Fender Fretless Jazz Bass

I have a 1994-1995 MIJ Fender Fretless Jazz Bass (not the MIM Jazz Bass Fretless that people insist on reviewing on this page). Unlined rosewood, W/B/W Pickguard, 20 fret range, finished in Arctic White. The neck has some chunk to it, like a Fender should. Standard Jazz Bass appointments, with the exception of a copper grounding strip running from the bridge pickup to the bridge, just like Jaco's did. I have a feeling that this is like a '62/Jaco reissue with a different name (similar to the Vintage White '69 Strat Fender made last year that was only available left handed...). Not sure what pickups are on it (i.e. MIJ pups or MIA '62 RI pups), but they are the factory ones. I very very smartly got a luthier to cover the fingerboard with marine epoxy, just like Jaco did, and it was one of the best musical decisions I have ever made. I'll give it an 8 because it's a stock Jazz Bass, unlined, and I had to epoxy the fingerboard myself.

The first time I heard Portrait of Tracy by Jaco Pastorius, I stopped playing bass for three weeks; there was no way I could play like that. When I got out of my slump, I bought this bass. I first had it armed with flatwounds, and played it like an upright. I did some reading up on Jaco, found out how he played with the bridge pickup on with Rotosounds, and off I went. I played and played until the fingerboard was dried and mangled. I did some searching and found a place that would epoxy my fingerboard, and did that. I took off the pickguard and I was set. This bass is very bright and clear, darkening up as you roll off the tone. With the epoxy, rolling the tone to just over half way, and playing by the neck, you get that warm Jaco tone perfectly. Crank the tone and you have his solo tone perfectly. I.E. You have Jaco's tone perfectly.

After I perfected Portrait of Tracy, I plugged it in DI to my computer and recorded it. Then I played my version and Jaco's version to a friend, and he could not tell which one was which. It's that good.

One downside is that yes, the single coil pickups hum when solo'd. This should not be news to anybody, but it does subtract 2 marks from my score. Luckily, I give the sound a score of 12.

I bought this on eBay. This bass had been relic'd up something fierce (once again, just like Jaco's). The finish had chunks missing from it, and there were some serious dents in the body. The bass isn't finished in nitro, so it doesn't wear all that nicely, but one can see how hard the bass was hit for the finish to crack like that. I personally love the Arctic White colour, which looks like a dead ringer for Jimi's Woodstock Strat. I really love the finish on old '50s reissue P-Bass necks, and the finish on this neck was just like it (although not on the fingerboard). With my epoxied fingerboard, I give this a 9.

I was surprised at how light this bass was, but it is well balanced. It does not do a neck dive, and it doesn't stress out one shoulder either. Like I said before, this bass took a beating, and there's nothing wrong with it. One thing to note, though: playing with Rotosounds on a fretless board, epoxied or not, still wears away at it. The epoxy will need replacing eventually. Without the epoxy, even flatwounds will wear your board (although after much longer). In conclusion, fretless fingerboards are fragile and need replacing. Other than that, this bass is solid.

I would like to find out more info about this bass, but couldn't find any. All I found out from Fender was the year that this was made, and that was via a hidden serial number archive.

I wanted a fretless bass to sound like Jaco's. This one does it perfectly. Perfectly. Perfectly. Yes, it does it perfectly.

Fender fretless--Jazz bass with a Maple percison neck. Paid 200.00 in '73. Orginal bass fender sunsburst with a black in lays in a maple neck with black binding. First saw a fender fretless percison about a year after I pick up my jazz bass. As soon as I picked up the bass I played It seemed like I been playing on one for years. I to order a fretless percison neck. Fender didn't make fretless jazz neck when I wanted one. Been playing on fretless basses for more than 30 years. Sanded the sunburst off was wood grain for a couple years it was cool. I had a friend paint it jet black (auto paint guy paint still holding up very little wear scratches of course ..never been buffed out. Amost all the new fretless all have fret markers on I find it more difficult to play because of the dots are in a of the fret where the dots on the marked neck are in the middle of the fret like a fretted instrument. Neck is really smooth even with 30 years of 1/2 wound d a dario s

very cool solid sound 1/2 wounds on stringa neck still in good shape tried many kinds of string Hate flats and black nylons to dead. 1/2 are are the way to go I try to be in the middle feel. Can't really slap but I've basiclly a swing player. The picks up orgininal noisy with dimmers in the room . I love the fat low sound I have an acoustic 371 with 2 eden 10's on top for a high end. 200 / 500 watts bi amp great sound. small sound just cut it for me. great bottom. Fast neck on the fretless action varies bridge needs some nail polish to lock the adjustment on bridge

