best 5 string necks I've felt. Less pizza shaped than the EHB but almost that good. Could have been nice to see a heavier finish on the fretboard but the edges are rolled with no sharp frets at all – unlike my cv 70s P. Sound on this Destroys the EHB and my sr505. Can't say how road worthy the pots and tuners are but I don't want to change anything and mess with this mojo. Unless you need silent pickups and can live with the tradeoffs. I don't know what you would need other than maybe a beefier jack. Setup was mind blowing. Literally took it out of the box in store. Got home, string height was dialed, haven't checked intonation yet but sounds fine. Was hardly even out of tune. Strings feel quality, I will probably even hold off changing those. This bass is making a lot of basses look and sound like questionable decisions. If you are worried about durability, honesty, get a good hard case. This thing feels plenty solid. Make sure the tuners and string trees are greased up and jam away.Arturo

I got mine in Black body, black pickguard, maple neck with maple fingerboard, It came with good setup right out of the box, I like the headstock's face with large "Precision Bass" 70's style logo, with gloss tint on it. The maple neck is one piece neck. I have other Affinities basses but this one sounds terrific, a lot of growl sound on P pickups , I like the P sound but also the J pickup is welcome. I always like this combination: black on black with maple fingerboard. I recommend this bass, Squier is getting better and better with the years. The only complain with this is that the Jazz Pickup is less sounding than the P bass pickup, I needed to rise the Jazz pickup to get better output but not the same output than the Precision pickup.Garedot

For a budget bass, the Squier VM Jaguer SS is surprisingly good. Mine was good right out of the box. The action was good, just needed tuning, and I was good to go. Even with the "cheaper", non-Duncan designed pickups that are available on the full-scale model, the sound is surprinsingly good. I really like the P&J p/u configuration. Much better than it's muddy-sounding main competitor, the Epiphone EBO (I had one). If the EB-3 was available in a SS model, the Epi would give the Jag SS a real run for it's money. Both SS's are an absolute blast to play. If you like a thin neck, this bass is for you. It's much more like a guitar then a bass. For me, there is no easier playing bass. But if you love the neck on a big old Fender P, then it probably won't be. Quality is very good too, considering the price. Don't let the Squier name scare you away. It's much better than an Affinity I played quite awhile ago. I'd say it's closer in quality to a MIM model, but not quite as good (a bass 3x the price!). Don't get me wrong, if you are a "serious" player who is gigging every weekend, and have the money for a more expensive bass, this would not be your main axe, that's for sure. For example, I had the MIJ Fender Deluxe Jaguar, and you can certainly feel and hear the difference in quality. Too bad that model isn't offered in a SS. However, if you happen to be low on cash, are a novice, have small hands, or are a converted guitar player, the VM Jag SS is a very capable gigging bass.Hardrockn

Squier has come a long way of real lame feeling, poor quality, and cheap pickups. The first thing I noticed right off the bat out of the box is that it was perfectly set up. Maybe toward the 12th fret down the frets might have a little bit of an edge but unless your a cry baby, this wouldnt bother you haha. Next, the pickups are pretty good considering you just bought a squier. It sounds pretty good with both on, and the bridge pickup is very musicman like when it comes to treble. The pbass pickup it'snt amazing but it sounds like a traditional pbass but without much body. The eletronics are what make or break this instrument. You have a volume for each pickup and a master tone. But the Bass Boost knob makes any "thin" sound you might experience into the house shaking from a full tone bass. Adjusting your eq as needed to have the mids stand out a little more and everyone can hear you loud and clear with the best tone you can get from this instrument. The Body is basswood, and coming from only using mahogany, it sounds kinda "brighter" as opposed to the dark sounding mahogany instruments. It's also not as heavy as other 5 string IMO. I personally replaced the pbass style pickup and added a delano one (required filing the pickguard) and play at Eb standard. My only complaint is that the human ear can only hear a note so much, so an open B string will have the note kinda "fall out". I use the B string at the 5th fret to have more notes to play in a given time. I recommend this bassradicalsurge

