Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass

2008 Fender American Jazz Deluxe. Alder body with a rosewood fingerboard, 3 band EQ, 18v active Sumarium noiseless pickups. Standard issue "C" shaped, 34" scale, 22 fret neck with Hipshot Ultralite tuners. Jazz Deluxe bridge that allows either strings through the body or through the bridge. Cool saddle design that enables the player to adjust string spacing.

Primarily, I play this bass through an Ampeg SVT III Pro head and an Ampeg 4x10 classic cabinet. It is warm and gritty (as any Jazz should be) yet incredibly clear and punchy with virtually no mid-range wash-out. I usually keep the pick up selector straight up the middle, utilizing both pick ups equally, and I keep the EQ relitively flat. Prior to picking up the Jazz my primary bass was a Stingray; the difference through this rig is extraordinary.

The transparent amber finish on it's alder body is incredible. Fender picked out a great piece of wood for this bass, however, their keen eye for quality isn't as consistent as it could be. I had a nightmare experience aquiring this instrument, including receiving a bass with a glaringly obvious and serious factory repair which I promptly sent back (more on this later.)
Of course, nearly every bass needs, at the very least, a slight tweak after a few days of bouncing around in the back of a UPS truck, but mine was pretty playable. A few minor adjustments and it was perfect. The hardware is flawless, the pick ups are whisper quiet and the pots are clean (not so on the earlier, repaired bass.)

The Deluxe's seem a little more delicate than the Standards; maybe it is just me. It does look durable enough, though. I have gigged with a Stingray without bringing a back up for years without a problem. I am not sure I'd do so with this bass.

Fender customer support is notoriously terrible, and my experience was no exception. I made my original purchase from an authorized Fender dealer that, despite my clear and unmistakable instructions, sent me the wrong bass. That, of course, is not Fender's problem, but I had a lot of difficulty correcting the error, and Fender was no help at all. When I got the replacement bass from the inept and indifferent retailer (which was shipped to them directly from Fender specifically to fill my order) it was clearly "B" stock. A large chunk of the tail had been reattached. It was expert work but extremely obvious. It also came (as had the earlier, incorrect bass) in a shoddy, defective case that was almost impossible to latch. I called Fender and they were unwilling to deal with me, repeatedly referring me back to the knuckle-headed dealer with whom I did not want to continue to do business. It is Fender's policy not to deal with end-users, even in cases when you have been jerked around by their authorized dealer. Having received two defective cases in a row, an incorrect and then defective bass, I suggested that they at least upgrade me to a better quality case as compensation for my troubles and wasted time. The Fender agent I talked to offered to sell me an upgraded case for the low, low cost of $300 bucks. He actually said at one point "it's just a case, man." What a donkey.
I eventually returned the bass to the retailer for a cash refund and bought the same model elsewhere, who, believe it or not, actually demonstrated good customer service and got my order right on the first try. Go figure.

Fender customer service is a joke. I am not sure you can even call it "customer service", becuase the only service they provide is a referal back to your retailer or authorized repair center. Fender simply knows that regardless of the level of service they provide to their customers, they will always remain loyal to the brand. What are you going to do, take your business elsewhere? When you find something by another manufacturer that can truely replace a Jazz or P-bass you let me know.

I suggest that you NEVER, NEVER do business with Morrell Music in Bristol, Tennessee. In my experience they are incompetent, argumentitive and dishonest. I make a concerted effort to give my business to independent business owners rather than the mega-chains. In this case, my patronage was not rewarded.

I highly reccomend that you do business with Bass Central in Winter Park, Florida. They know their stuff, their prices are competitive and they take care of their customers. GREAT experience.

I have owned many basses from Guild, Ernie Ball, Fender, Rick, Pedulla and the lower-tiered brands like Peavey and Ibanez. Although I have always entertained the idea, I have never owned a Jazz. My American Jazz Deluxe is truely the best bass I have ever owned. I am planning to pick up a MIJ Jazz as a back up some time in the next couple months. I highly reccommend this bass.

I'm reviewing a 1999-model, US-made, 4-string fretted Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass bought new in Tokyo in 2001.

It has a 3-tone sunburst finish, a maple fretboard and a white pickguard - the classic Fender combination.

All the specs are covered elsewhere, so I'll give my opinion.