Sanded and varnished wood for a while. Sanded and pained byan Auto paint guy. He said he put about 30 layers of black gross. A few scratches but it still looks like new.

Ran over the bond of the bass While it was still the cast with the car.Dam hate when that happens. Small knob broke off. I was glad I didn't ride over the neck .. Just by chance. Had to replace the adjustment for the truss rod ok now ..Needs slight adsustment with the change of the seasons. Been doing all the adjustments myself for years.It holds up under any preformace.

No warranty , never had any problems with it. Broke at nut on the e side had to get replaced .... with bone. still have the the big fender jazz plates and pick up guards haven't been on the bass in 30 years.

I've playing bass for 32 years. I have two or fretless custom 5 string fretless, 4 - string tacoma fretless acoustic cb10 chief my fender jazz
and a '74 white rickenbackef which is freted. When I have to go where have to play in a new situation it is always my fender that I pull on first.

Michael Brophy.. broph2112@yahoo.com

Made in Mexico, fretless with lines. Two volume pots which must be set in same position or it will hum through the single coil J-pickups. One tone pot. Rosewood fingerboard maple neck, alder body(mine's black w/ white pickguard),

Suits my music well but at this point, I play anything. I love the fretless sound when I heard Jaco Pastorius, Pink Floyd, and a Kate Bush song called "breathless". As mentioned before, must have volume pots in same position. Flatwound strings give a very dark/dull sound but roundwounds will eat a fretless up faster than termites. I love the lines, as I am a guitartist turned fretted bass turned fretless bass. Neck is nice and narrow.

Everything appears to fit perfect and I got it used so I don't know if was always set up perfect or not. No flaws that I can see.

I think this bass will withstand anything you can dish out. Strap buttons solid, body is heavy 9 pounds compared to my washburn bass which weighs 7 or so. Hardware is pretty rugged, open-reverse tuners.

n/a, never dealt with them. It is used so I have no warranty.

I just started playing bass about 3 months ago and then decided I had to have the roaring moaning sound of a fretless in my guitar collection. I love the fretless sound, it is more like an upright bass than an electric bass sound. I don't like the weight of it but Fender never builds light cheapie crap, everything is really solid on all my fenders:(Fender Stratocaster guitar & Fender Telecaster guitar). I compare it to a Warwick and rather the fender, the warwick had a rounder fretboard and rather fender's price which is half as much. Only thing I would like extra would have been active electronics.

Recently purchased, made in Mexico, brand new fretless Jazz bass. Located this instrument online from an outlet in Minnesota. I was looking for something used and this came up. It is a standard,no frills Jazz bass, black finish w/white pickguard. Rosewood neck with fret inlays. Instrument was slightly damaged (must have been dropped in the store) and had a dime-sized chip in the finish. When it arrived I realized it was brand new and hadn't been set up. Cost $300 plus $30 for shipping. A great deal and a great playing bass!

I play a variety of music and the Jazz bass suits them all. I play through a small Fender bass amp, usually miked or run through a DI depending on the gig. Like any Jazz bass I can get practically any sound I want out of it. Also, I use Fender tape-wound strings because I prefer the warm, full tone they produce

I had the guitar tech at my local music store set up the neck and intonation. This is a smooth playing bass that practicall plays itself. The quality of the instrument is excellent, though I've heard that Made in Mexico guitars are inferior to the Japanese and American instruments. This one is a real jem!