I'll never see 70 again, and I finally got me a bass. When I was giggin' back in the stone age with a three piece band i jumped back and forth between lead and bass lines on my 6 string with the aid of a bass booster pedal. My dream was a bass/6 string double neck ax, but at the time I could buy a new car for the price of one of those. Then I managed to get the index finger on my left hand shattered. Only cure was to fuse all the joints so it wouldn't bend at all, and now the only thing it's good for is barre cords. I could still play lead and chords with a little practice, but a standard base was out of the question. The price was right so I thought I'd give one of these short scale jobs a try. Yeah, I know, the Squires have a bad rap with a lot of folk, but this is my third one (strat, tele) and for the price I haven't had much to complain about. For my very first bass, right out of the box, I was totally impressed. Plugged her in, tuned her up, and ran the scales all the way from the nut to the 17th fret with no fret buzz or water to wade in; set up was perfect. A little string squeak at first, but that soon disappeared. Tried every bass line I ever knew and had no trouble with only three fingers on my left hand. The controls on the guitar are rather limited, but with my amp (Fender rumble 15) and it's EQ and overdrive features I've got just about everything I need – 50's and 60's rock and country – and can throw in a little heavy metal if needed. I'm thinking that this baby would be perfect for a young persons first bass, or for anyone with short fingers or like me missing a finger, or arthritis, whatever. I am sure having a lot of fun with it. I work in a 11 x 11 foot room , so the strings needed a little damping – a couple of my grand daughters hair ties fixed that in no time. I could have performed with this back in the day.noshadow

If you are tired of searching for a professional sound buy this bass. I hated the mim fender deluxe model, but fender did something special with this bass. It has a clear piano like quality to it. My two sire basses sound like toys up against it. I have wasted so much money on lesser basses. I'm just trying to help my fellow bass players out there. Everyone says that I sound good playing my other basses, but there are certain ugly overtones that I don't want to hear in my bass. This bass doesn't have those unwanted frequencies, it is voiced beautifully. I know that most of tone is in the fingers, but at the end of the day you know what you want to hear. If you are an audiophile this is the bass for you. I have spent weeks demoing this bass and no matter what amp you run it through it sounds good. I played it at a church last week and all I can say is it was nasty. My wife ordered mine yesterday for my birthday and it's suppose to arrive today, fingers crossed.Eric

I've owned and played bass guitars for 30 years now and I've owned several fender basses and the myriad clones out there of the J and P basses. That history and background left me with a bias against fender and an eye for other "better" production guitars like the Stingray which is my other go-to bass. That being said, I am blown away by this bass. It is a SOLID instrument with no flaws or blemishes that I can detect. It came from the factory with an almost perfect setup. I had to make a minor intonation adjustment on the low B and E strings but the string height, pickup height, and neck position were perfect. Fender's Ultra Noiseless pickups (a stacked humbucker really) sound great in passive mode emphasizing a fat bottom end and the tone nob adds a good bit of mids. The highs are kinda meh for me but the active switch takes care of that and I can get as bright as I want. The 18v active preamp provides a lot of room to boost or cut low, mid, and high frequencies to get just about any sounds I want (I still prefer my Sting Ray if I want to get real funky). This is about the best sounding 5-string I've had. Most 5-strings sounds great as 4-strings and SUPER muddy when you work the low-b string but this bass brings it out without too much mud.T. DeWees

I bought this base back in April 2022. It sounds great and plays great. However, the front pickup recently quit all together. After a tech looked at it, it was discovered that it was a bad front pickup. It was beyond the store warranty, so I took it up with fender. After 2 weeks of going back and forth between them and the store that I bought it at, it was determined that fender would send the pickup to the technician if my choice and they would fix it. But it would take 30 days because they send it directly from the manufacturer. Which still boggles my mind, because the slowest mail would be less than a week? So my opinion of fender customer service has dropped considerably. A working musician doesn't have 30 days to do without their instrument. This is unacceptable. I decided to purchase the pickup myself. I can get it in the mail in 2 days, and put it in myself. However this is a great base if you happen to get one with good parts in itJerry

Overall, this is a good guitar. I'm having a good time with it, the neck is comfortable, the pickups sound really good and handle high-ish gain surprisingly well, and the color (I got the Daphne blue) looks incredible. Taken as a whole, if you're in the market for a Jazzmaster with all the classic JM features but don't have a ton of money to spend, I'd recommend it for sure. If you're going to buy it though, just be aware of a few things… 1.) It'll need a setup. Out of the box, the tuning stability was fine but once I used the vibrato a little bit, it went way out. The action wasn't bad but could be better and the neck may need a half degree shim. I'm probably going to end up putting a Fender AVRI vibrato on it eventually but a decent setup should make the stock one perfectly usable. 2.) It needs a good cleaning. This could very well just be the specific one that I got but the neck and headstock had a lot of dust and a slightly cloudy residue on them, the fretboard was very dry, and the frets were scratchy. None of these were anything that a little lemon oil, fretboard conditioner, a microfiber cloth, and some 0000 steel wool couldn't take care of but it's still something to be aware of. Note though that, while the frets were scratchy, their weren't any sharp fret ends. 3.) It probably isn't a great first guitar. I've seen this said a few times in other reviews and I completely agree. That's not to say that it isn't a good guitar because it is. More that it's not the most user-friendly instrument right away and could be off-putting to a beginner. A pro setup will do it a world of good and make it much easier to play but if you're in the market for a first guitar, look elsewhere. Am I glad I bought it? Yes. I mean, it's a Daphne blue Jazzmaster with a comfortable neck and awesome pickups! I don't mind working on my guitars a bit though, so none of the problems I talked about above bother me in particular. However, if you're looking for a plug-in-and-play guitar right out of the box, this one might not be for you.Jackson