This axe has some very cool touches, such as the raised chrome Fender logo on the headstock, and the abalone inlays. That sort of thing gives the bass a classy look, gets 'oohs and ahs' from fellow musos and makes you proud to own it. Although the inlays tend to disappear under stage lights, so it's best not to rely on them.

Another very cool functional thing is the option of stringing through the body. The bridge also has adjustable string spacing, which is brilliant; after a couple of years of experimentation I've found the perfect spacing for me: quite wide to allow for comfortable slapping.

The Schaller strap-locks are a quality addition, and the chunky Fender hard case is still doing the job nicely.

Altogether a well-presented, well-thought-out modern take on one of the bass world's true classics!

I play effects-driven alternative rock, funk, blues and gospel. I used to go for the Stingray sound, but always had a big soft spot for that tight, smooth Jazz Bass sound.

I had owned a StingRay 5 for a few years when I saw this bass at a wicked price in a shop in Tokyo, plugged it in and just fell in love with that sound. It's the perfect balance between old-school and modern. With both pickups on it's blues, rock or slap heaven. Solo the bridge pickup, bump the bass up a bit and listen to the growl! On the neck pickup you can get fat, round woody sounds. The highlight is definitely the slap sound. It's more of a sweet, crisp slap sound as opposed to a Stingray's nasty ballsy sound. Think Marcus Miller as opposed to Flea.

While I love the sound, I can't give it a 10 because of the dirty great dead spot on the G-string around the 6th fret. Also because it has a nasty tendency to buzz when you take you hands off the strings.

Okay so this is where I'm going to strip a few points away. Overall the bass has a solid, quality feel to it, but there are a few nasty flaws.

In the shop, the bass had a ridiculously high action. Due to the quality of the instrument I knew it could be corrected, so I mainly listened to the sounds. I can usually get a nice low action without buzz, even withe the E-string tuned down to D.

The gloss finish is pretty consistent, but if you hold it in the light you can see two slight dips along the lines where the pieces of the body join.

The chrome plate over the control cavity should sit tight up against the pickguard, but on my bass you can almost slide a 5-cent piece through the gap. It looks like the holes were drilled in a hurry, and they just plain missed. One of these days I'm going to fill in the old holes and drill new ones where they should have been in the first place.

Overall, a solid, quality bass, but with construction flaws you shouldn't find on any axe with 'Deluxe' in its name.

This has been my main gigging and recording bass for the past three years, and it's generally held up well. I've never taken a back-up. I've just had to replace the output jack, but that was probably because of the cables I was using.

The top strap-lock kept coming loose, and the screw got tightened so often that the hole stripped out. For a while there I was afraid of having it rip right out on stage. I finally got around to gluing it in, and it's been rock-solid since.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing on-and-off for about 14 years. Live, I play the Fender through an all-Eden rig (a WT-550 and two D210XLTs). I use effects by EBS, Akai, Fulltone and Moog. I practise on a Cort 4-string and a Dean 5-string through a Line 6 TonePort.

If this bass was stolen I would be shattered. I don't think I'll ever sell it. It has classic looks, it feels nice to play and it sounds like a bass guitar should sound!

2006 used MIA Jazz Deluxe, sunburst 22 fret, came with all the goodies

I had a Geddy Lee bass which as we all know is a 78 reissue, I loved that bass I got it used w/ EMG pickups, but it was stolen! So I purchased the MIA Deluxe, it took a little getting use too, electronics seemed a bit much at the time but know I have found my sweet spots.One thing I do enjoy a great deal is the graphite reinforced neck, right from the start you see and feel how straight and true it is.

My buddy whom sold it to me gave it a quick set up it has been like that for 5 months now, and no problems, I gig 5to 6 times a month and with the crazy weather in FL it really has stayed true.

All is well my only concern is now I have two batteries that can go at any time

no problems

I have been playing for 16 years, and right now for a blues and funk project the jazz suites me fine, I am playing it through a SWR 350 late 90's and a ACME Low B 4x10 which is a great cab!!! It allows me to get all the Fender growl and not lose any bottom! I was playing MM for a long time and I still love em, but for now the Jazz is perfect for me. I am looking to the 51 MIJ reissue now,just to add to my collection.

