Fender Jazz Bass

2005 Highway One Jazz Bass. Body and neck made in Mexico. Parts made in Mexico I believe. Starburst color. Passive Electronics. Came with a gig bag included.

I am playing mostly reggae and I have it setup with flatwound strings that give it a very muted sound. I upgraded the bass with a badass bass II bridge. I think all the new versions of this guitar come with that upgrade standard. I also upgraded the pickups to fender custom shop pickups. I had to EQ my amp with this bass because it was distorting because of an overload of bass. I finally got it dialed in and sounds good for what I am trying to play. I wish I would have figured out the EQ before I bought the new pickups...

The action from the factory was just standard. The Finish is nice I think. It is very thin and semi glossed/satin showing through to the sunburst finish.

My biggest complaint with this bass is that I constantly have to tighten the truss rod. It already feels very tight and I am afraid that one day something is going to give. Has anyone else experienced this with Fender Basses?

I have not contacted fender yet about the neck issue. I may contact them and ask about the "Lifetime Warranty" that supposedly covers these basses. Fender has been great to deal with concerning some faulty pickups I bought for my guitar so I assume they will help me out if I asked.

Good for the price. I think I paid around $600.

This one's an MIM, bought new in 2006, with a 60th-anniversary medallion on the back of the headstock. It's tri-color sunburst (black-red-amber). Apart from that, everyone knows the Jazz; 2 pickups that hum-cancel when used in tandem, Vol-Vol-Tone controls, narrow neck, big silver elephant-ear tuners, and a huge hunk of wood to hold it all. I got a big ol' padded leather strap for it and it's very comfy on my once-broken shoulder.

Now to talk about what I did to it. Mexis are O.K. stock, but they make excellent project basses, being solid enough to be worth building on without being too expensive to risk screwing it up. I actually didn't do too much; threw on an aftermarket cast bridge to replace the stamped one (HUGE barrel bridge saddles on this puppy), yanked the pickups and put in a set of DiMarzio Ultra Jazzes, and wired it for independent volume and tone, putting the bridge tone where the jack normally is and boring a hole for a side jack. Add a white pearl pickguard and it looks pretty classy and plays like a dream.

I normally put all-stainless strings (Dean Markley Blue Steels) on my basses, but I'll stick with the Fender Jazz nickelplate strings for this one; fingerstyle produces sparkly highs with a lot of character, and a tight, clean bottom end. Very punchy and sharp when slapped (I play through a Peavey 200W 2x10+horn combo). Very good for blues, rock, jazz, and funk. Turn the bridge volume off full (the joys of stacked humbuckers; the single coils of the stock Jazz will buzz a bit if the volumes are different) and the sound gets a little fuller and deeper; balance more toward the bridge and you get a somewhat tinny, thin sound; the bridge pickup is best used IMO for coloring the neck p/u's fundamental tone. The independent volume and tone mod gives me a lot of tonal variations, bet there are the standard quirks to a passive. With both pickups at full, either tone pot functions as a master, so I roll off the bridge a bit (doesn't take much) to get full flexibility.

I'm giving this category a 10 for what the finished project sounds like; I'd give a good stock Mexi about a 7, and I've run across some examples that barely make a 5. Note to new buyers; If you're looking for a Jazz, play EVERY example you can get your hands on before you pick one up.

I started out with the neck of this bass a bit curved, until I found that even with the neck arrow-straight there was no fretbuzz until I dug in about three times harder than I'd ever play in reality. I like a high action, but even with the action high the straight neck is faster. Found this after I invested in a $900 Yamaha 5-string that plays like butter; now my Jazz comes damn close.

This bass was put together well, but once I started replacing parts I found that tolerances can vary widely. The neck rout of my new pickguard barely fits, and the new pickups required that I fill in the existing holes and drill new ones to make sure the pickups would adjust properly. I got it all together with no real problems though, and the original equipment fit just fine.

Fenders are pretty durable animals if you don't abuse em too terribly. Like any bass, they're susceptible to belt buckle rash and the occasional ding, and they certainly aren't built to withstand the final act of a punk/hardcore gig. Newer models have vastly improved the resistance to minor dings though, with a very thick polyurethane finish. Fenders in the 80s and 90s didn't have near this amount of finish (cheaper, and Fender argued it gave better tone), and you see a lot of em in pawn shops now with buckle rash clear through to the pickup wells. This bass will do a lot better on those scores.