I waiting on this on backordered for a few months (shell pink) and started to worry after looking at a bunch of YouTube reviews. Action, fret ends and leveling were great out of the box (which I really am not up for fixing; esp on a bound fingerboard). Frets could prob use a polish, but that's a lesser concern to me. No shim needed with 09s so far. I feel like recent shipments corrected some of the common complaints of this line… YMMV. I think the the nut is pinching a bit and the trem pivot is jumping a bit so I might go in and see if I can smooth it out. Pickups are microphonic under gains and comp… and I'm not sure if they are RWRP yet. One of the reason I went with MF is that if I wasn't satisfied I could go right into GC and trade towards and CV Jazzmaster. But overall pretty satisfied and think this will be a good first offset and short scale add to the collection.David

I want to love this guitar. Unfortunately however, I will have to be taking this one to a luthier to be set-up due to the neck. Everything for the most part is beautiful, it's a Jazzmaster. Fantastic dark, spanky jazzmaster tones, beautiful tortoise-shell guard, and the very eye-catching very elusive shell pink finish. Switches all seem to be in working order, though due to the position of the neck pickup to the strings right out of the box, the rhythm circuit will be noticeably quieter. Easy fix. I am unsure about the stability of the bridge, which is a Mustang bridge- a HUGE improvement, as I've seen in other reviews that the screwposts loosen by vibration. Vibrato does not return to tune. There is a very strange, unclean grime of some sort on the metal plate of the vibrato piece. I was unfortunate enough to receive a poorly conditioned neck, with glue residue left behind surrounding the tuning pegs on the face of the headstock. The lacquer finish is beautiful and is fine to play on. The fretboard is noticeably dry as well as the frets are unfinished, both feeling scratchy, and the frets being too rough to perform clean bends on. Not sure if it's the neck, the frets, or the bridge piece, or any of the three in combination that is causing the strings to be unable to bend even a half note without losing vibration, or being pinched off. Fret markers are a dark, cheap pearl. Overall, the fretboard itself just feels like Squier Affinity line quality. My impression is that most of the cost of this guitar- to keep it in line with the technologically cheaper instruments (telecaster the same price as a jazz, etc)- went into the body finish, and electronics. However, in the end I still love this thing and cannot wait to hear it sing once I get it set-up.Tyler

Sound: when you own a sterling bass you do know, what your getting in quality . this bass is heavier then my sterling sub music man. same bass just diff color .the pick up of course is still amazing ,from my sub to this bass today. Ease of Use: i pulled out the box, was not in tune from shipping of course. used my d,addario head stock tuner on it, was only off a little from shipping. easy to retune and play out of the box. Quality: i love these bass., i have small hands. witha full scale to the get the best of the tone possible, long scale is the only way for me. small hand will use the neck as a whole. Value: would buy this for any one starting. would also buy another my self lol i have two lol Manufacturer Support: never had an issue Overall: awesome for the money, get great workmenship right out of the box, a small tune . after shipping of course. love the balance and small necks for my small hands. does not take away sustain. bass talks if you listen. so this is the second one i owned and would own another.Mickey

Love this thing! I had a problem with the sound on the first one but Musicians Friend got me all straightened out. The midrange sound was really quiet while the highs and lows were loud. They sent me a new one and took the return on the bad one. The replacement sounds great! I had a setup and new strings done by my local music shop and she sounds amazing. Intonation is now spot on. I love the look and feel of this one with all the rounded edges. Love the sound. She has a snarl in the low end that I haven't heard with any other company. I also own a squire 60s classic vibe p bass but i think i like the sound of this one better. My only complaint is that she's a little heavier than my Squire otherwise im super happy with this purchase. Thank you Musicians Friend for the smooth return and your amazing customer service. If you're looking for a quality beginner bass this one is a great choice.Matt