2000 model. made in USA. features have been covered exhaustively by now.

i traded a guy my 2004 Ric 4003 for this bass, straight up. costwise, they're about the same and i just wasn't happy with the feel of the Ric. i had already been looking for something with active electronics to compliment my P-bass.

when i met up with the dude and i plugged in his bass, i knew right away it was a done deal.

the first thing i noticed was how comfortable this bass is! very, very comfortable from its balance to the perfect thumb rest the neck p/up provides. that's something Ric's definitely don't have. that, and a practical bridge. man, worst design ever. but i digress.

the 2nd thing i noticed was the sound. off the bat, it wasn't "my sound" at all, but with minimal tweakage, i got a lot closer. the biggest thing i had to change were amp settings. i can't wait to get home from work and play this bass. it's really a great one.

6 year old bass, like new, that came into my hands set up perfectly.

i only give it a 9 b/c with an active bass, you better have a backup, or at least a few extra batteries lying around. but a 9 out of 10 ain't disrespectful at all.

never had to use it and i won't disrespect Fender based on what everybody else says.

been playing about 13 years or so. my #1 is a '91 P-bass and it will always be my #1. that being said, i'm really happy to have a Jazz bass to go with it. their sounds are very distinct, so it's a good fit.

i'm very happy with this bass. they are kind of expensive, but so was the Ric i traded for it. i'm happy, the dude i traded with is happy: everybody's happy.

I purchased my baby "jasmine" in 2005, but she's a 2004 model Jazz deluxe, without the s-1 switch. Am Deluxe jazz basses have bass/mid(invaluable)/treble pots, pup selector, volume.

Pups are single coil noiseless jobbies in the normal jazz positions and are almost silent, but not quite, if you want to be picky. Active electronics powered by 2 9v batteries that need changing about once every year I think, mine has an Alder body in sunburst, maple neck with maple fretboard, lightweight tuners, 22 jumbo frets, and a standard wimpy fender bridge (does the job though!)but with string through. Came with nice case which I have abused totally.

lovely bass, a real beauty with mother of pearl inlays. I reckon my pupils expand when I see her. She came with a vintage white pickguard (mint green) but I have changed it for a tortoiseshell and she's now even better looking. Mother of Pearl face dots add a little extra! I've added a few dings, but hey! I reckon when I'm 60 and the paint has fallen off she'll be even better looking!

This bass changed my life completely. Previously I had played (or owned more like) a VOX bass like a hacksaw on a bit of wood about 12 years ago, a fretless yamaha (for years I thought it was ME that sounded rubbish - now I know it was the bass!) and a lightweight custom plank, which is great, but only had one sound - thump!

Now i didn't previously practice a lot...my tone frustrated me, and I just couldn't quite get past my blockage....now I'm FLYING! Can't put her down, practice an hour a day plus the band as well, and have learnt so much! You want to copy some jaco grooves? No problem! Geddy Lee? Simple...you want to sound like you and no-one else? Great, pickup and play in your own way, with your own tone.

The tone is primarily bright, clear, cool, solid, slightly "hollow" in that jazz kind of way, and is perfect for slap, tap and fingerstyle funk. I reckon I might change the front PUP to get a slightly thicker, warmer mid, but I'm erring towards buying a P-bass for that - this, after all is a jazz - It doesn't REALLY do P-bass woody thump, althought you can get towards it with the EQ.

This bass has a whole stack of tone choices, and 4 settings which I reckon get regularly used. I mainly leave it completely flat, but if you want to thicken up a bit, prefer the neck pup a smidgen, boost a little bottom and mid and there's a great sound.

Now, if you want harmonics, select the bridge, and dial in some, or a lot, of mid - this thing is a harmonics machine! It really shines here, and you can get a massive variety of tones by playing up the neck or near the bridge - marvelous.

Point - this bass has a dead C on the G string - this is a well known Fender thing - had I known about it - I still would have bought the bass! Have ordered a fatfinger but have waited a year and a half to do so as it's not a big problem. (Haven't tried the Fatfinger yet, it's sat here from yesterday when it arrived)

I've used it to great effect in the studio and played about 100 gigs with her so far and she's never let me down.

I'm using it with an Ampeg B15 basscube, but she sounded her best through a Gallien Krueger, hence I'm thinking of getting one. Better start saving!

