I'm ready to replace my bass of 10 years with one of these

Gear
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I’ve decided to reward myself once I complete the course by buying a new bass. I’ve been playing the same Yamaha RBX170 for the past ~10 years, so it’s about time to treat myself.

I’ve narrowed down my selection to be these:

  • Fender Player Jazz Bass
  • Yamaha BB734a
  • Sire Marcus Miller V7 Vintage

I’d like to hear your experiences and opinions about those basses, in terms of quality, versatility, playability, tone, price, and so on.

I initially wanted to get a J bass, but I do appreciate Yamaha’s PJ basses; all choices seem very versatile. All are around the same price range as well.
I’ve been able to test out a Fender Player Series, but the other two basses aren’t in stores locally unfortunately.
I also wonder if the Fender Player series is the right way to go, or if I should look for older, used fenders of a higher caliber.

If you have any other suggestions I’m open to hearing them!

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You can’t go wrong with any one those choices.

I have quite a bit of experience with Sire basses, so the V7 would be my choice for its amazing quality, materials and value. But that’s just me.

There are several Yamaha fans here who would say the same for that option.

There are also a lot of Player owners here who would vote for the Fender.

It’s all good. Try out each of them to see which one feels and plays the best in your hands. That’s the one you need.

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Those will all be good. I would personally go for the Yamaha for the P pickup, but YMMV. I owned a BB734A and it was stellar.

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I had a Player Jazz for a while, it was super nice. I really enjoyed the maple fretboard. And it had a great sound to it. While I have no current Yamaha experience, I had a Yamaha for several years pre-Y2K, and it was a quality instrument. I’ve never owned a Sire but have heard great things about them and will probably try one out at some point.

I think you’ll be in a great spot with any of those.

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Those 3 basses are great choices. The Fender is probably not the best value for money, but still a very good instrument, and actually probably my favorite in the list.

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Definitely all solid, safe choices.

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Welcome, @bhmyers31.
I wouldn’t normally respond to a thread like this due to a lack of experience. However, what little experience I do have is directly relevant: my first bass–which got me through the B2B course–was an old, borrowed RBX170. And I just replaced it with a BB734A. I am extremely happy with the upgrade, to say the least. The 170 was a basic, dependable, instrument. The 734A is luxurious, and there was no jarring transition from the 170. Before buying I spent some time in a Guitar Center trying different basses. One was a Fender Player Precision. I dismissed it pretty quickly–it just didn’t feel right for me. Unfortunately I didn’t try a Player Jazz.

So all I can tell you is that I learned on an RBX170 and have very happily upgraded to a BB734A. Unscientific, subjective feedback from a sampling population of 1, FWIW. Good luck.

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Getting a Fender player or player plus would get you the quintessential Jazz bass. However getting a Sire v7 or v5r would be the best bang for the buck.

Yamaha is an excellent choice. Awesome built quality and great tones. Not the same as the other 2 jazz basses but still great tone.

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I vote Sire. Best bang for your buck.

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+1 to all this great advice. They’re all good. Choose the one you want to pick up and play every day.

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I’ve owned a Player Jazz and a Sire V7. I would lean to the BB734 or Player Jazz. The V7 was well made, but I did not like the preamp, and it was the heaviest bass I have owned. If there is a Sire V5 available, which is a Jazz without the preamp and with a roasted maple neck, I would get that. I have two Sire D5s and they are fantastic.

Letting my Player Jazz go I still regret, but not my V7.

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The latest Alder Sire V7 weighs 9.5 pounds (4.33 kg). Not a lightweight, but not the heaviest around, either.

According to Sire specs, an Alder V5 is just a hair over an ounce lighter than the V7.

Either of these are fine basses. Choosing which one to go with comes down to deciding whether a preamp is a must-have, or not.

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The V7 has the same preamp as the V3. I believe the difference between the V3 and V7 are the tuners and pickups… The V5 has the premium tuners and roasted maple neck. I really like the necks on my D5s, which are the same. I’m headed into my third season with them and have yet to adjust the truss.

My bass was closer to 10 pounds. It was a good bass. Did not have the character of the player jazz. I liked it much better when I switched off the preamp.

This is all personal opinion of course. They are all fine basses in the discussion. All worthy

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