I've been playing a fretted Pbass for 30 years and thought I would have problems getting used to a fretless instrument. No way! This bass feels as good as my '64 Pbass and I have been using it exclusively since I bought it. It feels like it will last a good long time.

N/A

During my 30+ years of playing bass I have played Fender instruments exclusively. I have used the same '64 Pbass for road work and recording. Recently decided to retire the '64 from the road and bought a 2000 Made in Mexico Pbass as a backup. I wasn't exactly satisfied with the new instrument, though it is hardly broke in yet. The MiM Jazz bass however went right to work. I couldn't be happier with the Jazz bass, and I use the '00 Pbass as backup.

This is a Mexican Fender Jazz Base fretless. It has a rosewood fretboard with inlaid fret lines. It has two standard J-style pickups, with two volumes and a master tone. Mine is the 3-tone sunburst, which looks pretty good for a poplar body. The neck has a nice thin feel to it, and since it's fretless, you can get that smooth cool bass sound from it. The tuners are the standard exposed bass tuning keys.

Superb. A lot of people put the Mexican Fenders down because they're not built in the US. I myself own both Mexian and American Strats, and they're both superb guitars. Given, the American's got a few more goodies to it, but the Mexican is by no means a bad guitar. Such is the case for this guitar. In the Fender style, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Its got a nice round sound to it, and the bridge pickup is nice and punchy. Since it's fretless, it's great for jazz and blues. You really have to go out of your way to find something you dont like on this guitar.

I bought mine from Don's Music Land in Peoria IL. Of course, they did a fabulous job setting it up for me. Perfect string action, superb finish, all in all a very fine guitar.

It's a fender. I don't care what nationality you buy, these things are built to withstand the apocalypse. I baby my stuff, but I'm sure it'll see its fair share of dings.

Never dealt with Fender. That in and of itself is a testament to thier quality.

I'm a guitarist who needed a bass for a small home studio. I got the fretless jazz bass because I sold my old Harmony bass. This thing is beautiful in sound, action, playability, looks, and vibe. I love this bass enough to keep it for a very long time.

My "Fender/Japan" fretless was made in japan as JB62-77FL.
It is simply '62 model jazz bass like jaco's.
2 single-coil pickups and passive electronics featured.
Body material is alder and rose on maple neck.
It's color variation is 3tone sunburst only.

It is good for simple fretless sound.
It's sounds directly for your fingering and picking.
I use this bass for both live and studio play.
Until '97, I also use this at most of my job(bass player).

It finished uretane paint.
Set-up is very good.

I don't know about this bass's reliability.
Because it has very very simple circuit.

It is very good but in japan.

I think it is good bass.
I have some bass much more costs but i love this one.
This is best for me.
You can find this bass's tone at web-page at
http://musicwatch.impress.co.jp/contact/artistinfo/doc200/index.htm

as i said above, this is a standard fretless j-bass. it's either a '99 or '00 model (probably a '00) the 20 fretlines are marked on the rosewood fingerboard. it has a beautiful black finish and came with the usual fender j-bass pickup and controls. it has a poplar body.

i play a variety of music, running from blues to jazz to punk. however, i do not try to "dial in" settings to sound like another person/band. i very early on decided on a setting that i like that i think does a good job at all of the styles i play, especially jazz. it is capable of a variety of sound, however, though it tends to have a very mellow, warm sound inherent to fretless basses.

the pickups that came with the bass were the standard pickups. however, i recently wanted more body to my sound and so i replaced the pickups with the fender original '62 pickups, and i love the sound even more.

first of all, let me say that i am very fortunate to be a regular customer at a GREAT guitar store. the store experts set up every guitar and bass before bringing them out to display. however, there is a slight neck problem that i do not have the budget to fix at this point. the neck has a slight buge/curve near the nut. adjusting the truss rod does not fix this problem. i had the bass about 6 months when the open strings began to badly buzz. upon closer inspection, the strings had eroded through the nut and were beginnning to cut a groove into the neck. the temoprary solution was to take off the old nut and put in a more resilient bone nut. this has held up quite well.

