Almirez Electric Bass

I bought this Jazz Bass Copy in a second hand shop. It looks like an old 66 JB. Solid wood sunburst body, bolt-on neck with 4 screws, maple neck with 20 frets and black rectangles, 4 heavy duty tuners, vintage pickguard, 3 controls. The bridge is a simple, plied piece of steel, like the old Fenders, with two holders. Made in the 60's definitely, considering the wiring inside. The JB pickups sounded so mellow and warm that I immediately bought it, for approx. 129 $. The neck is a little fat and the action was set a little high. Don't ask me who made this thing and where it was made, any info about Almirez is welcome.
The weight of this bass, the thick neck and the passive setting seem outdated, but the sound has nothing to do with fashion.

I like modern sounds like acid jazz, rock, trip hop and a few metal tunes, but I like to work out on some jazz basslines: Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis. This old bass gives me the exact vintage sound that suits that style and many others. Not like the so-called raw-finished re-editions...humm. I play it on a Trace BLX 80 without effects, even without switching on the famous GP7 equalizer. I get some kind of rich double bass sound that fills most of the frequencies. A jazz-typed bass? not really. I find an incredible pleasure to slap it. The G string gives a very clean sound that can amaze Fender owners (like me.) Mahine gun triplets, tapping and other useless stuff are also very comfortable on this old neck. I never recorded this one but like any Fender it would suit most uses, gigs or takes. If you have spine or back problems, just don't use these old kind of basses, they are very very very heavy. I often play in a sitting position with it. If you want to play it stand up you must work out your muscles to look like Henry Rollins.

I had to screw on the pickups, as close as possible to the strings. The neck needed some flattening too, and I had to work on the neck saddle to cure a buzzing on the E string. The upper edges of the pickups are still sharp even after 40 years and they can be painful under the thumb after a few tunes: I'm thinking about using some tape.

As I said, you can play it on stage but only if you are in good shape and health. The bass will stay in tune, and the thickness of the neck will endure all the changes of temperature. It is very reliable and needs no backup, except in case of a broken string.

I don't know if the company is existing. I don't even know that manufacturer. I guess an instrument like this should be guaranteed over 3 or 4 generations :)

This Almirez is an example of how lucky you can get for a few bucks. I own a pre-Ernie Ball '79 Musicman fretless Sabre and a Fender Jazz Bass. I must admit that personnally, the Almirez sounds better than the Fender. I even sold the Jazz Bass because I played more on the Almirez. If it was stolen or lost, I would not be able to get another one with the same sound, except if I had the luck and the money to buy a pre-CBS Precision or Jazz Bass. I won't buy any re-edition because...no...let's say that I don't like them.