The strap buttons seem to be a long tradition that Fender is loath to change, even though, and perhaps because, practically every new Jazz's buttons are replaced with straplocks. I have Dunlops on mine and they certainly do the trick. I'd gig with this thing without a backup, for sure. If I can't form that opinion about a bass in the store, it doesn't get a second look.

Never dealt with Fender's customer support. The warranty on both my Fender basses (I had a black one that was stolen a few years ago in a burglary) was voided about five minutes after I got them home.

Overall, the stock Mexi's OK, certainly as a solid beginner's instrument, but being such a popular bass, they're the ricers of the bass world. You really get the most out of these instruments with another hundred dollars or so for upgraded pickups and a little electronics tweaking. I think mine cost a total of $500 (not counting the drill, bits and soldering iron I needed to mod it) to get it where it is now, and you'd have to offer me quite a lot to get me to part with it peacefully.

I bought this MIM in about 2000 at Guitar Center. Garden variety 20 fret, passive with standard control configuration. Sunburst with rosewood fingerboard. I changed the loser white pickgaurd to a tortise-shell, added a Badass II bridge (definitely do that!), and changed the pickups to Carvin J99 (don't do that). The upside of that pickup change is when I put my original Jazz Bass pickups back in, they sounded sooo much better (except for that damn hum... another project).

I play rock, blues, and R&B, so it suits me fine. I have a CIJ P Bass, which alternates with this one as my favorite bass. My practice amp is a Carvin Pro Bass 100, and my main amp is Ampeg SVT4Pro... sounds great thru either. My only problem with this bass is the hum I occasionally get, although I'm usually not ratcheted up on the treble that much... maybe I'll explore lining the control cavity with something. The sound is Jazz Bass - warm to growl to breaking glass... what's not to like?

This bass came set up well enough, action was good... basically I saw it played it and bought it... then started changing it, you probably will too. The most important change was the bridge. Then get a pro setup and you will be about as good as it gets. I went a step further and sent my bass to Scott Hembry (http://www.hembryguitars.com/home.htm) and had him relic it. He did a fantastic and reasonably priced job. Now it looks like a 40 year old guitar, and it must be my imagination, but I think it sounds better, too.

Are you kidding? It's a tool suitable for both construction, and destruction. The craftsmanship on this bass was excellent. I'm no expert, but I am a little obsessive and I can tell when things aren't done well and this was done well. I bought it because I had done my homework and thought it was a good value. Also, I'm hung up on Fender stuff.

Who needs it? Find a local luthier.

I started playing after a long layoff about 6 years ago (first gig out of retirement was my daughter's wedding, actually thats what brought me out) and have just been a hobbyist since. I played for several years as a kid then life intervened. I've played and owned Japanese Lawsuit basses, 2 or 3 G&L's, my CIJ P Bass, a MIM PJ special, a 50th Anniversary P Bass (made me feel inadequate, my wife accused me of "bass worship," so had to sell it), and some others I don't recall. This is my favorite. I like the feel, sound, look... I guess you could say I've FUBARed it now to the point where it's a face only I could love.

This is a 1976 Fender Jazz Bass. It was made in USA. I got this bass used about a year ago. It has all the typical Jazz Bass features of that year:
Solid ash body
Maple Neck
Maple Fret board
White neck binding
Pearl Block inlays
2 single coil Fender pickups
2 volume, 1 tone
Black pickguard
Pickup and Bridge covers

The color of my bass is what Fender called Walnut in their catalog. It's transparent brown and is commonly called root beer. I love the color.

The only reason I gave this column an '8' is because it doesn't have "tons of features". It does, however, have all the features I need in a bass.

I play quite a few different styles of music from Classic Rock, Metal, Jazz, and Country. This bass fits all the styles well. It can go fron nice and clean to down and dirty to growl with no effort at all.

This bass has a different sound than my 69 Jazz. This is due to the fact that in the early 70's Fender moved the bridge pickup a bit closer to the bridge. It yields a bit more growl than my 69 Jazz.

I can't speak for the factory set up except for possibly the nut. When I got the bass, the "E" and "A" string slots were cut a bit closer than the other strings. I don't know if it came from the factory that way or if it was a replacement nut. I just cut a new nut and the feel was perfect. The only flaw is that the pickup cavities could have been routed a bit cleaner.

This bass is almost 30 years old and it's still going strong. There is no tarnish or rust on the metal hardware at all. All the string height adjustment screws work just fine. The original tuners are still silky smooth. The potentiometers have absolutely no scratchiness at all. All this from a 100% original bass that has been used regularly. The reason I say it's been used regularly is because the finish on the arm cut has been worn down to the clear undercoat and it has it's share of nicks and scratches, but nothing major. All in all, I would say this bass held up very well.