I really like her tone, if anything though, the front pup could be a little thicker, but then, it probably wouldn't be a jazz. They have a nice "hollow" quality but sometimes I feel I need a thicker tone for the band I'm in. I have achieved a thicker sound, but not with my ampeg, with a GK as above. The bridge pup sound's typically "jazz bassy", although it would be derogatory to call it "nasal" it really sings when you play at the bridge.

I string her with DR's. She's clear as a bell. I do wish the treble pot had more effect, sometimes (after years of me complaining of no top end) I just want to roll it all off!

This bass has one of the best actions I ever played. The only one better was....a customer shop jazz at twice the price! I had the action lowered a smidgen at the shop, and she plays fantastically, the neck flies, it has a satin finish on it and is never inhibiting. the finish has come off the frets, it did within a month, but I think this is testament to how much it gets played, and also the nature of frets. No real fretwear yet though.

Point number 1 - the strap button came out almost immediately - this is a known fault if you put the straplocks on your strap. It doesn't happen at the bridge end, but the horn button just came out within a few hours. Fender need to use better, bigger screws!

Pickups were set fine, there is some annoying buzzing from the headstock, but it's not that annoying really, and seems to come and go...I think it's the E tuner.

Point 2 - The Bass knob started rotating loosley in the shop, but the tech put a new allen nut (?) in it and it's fine.

The finish is gorgeous on the body and neck. I may well change the bridge for a badass II when they bring the string through version out. Bridge screws are rusting a little too.

All in all - lovely job, but not a perfect 10! However, the things that are wrong - are little things - the things that are right are big things!

You can drag her round the town, country or world, no problem. Finish is still perfect after a year save my dings (what was I thinking? I'm not Michael Manring and trying to play 2 basses is silly!)

May take her for a check, but don't like being without her really and I think everything is aligned great. The intonation is excellent - I have played cheaper jazzmex basses where it was definitely out, but this thing is perfect in that sense.

Hardware is fine although I will have to get a better button screw put on the front.

Again, not perfect, but nothing badly wrong either.

Lifetime warranty I believe, never needed to speak to fender.

I would buy this bass again in a moment. The only other thing I might get instead is a delxue P-bass or a standard jazz and retrofit it if I could find a good one! I stayed away from Fenders for years, as "everyone has one." More fool me! I love her. I chose this bass for her classic looks and her tonal possibilities and her playability. This bass can do the job, beautifully.

2005 American Jazz Deluxe. Amber color, rosewood fingerboard. Master volume, Pan pot, Stacked bass/treble, and a midrange control (4 knobs). Comes with strap, straplocks, cleaning kit, neck and bridge wrenches. With a Jazz you don't get a lot of bells and whistles, but you DON'T NEED THEM!

I own a Marcus Miller Jazz, and a 62 Vintage reissue. Both are great for specific things, but I was really getting into the Jazz sound, and wanted a better all around bass. I did not care for the fewer frets or s1 swtich on the non-deluxe American jazzes. I even looked at some vintages, but they suck compared to this Jazz. You get a big, classic jazz sound, with more felxibility then anyother jazz due to the range of the tone controls.

I will be using this in everything from classic rock to modern jazz. Huge range of sounds. Very quiet.

Very well set up at the factory. Playbale right out of the box.

If its anything like my other Fenders, let me drop it 15 feet, and I will let you know. My Jazzes have been down there before. This thing is very well built.

No Problems

Been playing for 30 years, and I own a couple of old Ibanez's a Peavey T40 (my first), a Yamaha fretless, two Carvin 5 strings, a MM Sterling, plus the ones above. Oher than using a newer Carvin Koa 5 string (E-C) for my Steve Swallow fetish, this Jazz will be my main bass.

My Jazz Bass it's a 2004, American Deluxe ("upgrade"), 22 frets, 4 strings, and 2 Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Jazz Bass Pickups .
It's an active bass with Master Volume, Pan Pot, 3-Band Active EQ with:
Treble Boost/Cut: +/- 10 db @ 8kHz, a shift in the cut frequency, and about a 2dB slope per octave.
Mid Boost/Cut: +10dB, -15dB @ 500Hz, and a wide band slope.
Bass Boost/Cut: +/- 12 db @ 40 Hz, with a 4dB slope per octave.
It's an 3-Color Sunburst, with a PICKGUARD 3-Ply Mint Green.
I Brogth it new, In Portugal (Europe, I'm Portuguese).