this is truly a wrokingman's bass. it has stood up to numerous acts of abuse and the hardware has taken it. the finish is only starting to show scratches from my trademark studded belt. i have yet to have any problems with the strap buttons, and besides the early truss adustment for my neck problems, i have only adjusted the truss rod once, when i changed from flatwounds to tapewound strings

i have not directly dealt with fender, but when i tried to have the neck replaced, i was told that that was not covered under warranty. so the store i puchased the bass from has done the mantenance to the bass for free when it is related to the neck/nut. howeer, fender is NOT paying for this maintenance. it has a two year warranty, and i might inquire of them again soon before the warranty expires

this is my first bass, i have been plying seriously for about a year, and i LOVE it! i also am "borrowing" a short-scale bass from a friend, but it sees little playing time. if this bass was stolen, i would cry really hard then go and buy another one, maybe an american made one, and get the 62 pickups put in again. i love playing fretless, which is one of the basses biggest assets. i stared playing bass on upright, but i wanted to know where the notes were, so immediately i knew it had to be fretless so i went into the store and started noodling on a fretless and i fell in love. however it carried a $900 price tag, well out of an unemployed highschooler's range, so i went with the mexican made one. my bass has always felt like it was perfect for me. it has had its share of prblems, but it is a beautiful object to look at, and when i ick it up and begin to play Jaco's "continuum" i am in heaven. for the total of $450 dollars i have put into the bass(300 for the bass, 40 for a black pickguard-i didnt like the white, and 110 for the new pickups) it has come through in spades..

Made in about 1998 (?) in Mexico. 4-string fretless with lines. Dark blue with white pickguard. Standard controls - Vol, Vol, Tone. Passive p'ups all standard issue. Rosewood board. Bought it used, but came with a nice Fender case. Rating = 10 as it is everything a Mexican lined fretless should be.

Makes a great a thick fretless sound, with plenty of "mwah". Mass tone from these supposedly dodgy pickups. I play it through an Ashdown ABM 500 and it sounds a holocaust. Sounds great (and modern) through an SWR Basic Black stack, and has plenty of balls through a MonoBlock II head and sundry cabs. It's a bit noisy at times, but nothing distracting, especially since I like both pickups cranked. Very full dark tone. Lacks overt brightness/brittleness, but I prefer it that way. Haven't used it in the studio, but live it sounds great - many positive coments I don't get on basses that cost many times more. Rating = 10 as after a few years and many other basses I am still impressed with how it sounds.

The setup and action were great, but as I said it was used (for a month) so I dunno if the factory should get the credit. Played great, sold itself within minutes of picking it up. Not as sweet as a fretless Music Man I recently tried (which cost 5 times more) but pretty damn sweet. Other fretless basses feel different, but not necessarily better. No flaws in the manufacture. Pickups were setup fine though I had to lower them as I give it a good punching. 10 = it was setup great and is easy to do my own setup on.

It takes a heavy beating, but after awhile it shows it. Needs readjustment (easy to do) as a light (7 pounds?) fretless is a delicate thing anyway. Have played it outdoors in the hot dry sun, and indoors in humid halls and it carries through a gig just fine. Holds the tuning. The bridge shows the most abuse - a screw has fallen out and one of the liitle posts that hold up the string saddles has gone missing, but taht's after a heap of sustained abuse over time and no maintenance. I'll say 8, because by rights it should be disintegrated by now.
Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off
with lots of playing?
Are the strap buttons solid?
Can you depend on it? How often does the neck/truss rod need to be adjusted?Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

n/a

If stolen or lost I would have to replace it because it rules and manages to pull off many styles. Mostly I like the playability, tone, and versatility. I've used it without a backup, but probably shouldn't (true of any bass). I like to use this one as a backup now as it is light to carry around, takes a beating, and is simple and delivers the goods.

Please note this Section is For the Fender "Fretless Jazz Bass" Made in Japan.
For other listings look under "Jazz Bass Fretless" as in Made in Mexico.

My Fretless Jazz Bass (Fender part #27-6508-506 was made in Japan.
It was made and purchased in 1996. I have found every Fender bass made in Japan that I have ever played to be of very good to excellent quality. This bass is no exception.