Alot of people complain about the 3 bolt neck, but I have no problems at all with it. The neck doesn't shift in the pocket and seems solid. Plus, I like the neck tilt screw, since you don't have to unbolt the neck to place a shim in the pocket to tilt the neck. Also, you all may remember that in the early years of both MusicMan and G&L, they used 3 bolt neck joints.

The neck is nice and straight and the truss rod is very responsive. I like the bullet truss rod adjustment because it makes it easier to get to than the adjustment screw on my 69 Jazz, which is at the body.

The frets are a bit worn, but there is no fret buzz anywhere on the neck, and I have fairly low action.

N/A

I've been playing for as long as this bass has been around (29 years). I have always wanted A Fender Jazz since I saw an identical one at the store where I used to take lessons, so, when this one came around, I jumped on it.

I also own a 69 Fender Jazz, 79 Peavey T-40, and a 2005 MusicMan Stingray. I play this bass more than all the others. I used to own a 50th Anniversary Fender Jazz (gold hardware Flame maple top). When I got this one, I got rid of the 50th anniversary. I bought the 69 after this one to augment the 76 since the bridge pickup placement is different on both.

The reason this column doesn't get a 10 is because vintage prices are a bit outrageous. While I wouldn't say that this bass is only worth as much as a $200 bass, It's deffinately worth more than that, I also wouldn't say that they are worth what some of the vintage dealers are asking for them.

I remember when these basses were new, and they were put together very well. They also seem to hold up well. Only time will tell if the newer ones will hold up just as well. We'll see in about 30 years.

About year 5 of owning made-in-Mexico (MIM) passive 4 string fretted jazz bass

black stock, rosewood neck. set up was pretty lousy, if touched at all beyond the factory.

always wanted a Fender when I came back to playing bass after 25 year layoff - and i am glad i bought this thing (about $330 back in '99 from G**tar Center). The 34" scale is a tad big for me (short, stocky fingers) but the neck is a good shape and thickness. Nice weight balance, tho it's a heavy muther

And yet ....

changed roundwounds (too noisy) to thick Fender nickel flats ( which gave too much tension on the neck) then changed to Thomasic-Inkfeld (sp?) flats which I love and still use, mid-size. Pricey but very good.

changed original pickups (decent sound, nice range of tone possibilities, a lot of hum) for Dimarzio Ultrajazz pickups - still get nice tone, much less hum. less signal output though, so a pre-amp is simply necessary to get some more signal. was basically true before, tho less so

changed bridge to a Quan BadAssII - better sustain, looks more substantial, and is

changed white pick guard to black (not easy finding those)- purely personal taste

changed chrome tone plate to black (not easy finding that either) - again, purely personal taste

the output jack is literally giving me static - after 5 years and all the poking around inside the electronics I've done, I'm surprised the guts work at all. going to replace those electronic guts in the next few days.

so if i liked the bass why did i change everything but it's basic shape? good question

i don't really need a bunch of basses, but one more would be nice. i'd consider a Fender, but probably will seek a used upscale thing.

for 300-400 dollars, it was a good buy. but I learned after 5 years of dinking with it that I really wanted a slightly different instrument - Jazz style with the range of tone, but better electronics. maybe a slightly smaller scale would be the ticket for me too.

1968 American Made Fender Jazz Bass Guitar.
4 string, Sunburst finish.
Passive Fender Standard Pickups, Rosewood neck.

Nice fat and full, classic Fender Jazz Sound. Early CBS fit and finish. Due to the passive nature of the pick-ups there are a few loud and dead spots, but nothing too gross. Solid sound with good versatility for it's time. Does pick up stray signals sometimes with those single coil pickups.

It was a used guitar that needed setting up from the start but that was something I didn't know about when I bought this bass used in 1970. Pickups were adjusted well and frets were fine for a used 2 year old bass bought in 1970. Finish had some major dings etc but that wasn't the company's fault.

The bass is over 30 years old and has only let me down once in all these years. I had to get the neck pick up rewound as it had died on me. Bass is reliable as stink easy to play solid as a rock. Finish is long gone, had it refinished long ago. Strap buttons are reliable and still original. Everything's original but the finish. Used on gigs san's backup for years.

Never dealt with Fender as this things been out of warranty for decades.

Been playing bass for money since 1968. This was the Caddilac of Bass Guitars in it's day and based upon the way they've maintained their value over the years you can't disagree. Glad I bought it when I did.

i think it is time that we should start writing reviews about specific years, specially with all that vintage hype going on.