I play Rock and jazz. I'm using an Ampeg withaut effects.
It got a very full jazz bass sond, with "Power".
I thing this bass can be used on lot's off sound varieties.
It's very good on studio and very usefful on stage.
My other bass was an WarwiK Thumb BO, and, this one now, I prefer My American DLX JBass.

The action of the bass was very higth, it neded an adjust.
I olso neded to adjust the pickups.
The rest was great.

I cant say anything. It's an january 2004 Jbass. But it semmed very "Rock Solid".

I have 2 years of warranty, but if I need something the store were e brogth my Jbass will help.

I'v ben playing sice I was 14 (I'm 30 now). I'v had Yammaha and WarwiK basses (allways 4 string's). And this is the best sond I'v had. For the price (at least in Portugal)it's the best bass you can buy.
If it were stolen or lost (and if I'v had ???) I would buy an American Dlx Jazz Bass again.
This is the realy SOUND of bass.

Everybody knows that J-basses are not the most feature-laden, and so it would be inflation if nothing else to give one a 10 for features. However this is not a comment on the quality or design of J-basses, which are genius. Mine is a 2000 fretted in teal green with a maple fingerboard and ash body, and is the best elaboration of the classic Fender design one could ask for. The abalone inlays on the fingerboard are simple but beautiful. I have the new noiseless pickups and the Fender-Suhr active 9V circuit. There are 22 frets, which is 2 more than any other Fender-made J-bass. The preamp has a 3-band cut/boost eq, and master volume and pickup pan. This bass also has the string-through-body option, which I always use, though there are holes in the bridge for strings as well. This feature is standard.

My bass is in use with an Ampeg SVT 3-PRO head and an Ampeg BSE 410HLF cabinet. The bass sounds fantastic with this all-tube amp once the amp has been adjusted, (which is much more of a comment about the amp as my bass sounds great without any adjustment of some of the other amps I use. The bass cuts right through in that it does not need to be loud to be heard clearly. I cannot believe that people spend in excess of three time the price of this instrument for another instrument with the same sound. I tried a Fodera Monarch 4 with two J pickups the other day, and I still prefer my bass, even though I have a real love of good sounding high-end basses and know that Foderas are great. My only complaint is that the preamp does not give as much headroom as it should, so you have to keep the battery fresh or you'll get the "ceiling" noise if you pluck the E really hard at the neck. Slap sounds fantastic on this bass - a cross between Marcus and Victor (honest!). I have used this bass in every style you care to name, from punk to baroque to Serbian kolo to jazz ballads.

The bass went from the factory to the dealers, and I believe they set it up, though I can't remember. When I got the bass it was instantly playable, right out of the UPS van. It was even in tune. The teal green finish on the body was, and still is flawless, after 4 years of constant use. The neck finish is great also, except the excess varnish surrounding every fret slowly fell off, especially in the areas of most activity. This change had no effect on the sound or feel of the bass, and although visible, could only be noticed by someone who was familiar with the same basses, but with the varnish still on. The pickups were very well adjusted when I took the bass out of its hardshell case for the first time. I've since adjusted them, but only for the purposes of experimentation.

This bass has followed me across the world and in and out of auditoriums and halls of all sizes. This bass really is rock solid. In adding additional features to the standard J-bass to create this model they did not lose the famed ruggedness of the Jazz Bass. In fact, the graphite reinforcement of the neck means that the times that I have adjusted the truss rod can be counted on one hand with fingers left over. Setup simply involves adjusting the bridge. I had one small inconvenience with the hardware which was that the volume knob moves too easily, so that agressive or animated slap could suddenly raise or lower the volume with no warning- just a little tap. One could say that this is as much my technique as the bass, but it would be easy to remedy. I fixed this by adding rubber bands underneath the know itself between the knob and the pot. Now it's great. Nothing else has ever gone wrong.

I've never had a reason to call Fender about this bass, other than to congratulate them, which I've never done.

