Fender American Standard Jazz V

This is a 1996 model American made 5 string jazzbass. 20 medium jumbo frets, alder body with maple neck and pao ferro fingerboard. This bass has passive electronics, what the manufacturer calls vintage spec pickups and a string through body bridge. The finish is candy apple red which seems to be deeper toward the center of the instrument. I don't know if the finish is supposed to look like that or if it's really a flaw. I've never seen another just like this. Either way it actually looks cool and I think adds to the look of the instrument. There is no "Skunk" stripe down the back of the neck like older Fenders. It has Gotoh tuners like a lot of modern basses. Pity, I don't like the way they look on this instrument. I am considering replacing them with Hipshot ultra lites. I think the ultra lites would give it more of a traditional jazzbass look. Perhaps fender should have considered a tuner arrangement similar to what they have on the Roscoe Beck signature bass. It came with a molded plastic case.

I consider myself a lucky bass player because I get to do it all every time I perform live. The band I'm in is just a working dance band. We are quite shameless with our repertoire. We literally play everything from Merle Haggard to Hootie & the Blowfish, to George Strait and Van Halen. In an average nights performance I get to Play with a pick, fingerstyle, slap & pop, thumbstyle. You name it, we do it. And I can do it all with this bass. I've heard people say 5 strings aren't for slapping. Bull you-know-what! It has standard jazzbass string spacing and with a little practice I was slapping this bass silly. Live I use a Samson wireless to a rack with my tuner, an Arion chorus (cheap guitar chorus pedal used through the amps effects loop,sounds massive!)into a Peavey T-Max head with a 410 and 115 Peavey enclosures. Since this is a passive bass I leave the volume and tone controls up full. I get a deep sounding bass presence with some upper edge. It has the wonderfull jbass growl. It has graphite bars in the neck which must help. Unlike older fenders I have played, this bass has no dead spots in the neck. I have also used this bass to record and was pleased with its sound. The B string can sometimes be a problem though. It definately doesn't have the tightest sound around. I recently played a MM Stingray 5 and it had a much better sounding B string. I have to approach the B string with a little greater finese to keep from getting a flubby awful sound out of it. Pickups are quiet if left full up.

I bought this bass of the wall and played it the last four years and never adjusted anything. And believe me, I've played for 32 years and if I didn't like some aspect of its set up I couldn't rest til it was adjusted to suit me. I thought this bass was very well made. The frets were done perfectly. Tight neck joint. I had no complaints with the set up at all. It was ready to gig when I bought it!

This bass is used mostly for live performances and has suffered it's share of bumps and thumps. It has been knocked off it's guitar stand twice (that I know of) and sustained several chips on the finish. The polyester finish seems a bit thick and is prone to chip off. The bass is candyapple red and where the finish has chipped off a white spot is left. I have not noticed any problem with intonation even after being banged on the floor. This bass if Fender tough like you'd expect. I didn't like the factory Schaller strap locks and replaced them with Dunlops. I never take a back up to the gigs and I have never been let down.

I have never had to deal with the Fender folks at all.

I have been playing for 32 years and have played bass for the last 20. I have had other Fender basses. I currently own a Rickenbacker 4001, Ibanez SR-405, and one of the first Peavey T-40 basses to come out(don't laugh it was great!). I fell in love with this bass the first time I saw it. I had read about it but had never seen or played one til I saw this one. I would need therapy if someone stole this bass and yes, it would definately be replaced with another. I love the classis jazzbass look. (I don't like the delux jbass because they changed the body shape!) The B string needs needs some re-engineering for a better sound but overall it's a great sounding bass. I would prefer it had the traditional look "elephant ear" or "clover" tuners. I am preparing to order one with a sunburst colored body and maple neck.

Made in the USA in 1997. Solid Alder body in Olymic White with a white pickguard. 34" scale 5 string with a 21 fret maple/pau ferro neck w/graphite reinforcement, and strings strung through the body. It has a fairly wide neck, just about standard jazz spacing. Standard jazz configuration of Vol/Vol/Tone controls, but the pickups have been custom rebuilt by Seymor Duncan to his own specs, including new alnico magnets and his own winding scheme. Same bobbins from the original pickups were used. They are essentially Antiquities, for a five string. Tuners are Fender/Gotoh, all hardware is chrome.

This bass is lovely in all respects! I play alot of jazz in both big band and combo settings. I also play in a college pep band covering everything from 311 to Diana Ross to Led Zeplin and even Frank Zappa. Versitle is the word for this bass. Very clean, crisp sound all the way to the B-string. Very even tone all the way up the neck, across every string. Has a very full sound across the spectrum. Deep lows and crisp highs. Sounds like a jazz bass. I play it through an SWR Studio 220 and Peavey 210TX cab. For pep band gigs, I use the ST220 or a Peavey Firebass head with a Peavey 215 cab. I've also used a Kern IP777/SWR ST800 w/the 210TX (my favorite combination).

Since I bought it used from a pro bass playing friend in Seattle, I redid the set up to my own tastes. However, it was a breeze to set up the way I like it (super low action, high pickups). Maintains a low action. The finish is flawless, and the construction is near perfect. All frets are very even and well dressed. The neck pocket is very clean and tight. Can't budge it when it's bolted in, can't stick even a piece of paper in the pocket between the body and neck. It looks really good for an opaque finish (I'm partial to transparent/clear finishes). No complaints at all...

So far it's a real workhorse. Never had a problem with it. The hardware is top-notch. I rarely have to set it up or set the intonation. I would (and often do) use it without a back up without hessitation.

Never had to deal with them, but then again... This is Fender. I used to teach in a music store that carries Fender. Customer support is not their forte.

I've been playing for about 12 years. I own a '67 Gibson EB-0, Peavey Axcellerator 6 (35" scale, very modern sound), Yamaha/G&L fretless frankenbass, and Warmoth/Fender Jazz w/SD Antiquities and Gotoh #206 bridge. This bass has it's own niche in my collection. More modern than the Warmoth/Fender bass (which compares to a '62 reissue jazz in every way), much more "fender" than the Peavey. Sounds great on tape, too. The thing that makes this one so special is the set of pickups in it. They improved the sound by at least 100% over the original windings. The B-string is as strong as my Peavey with active pickups and 35" scale. No other Amer. Fender Jazz V I've played sounds nearly as good (especially the B string)! (I've played a few...) The only thing I've considerd adding would be a good 2-band eq such as the East or John Suhr preamps, or a Sadowsky pre. Even passive, it can handle just about everything I've thown at it.