Anyway, 1972, black body, maple neck, black blocks and binding. Custom shceme all the way. It has a green CUSTOM stamp in the neck heel. Black tolex case with leather ends, silver fender logo.

There is a golden undercoat beneath the black finish.

now, i hope not to be biased here, but the only time i took it to a gig, i didnt have time for the sound check and had the soundman and guitarist do it for me. When i came back and played it, oh man, it was gorgeous!!!! To me, that was exactly the way a jazz should sown. Loww with crispy highs and very intelligible mids. It seemed to speak, actually.

(dont be biased by my review, id give a 10 to my ric and a 10 to my other jazz bass too)

The bass came to me from its second owner. It is older than me so i can make no comments on how the factory action was. What i can say is that the neck is amazing. No wraps, no "knots", no veneer swirls, no nothing. The neck is grade AAAA meat. i mean wood.
now, about the body... I am positive it was handmade all the way. And they were probably in a hurry. The belly contour is really deep (almost to the mid of the body), and that makes it really comfy. The rounded edges are sometimes rounded, sometimes very square. I mean, there is one horn where the soft corners suddenly become quite sharp. Nowadays i wouldnt take such quality from a squier or even a 40 buck bass... but i guess it's the "made by hand-fender 70s" vibe. Even the pickup routs are sloppy. oh yeah, the bridge is crappy. I mean crappy like a highway 1 or mim.

The headstock is yellow and cracked, while the rest of the neck is not. This is due to the fact that they used to spray the headstock with nitro and the neck with poly. They also did the clearcoat (body) with poly (so i read somewhere) whick cause odd things: in the sunlight it looks (very dark)green, and under the black lights, it looks blue(lake placid).

PEOPLE, DONT BE FOOLED. MY AMERICAN STANDARD 2000 IS LIKE 400% BETTER MADE, and sounds just as nice.

Another thing, this baby is sooooooo lightweight...

well, the bass had been played live for 20+ years before i got it, so i can say yeah, it is pretty durable. When i got it, the tuners were stiff as dog crap. I mean, they hardly even moved. A little oil fixed it. My am st keys are a lot faster/smoother/better.

The finish... well, it is an early 70's, and the finish is not really thick, although it has an undercoat (gold), paint (black), and a clear coat. Although it had been played a lot, there was no "elbow rub-through." //the previous owner played in a country band with a nice big ol buckle, but more than wearing out the finish, it "bumped it" in.

Anyway, overall, the bass looks like its been treated like crap, for 2 months. So it is in amazing shape for a 32 year old lady.

idoubt theyll do anything for me.

ok, i own a 4003 and an am st jazz, 2000.

To be very honest, i'd go to gigs and see people playing "good" basses (fender, mm, etc). When i walked to them and asked, they'd say "i bought it for 500 or so. I'd always think "these people can hardly play and they have amazing luck finding nice stuff... when will i ever?" And then this bass came in. while these things go for about 2000-3000 on ebay (they show up twice a year), i was able to buy mine from a player who used it for a long time, then switched to guitar (before the 70s basses were valuable), and he sold it to me becauuse he wanted to buy a 12 string, and wanted to finance half of his purchase with what he got for the bass. (nope, i dont feel guilty)

a final thing i'd like to say. Dont buy a vintage bass expecting the "mojo"` to make you a better player, or expecting that the bass should sound amazing just because it is vintage. Maybe i got lucky (with the sound, the body quality is crap). If you have to buy sight-unseen, then buy an american series (not the highway shit). they are pretty well made, sound as good, and weight as much as a late 70s bass.

again, dont expect these basses to do wonders for you. In todays standards, they would be 200 dollar, c-stock basses (ok, if they didnt have binding and struss rod). If the vintage market didnt commad such high prices for them, they be worth nothing, really. I mean, there's hardly any other quality than then being vintage, that would put them above a current us fender. (and, in my case, exactly the sound i was looking for... but if i had gotten it from a 150 buck squier, it would have been the same chances). THe sloppiness in the body adds a little charm to it, though.

Made Around 89' in mexico. It was originally bought fretless, but I replaced it with a fretted neck. Has the standard 2 volume and 1 tone knobs and passive standard jazz bass pickups (Seymour Duncan I believe?). Alder body and rose wood fretboard, finished in black. Crappy fender bridge, replaced in with a Badass. Came with a strap and a cable.