Love the sound of this heavy, neck diving beast. There's lots of tone to play with using the 5-way pickup selector. If played light enough you can avoid the fret buzz, of which is hard to get rid of with truss and saddle adjustments, but that can be said of a heavy hand on most guitars in general. The neck dive is severe like all the weight is really just the neck, but I don't notice it much when playing. It's just something to keep in mind if you play standing and lift both hands off the guitar to quickly adjust a mic or amp knob settings. The finish is kind of satin, as if it were printed on with an ink jet printer. It leaves the soft wood body pretty vulnerable to slow moving collisions against sharp corners. The Pre-Black Friday sale price on this guitar is a STEAL though! Definitely worth it for a Music Man bass sound for recording, or gigging if your willing to put up with the minor issues of weight and neck dive.Zach

The Squier Bronco Bass delivers exactly what I expected. It's a 30" scale bass with a body shaped like the Fender Mustang bass; it has a single pickup (I believe it's a strat pickup), is fairly light weight (mine weighs in a 7 pounds 10 ounces), and it's a fun little axe. It's also the lowest-priced bass by an actual musical instrument company. How do they keep the price down? One way is that this is the only bass I've owned that has no fingerboard. It doesn't affect anything, but the front of the neck IS the fingerboard. The hardware is okay quality. But here's the thing – it sounds decent, feels great, plays well. There's going to be a little luck of the draw in a lower priced instrument, but my tuners stay in tune, intonation was on, everything is good. There was a little too much neck relief, but that was easy to adjust. If you're realistic about your expectations, the Squier Bronco Bass is an awesome value, looks good, and it gets you playing. It's not going to sound like a Stingray or a Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, but it doesn't sound bad, either – I would do a show with one without worrying about it. I have other basses, but wanted to add an inexpensive short scale to my stable, and this bass was exactly what I wanted. I may upgrade the pickup later – I may not. For now, it falls between my 34" scale and 28.6" scale basses, and it's fun to play. I'm very happy with it.Pcake

I ended up using this bass for songs where long scale can be a bit difficult. My main bass is an imported '54 P Bass copy, Alder body and maple neck/fingerboard. It had to go into a local shop for some major nut repair, and I needed something to play around with. Off the rack, it was a pretty great bass for the price. The neck is very well crafted, no sharp fret edges like some imported instruments. It's an agathis body, so the tone can be kind of bland, but compared to older Squier Broncos, it seems that all of the bridge and neck contact one piece of wood on the multi-piece construction, so sustain isn't too bad. The bad: The tuners are pretty sorry and are an oddball size, which makes replacement with good tuners very difficult. My E and A tuners rattle some, but all four do hold tune pretty well for cheap tuners. Also, the stock pickup is a six-pole ceramic Strat pickup, so it can sound…odd when bending strings. The other bad is the bridge: although it intonates pretty well, two saddles can make proper intonation difficult to achieve along with proper radius. Also, the bridge mounting pattern is almost impossible to replace with another bridge–four hole lock-down and quick-release style bridges DO work, but the bridge is mounted a little too far forward, and intonation is almost always sharp on the upper end of the fingerboard. Gotoh 201's are also very difficult to adapt to fit. But for its price point, some of these cons are easily fixed. I have a Mojotone Alnico V lipstick Strat pickup in mine with CTS 500K pots. It sounds excellent–it fools some of my buddies about how cheap it is. This bass could probably also benefit from a bar retainer near the nut. It went from an around the house beater to a mainstay for certain songs.Isher

my dad, a professional and extremely experienced bass guitarist, bought me this for christmas last year, and i love it. this is the first bass i've ever picked up and it's easy to play, is well built, has a nice feel to it, etc. i highly recommend it for beginners. i play it in my school band class and it fits in very well with the rest of the instruments. however it can fall out of tune easily and the pickup isn't the best, but ultimately it's the most perfect beginner bassout there, especially for the low price, it's high qualityace