The bass was available at the time in a white or black finish. With a white pick-guard. An unlined fretless rosewood neck. The bass also came with passive single coil JJ pick-ups.

The bass was an incredible value at just over $400.00 The workmanship, tone, and playability were exceptional. The only weak points about the bass were the pick-ups and the bridge.

On my bass I switched the pick-ups to the EMG J-Set. They sound incredible on this bass and I would recomend that any owner of one of these fine basses do the same. EMG's are inexpensive and easy to install yourself.

Another beneficial upgrade to the bass was switching the stock bridge to a Gotoh 201. This bridge is available at Warmouth Guitar Parts. This is a high quality bridge (also made in Japan) that intonates perfectly and the set-screws on it don't move around. The "201" is very similar to a stock Fender bridge, it's just 100 times better. Like the EMG J-Set, the Gotoh 201 bridge is a very smart upgrade.

The only other change that I made to the bass was to replace the stock white pick-guard with a Fender white pearloid one. The Fender white pearloid pick-guard has an aged white look to it that looks great with the black finish on my bass and gives the bass a very cool vintage vibe. If you have a white body you should put a tortise-shell
pick-guard on instead.

These three minor modifications transform an already good musical instrument into one that can compete with the best. If a 4-string will cut it for you and you like the tone, feel, and looks of a Fender Jazz Bass; GO OUT AND FIND ONE OF THESE GREAT BASSES!!!!

By the way, strings are very important. This bass will sound best with GHS Pressurewound MS7200 strings. They are a smooth roundwound nickle bass string set. They have a 36.5" winding length that is perfect for a top-load 34" scale length bass. Their smooth feel is good for preventing unwanted noise when shifting positions on the neck and will help protect the fingerboard from wear.

The last thing that I have to say is that I have no connection with any of the companies that I made note of in this review. None of them pay me or give me any free gear. Maybe one day!!!

Good luck in your search for your perfect fretless bass.

Purchased in 1993 this Bass is pre-anything Fender "made in Mexico", so it's a Made in Japan era fretless Jazz bass. Basic Black with white pickgaurd, came with all the Standard Jazz bass features. Nothing fancy just a simple design which I bought mostly to play Jazz/swing style big band music.

I have always liked the sound of the Jazz bass, it took me some time to get used to playing fretless as I had a P-Bass before this. But this Bass has become my first line for playing the Jazz/swing music that my big band plays. I have also played it with many smaller combos with excellent results. Just this past year I up-graded the pickups to Fender custom shop 60's, it didn't really need this but I read good things about these pickups in Bass player mag, and they only cost about $100. so I did the job. I use Fender black nylon flatwound strings which really are the best for my music. I think a fretless realy must have flatwounds.

I take very good care of the bass most everything is still "like new" I have never had it adjusted, the neck stays straight, the bass stays in tune well. The neck and rosewood fingerboard have always had a nice feel to them. The fit and finsh was near perfect from the dealer. I have heard many complains about the Mexican made fretless Jazz bass I think mine is far superior to any Mexican Fender I have ever tryed.

I have played about 40 gigs a year steady with my big band since I got this bass in 1993 it has never failed for any reason. Just getting kicked around so many stages the bass has seen alot of use. It still looks and sounds great. I put a new set of strings on the bass about once a year. I don't work gigs without a backup because I don't want to break a string and not have my P-bass standing by just in case. It's only happened once, but live and learn. Most Jazz gigs I tune up both Basses and play the Jazz, the P-bass just sits on the stand till I go home.

No idea, never had any need.

I bought the Bass because hey Jaco played one so what could be better. Compared many fretless basses before I bought the Fender most did not have the nice neck feel of the Fender. I've been playing almost twenty years and I own a Fender california P-Bass special, a Yamaha TRB-5 (5 string), and a Sigma acoustic Bass (check out my reviews for all these posted here at Harmony-central). This Jazz Bass was one of the smartest moves I ever made a true workhorse with great feel and tone.