I play Punk and classic rock (blink 182, Beatles) and it sounds awesome! I run it through a DOD DI box. The bass has a warm bright sound to a nice growling sound. Fairly similar to a Ricky 4004. Has a great slap-tone (Better that my Friends Ricky 4003). Its great for stage and studio (I raise the bass content as loud as it can go in the studio). I have no dislikes aboud this bass.

Everything was great except for bridge problems.

This bass sure take takes a beating! I dropped it on the floor a few times and there were no dings and scratches.

Never dealt with fender

I purchased a 1976 Jazz Bass from a Music store in St. Louis about eight years ago.

My Jazz has an Ash body brown in color with a black pick guard, a one piece three bolt-on maple neck with white binding and mother of pearl block inlays. I still have the bridge pick-up cover plate, but the neck pick-up plate and thumb rest are lost. Most vintage basses that I have played had heavy bodies, but this one has light body and heavy neck.

All other equipment is original.

I play mostly funk and rock covers. I own two other Jazzes, a 1993 Mexican, and a 2001 American Standard. My '76 is still my bass of choice. This bass is loud, the original pick-ups are sensative but there is no annoying hum. I can produce any sound I want from this bass. This bass is great for studio and live performances.

I recently bought a new jazz as my main bass to retire the '76 and use it mainly for the studio, but I keep picking it up and my '01 is now the back-up.

I recently had a set-up and a fret dress done and it sounds better than ever, no fret buzz.

I bought this bass on a humbug from a local music store. When I picked it up I knew I had to have it. No instrument I have ever owned has been perfectly set-up. I always make minor adjustments even after I have had a set-up.

As I mentioned earlier I recently had a fret dress done because I was getting a lot buzz on the A string past the twelfth fret. Once that was done I haven't had any problems since.

Overall I don't see any major flaws other than the body and neck having a few faded spots. This bass is 27 years old and what flaws it has simply come from age and playing throughout the years. Who ever owned this bass before me has had their fair share of gigs.

This bass is as solid as they come. In addition to its somewhat weathered state I have dropped and banged it a couple of times and it keeps on going. The hardware has tarnished a little but that's nothing that polish can't fix. The one draw back of owning vintage instrument is, the neck is sensative to climate changes, so I check the neck regularly.

I would definately use this bass with out a back-up, because this was the only bass I had to use for about seven years after my P-bass was stolen and my Mexican made gave out.

I have been playing for 19 years and I've owned several basses. My '76 Jazz is still the best bass I have ever played.

I am constantly making comparisons between my '76 and '01.I like the basses that were made in the mid-seventies the best. I think Fender should go back to making basses with a sturdier construction, bring back the block inlays as a standard feature instead of making them only for re-issues or something else.

The next bass I buy will probably be a '75 reissue because that's as close as I will get to my '76 eventhough it costs more than what I payed for a real vintage bass.

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL FENDER JAZZ BASS.

FEATURES:

I don't know for sure what year this bass was actually made but I think I heard that the owner purchased purchased around 96? making it eight years old. Talented hands crafted this beautiful instrement in Japan and its long neck holds twenty-one frets (although I am debaiting weither I should have a fretless neck installed). The bass comes with two volume controls and one tone... by adjusting the knobs to your liking you can pull an endless number of soft, eierry or strong sounds. The fretboard is made from maple and tiny cracks have appeared probaly from the two years sat around in a humid attick (it's still beautiful though). The bass also came with a hardshell case with a little courner missing... no big deal.

It fits my music style like a glove and I can find any type of sound that I need from it. The groups/syles of music that I like include: Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Sigur Ros, Tool, A perfect Cirle, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and The Greatful Dead. The sound of this instrement is really what made me grow to truly love it. I can play with that warm and mesmerizing tone that Waters displays on the great "Echoes". If the mood is right, I can make it sound funky and with a Wah-Wah pettel (that will actually work) I can practicly make that thing talk. The crazy thing is... I HAVE ONLY BEEN PLAYING FOR THREE MOUNTS!!!!! This is one hell of an incredible bass and if something ever happedend to it I don't know what I would do.

The action was horrably high but with time and a hell of alot of patience, I was able to drop it down to my level. There was also some extream bow in the neck but once again, I was able to learn how to fix it. It also has an incredibly nice suburst finish on it with only one minor sign of age. The input switch came loose on it once but I fized that as well.

I would say this this sucker could withstand a train collision with only a few minor scuffs and scratchs. Every this in this area is great. When you hold this bass in your hands you can feel that its a survivor and with a little babeing, it will stay with you through a lot of shit