I bought this bass because a friend had one that worked great and played great and I loved it. When I purchased mine I had it sent to my house. 5 days later and it comes in with busted knobs and I had to take it in for a refund. They had another in stock and I took it home. Well the second is busted too. Huge disappointment considering how much I enjoy playing this bass. Absolutely unreliable and I won't be getting a third one.James

got one used in good condition but discounting the minor scratches and a minor ding near the strap button the quality of the workmanship was excellent for a bass in this price range. Plays really well and only a minor bit of fret buzz which was easy to get rid of by raising the bridge a bit. Action was really low when i got it so it could easily stand to get raised a fraction. The sound is very bass heavy on the neck pickup by itself. You can dial in a bit more treble by using setting 2 and mixing the volume level and tone of the two pickups. The bridge pickup is very treble sounding – almost too thin. If you turn down the tone on the bridge pickup it sounds better. I am not using the bridge p/u by itself ever – seems to be good for maybe only a few songs. Going forward I could see routing out the cavity and putting in a MM type pickup. Other than that the sound can get very close to Jack Bruce/Cream sound along with good Hard Rock to Heavy Metal sounds. You can dial in an acceptable jazz sound or R&B sound but it's not quite there so I'm using this baby for mostly Cream, Steppenwolf, CCR, etc. Works good for old-time R&R. Nice sleek black finish and chrome hardware gives it a nice dark appeal. Pots and controls work well and are smooth. Tuners are good but make the neck a little heavy so maybe replace with ultralights at some point. The neck does tend to dive so I'm moving the strap button nearer to the neck – almost at the end and move the strap button at the end of the body up an inch. I would also recommend a thick strap with rough leather on your shoulder to keep it from slipping – don't use a web strap as this will just let it neck dive when you let go. I'm hoping once i get lighter tuners and move the strap buttons the issue goes away but i can live with it for now. Well worth the asking price but if you can get one in good condition used it will still be a good deal even with minor cosmetic flaws.Bones

The Epiphone EB-3 cherry Bass is one beautiful guitar, but has cosmetic quality issues: The mahogany laminate on the face of the body, was glued on at a very "VERY" slight perpendicular angle, and not parallel with the neckline. (the back laminate IS straight). The fret markers are beautiful pearl, but the ninth fret marker is "blatantly" FLAT WHITE, and stands out like a neon light among the other markers. I can't understand how the person installing them, fail's to do a simple "match" of the inlays (either make them ALL white, or else ALL pearl!)(or REJECT a mismatched one!). (in comparison, my Epiphone Les Paul, has excellent matching pearl fret markers). I ordered a second EB-3, to see if I could get a better one, and had the chance to compare the two within the 45 day grace return period. The second one was worse, and had "TWO" mismatched white fret markers, with the other ones being "pearl". The mahogany laminate of the second guitar was not at all as deep and hypnotically mesmerizing as the first one they had sent, with the second guitar's mahogany appearing very flat, or dead/dull looking. (even though both guitars have polished clear gloss finish).(mahogany wood grain usually looks like a "natural mile deep 3D hologram iridescence", and the grain "dances and changes shapes" in the light as you move it around). Also the red tint on the sides of the second guitar appeared to be a shade lighter, and slightly mismatched appearing to the tint of the laminate tint to me. The first guitar's sides were slightly darker, and matched the laminate beautifully. On the second guitar, the bridge pickup holes were all half misaligned upon the poles with the cover tightened down anyways, right upon the poles permanently crimping each hole distorted over up on the pickup cover. The cover holes are half covering the poles. I kept the first guitar. It had a bit of fret buzz, but my technician fixed it in about 15 minutes. It plays perfect, sounds great!, and looks beautiful!Sir Ripstring

Overall: First of let me say this- the photos on zZounds website, while perfectly fine and acceptable, do not do this bass justice. It is absolutely gorgeous. The quality is high and there are no sharp frets or concerns anywhere. The first thing I did was fiddle with the pickup selector, and the volume and tone knobs to see what I could get out of it. There is a wide spectrum of sound. At it's brightest, it's not super bright, but then again, the first thing I did was put flatwounds on it, so that was expected. But let me tell you- this is one fat bottomed girl! The lows are expressive and the sustain on every string is amazing. There have always been the old Squier vs Fender and Epiphone vs Gibson debates. Epiphone, with this bass, has made the differences a lot harder to spot.Bruce

Just took delivery of a used Hofner shorty bass in black. Lovely instrument. Fit and finish was fine. I had to do a little bit of intonation setting which took no time. The neck is better than expected. Frets are finished properly and the neck has a nice satin finish. Its not to wide, not too thick and feels great. The pickup delivers and even sound across the strings. There are no dead spots. Volume and tone controls work great and the knurled knobs feel very good. I was able to dial in some of my preferred sounds using the VPF control on my Markbass Blackline 250 going through a Markbass NY604 cabinet. I was also liking the sounds going through an Eden World Tour preamp. Im looking forward to rehearsal tomorrow using the Eden directly into an EV ZLX 12 powered cabinet. The bass came professionally packed and really appeared to be new. Love the padded Hofner gig bad with the logo on it. All in all a great small, inexpensive (but not cheap) bass for practice, performance and especially travel.Miguel404