If this bass were stolen or lost I would seek vengeance - and then buy another. Acquiring this bass opened a whole new set of windows for improvement that my previous bass, a Yamaha RBX 460, just didn't allow. Why doesn't everybody have one of these basses?

This bass is fantistic, bought at music store four string american made. Don't get me wrong the mexicon bass are well made but they can't hold a light to this cherry-burst american four. This came with the noisless pickups, active electronics string thru body and yes cheap case, only thing I felt I got screwed on they are made in china. with the ash body and great finish you can't beat fender, I have been playing on one on and off for twenty years.

I play gosple but I think you could play any style and fall in love with this jazz bass. I'm running thru a fender and crate sound good thru both. No dislikes all likes. Big layout of money 1255.00 but would do it again if it got stolen, as BB would say this is my luceal.

Action fit and finish was great, I just wish they would have taken the plactic off when i came to pick it up. action was great. eveything was great good qulity, eveything set just right.

Hey what can I say this is a fender even came with locking strap installed I don't think I'll have any trouble with this bass never had much with the other fenders. With a spare battery it will always go with no backup.

Comes with lifetime warrenty, I think electronics is a year. I don't think I have many problems fenders are pretty relible.

Semi-pro playing for thirty years. I own an ibinez modle 500 good bass but this is a way better bass.

The bass came in a cheap plastic Fender case, nothing great. But that isnt what I bought the instrument for, I bought it because I knew Fender has a long time standing reputation of making some of the highest quality instruments in America (and elsewhere). The finish I chose was Candy Tangerine, with a Maple neck. Cosmetically, I am very pleased. The combination of that certain finish and the bright maple neck gave it an aesthetically sophisticated look. I played the bass for a while when it was not plugged in, to hear the natural wood tone. It was awesome, I couldnt wait to plug it in - and when I did, I was blown away. The Noiseless pickups isolate the TONE YOU WANT, and no extra buzz, fuzz, or any other junk. Using the 3-band Active EQ, you can sit down for hours and play with the controls, until you come to a sound you like. The funny thing is, this ONE Jazz bass covers every field of music; Funk, Rock, Punk, Jazz, Soul, Rap... anything you can think of - and you can achieve those fields just by using the EQ on the bass. Incredible.

Being a Rock player, I was fixated on getting a bright and punchy tone with crunchy lows. I wanted absolutely NO MUD in my tone. I went to the store to try it out, and I rolled the Bass knob up. I plucked the E string and instantly, the entire store was enveloped in a rumbling mass of BASS POWER. Right now, I am putting it thru a Peavey TNT115 combo - the bass sounds incredible, even thru such a weak amp. At the store, I fed it into an Ampeg B2R stack. The sound experienced is hard to describe. It definitely had a rich and full sound, but with the EQ, you can easily warp it anyway you want - the varieties are endless. Personally, I like my mid-range cranked up and my low-end cranked up, and I pan the volume to the Neck pickup, and I acquire a real cool Geddy Lee style tone that also works great for slapping/popping and pick-style.

The bass came with amazing action. Down the road, I changed the action, but I wish I never did! The factory set-up was probably the best I've ever played it. The pickups were set perfect, and they needed no further adjustments. As far as flaws go, I could see NONE. No controls were loose, no paint was flawed, the frets were filed to perfection... nothing was wrong with it.

As long as you keep a battery fresh in it, the bass can withstand live playing very well. The hardware and the finish both seem like they are going to stay on the bass without complications (even though I dinged up the paint job a bit by my own fault). The strap buttons are VERY solid, and I experienced no unwanted movement by them. As far as dependability, the neck/truss rod only needed to be adjusted because I screwed with it (whoops), and NO I wouldnt use this bass on a gig without a backup, just for the sheer reason that I would never play without a backup. The first time that I took this bass out to play a gig, I broke the E string because I was playing too hard - I had to finish the set without it!

I've never had to deal with any warrenty repairs.

What I love about this bass is that it can manipulate a seemingly endless variety of tones. If it were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy it again - same color, same neck. (Lets just hope I dont have to come to that.) I compared the Fender Jazz to many other basses before making my decision to buy it, such as a Music Man bass, a Warwick Corvette, as well as some other Fender Jazz basses (and believe or not, the difference between the American Deluxe models and regular American models is huge.) I definitely got my money's worth.