First of all, this bass is just what I wanted for practicing when traveling. Compact, 24 frets, decent electronics and comes with a gig bag. Intonation was pretty good too. I did adjust the intonation, but that's really only because I'm kind of fussy about intonation. One thing I will say is I had never experienced "neck dive" until I owned this bass like. in the resting position, the bass headstock will point right down to 5 o'clock. Since this is a practice instrument, I made some modifications. I put weight in the body cavity, but the body cavity is not huge, so with extra weight, I could get the neck to hang in the resting position at about 3 o'clock. I next removed the front strap pin and drilled a 3/8" in diameter hole 2" into the body at the same angle as the strap pin screw. I purchased 3/8" aluminum round stock and cut it to 7.5". 2" would insert into the body and 5.5" would remain outside to mount the strap button while extending out to nearly the 12th fret. I painted the round stock black (primer and paint). I mounted (drilled and epoxied) the strap button on the end of the round stock. I think epoxied the extender into the body. It looks pretty darned good and now the bass balances perfectly.Kevin1014

I've played a few German made Hofners, always thought the build quality was hit or miss….mostly miss! I found the Hofner Contemporary series, made in China with the German hardware to be far superior in build quality, and frankly I can't tell the difference in tone. The sustain block in the Contemporary Hofner gets rid of feedback at higher volume levels, and balances the instrument so it's not a neck diver like the German models. Very comfortable and still light. I bought the Violin and the Club, super impressed with the build, both are flawless, beautiful woods, laminate, but then so are the expensive German made Hofners. The blinding work is flawless, I never found a German built as well as these Chinese bass's…just put a nice set of flatwound strings on and you have a Hofner that blows the overpriced German Hofner away. You can buy the Hofner case's direct from Germany, and even with shipping the prices were less than buying them in the USA. Don't disqualify the Chinese, they're making some quality instruments!GregS

I fell in love with the Hofner sound from many of my favorite artists and had to have one. I think the club bass is more comfortable and looks much better than the violin bass. I bought this ignition version since it would take me years to save up for a German one. The setup was perfect on this bass right out of the box! Very smooth and clean. I did a few things to mine that I think were necessary. I switched the original flat strings for a set of Labella's, sanded the bottom of the bridge for better resonance, and adjusted the intonation a bit. The biggest weakness on this bass is the pick guard. It feels pretty cheap and doesn't look great up close. I had to tighten up the mounting screws to keep it from buzzing when I play the higher strings. It still isn't perfect, and needs a third screw by the bridge pickup. I might just try putting a piece of foam under the pick guard right there. Otherwise, the bass looks and feels great and sounds greatJared

I bought a "used" white Hofner Club from ProAudioStar a few weeks ago. This was actually my third "used" Hofner from them. The other two were Hofner Shorty basses. Every "used" bass comes shipped and packed as new – every time! Both Shorty's were perfect, needing no adjustments. The white Club fretted out all along the first fret. I liked the bass enough not to return it but instead took it to my local luthier who was able to fix the neck, reset a fret or two and file and dress a fret or two. The bill came to $55 and ProAudioStar reimbursed me that money. The bass is fantastic, very close to my German Club both acoustically and when plugged in. The only real difference is the German bass has a zero fret and the Chinese one doesn't. Keep that in mind when you buy strings for the Chinese Club – it needs an extra inch fr the binding clears the nut. I plan on touring with this bass this fall. In short, thes basses are a great value and sound and play very well and ProAudioStar stands behind their products.miguel404

I am Amazed at the construction, playability and looks of this affordable acoustic bass guitar. The action and feel of this bass allows me to play every style and technique that I'm able to play on electric bass.Kerry

Superb bass. Acoustic so don't expect huge volume but the tone is wonderful with botht he supplied roundwounds and D'Addario Chrome XL flatwounds. Setup was perfect and the neck is a joy to play – think Fender Precision and you're pretty much there 🙂Mr I. P.

Forget what you've heard about Acoustic Basses. This thing has a great feel and a great sound. I love the big traditional tuners. The only drawback is that its kinda hard to find a case that it will fit properly in. I bought a roadrunner case and had to modify it to accommodate the keys.David