Fender Highway 1 Jazz Bass

MADE IN 2005
20 FRETS
STANDARD J-BASS CONFIGURATION
SATIN FINISH
HONEY-BLONDE TRANSPARENT
GIG BAG INCLUDED

WHAT A SOUND!!!
NOT THAT IT DIDN'T SOUND GREAT AT THE STORE,BUT ADD A BADASS BRIDGE AND HEAR YOUR TONE GO THROUGH THE ROOF. PUNCHY, GROWLY, SMOOTH AND DEEP, OR
GLASS-LIKE HIGHS. THEY'RE ALL HERE. IF PICKUP NOISE IS TOO MUCH, JUST REPLACE WITH DIMARZIO DP123 OR DP149. THESE PICKUPS ARE PHENOMINAL AND COST LESS THAN 100 BUCKS WHICH MEANS YOUR HIGHWAY-1 BASS NOW SOUNDS BETTER THAN ANY A,ERICAN STANDARD OR DELUXE BASS FOR LESS THAN $800

HAVEN'T FOUND ANY PROBLEMS. ONE QUICK NECK ADJUSTMENT FROM THE STORE AND YOUR SET. AS WITH ALL JAZZ NECKS, THIN, FAST, AND COMFORTABLE. QUICKLY REPLACED THE BRIDGE W/ A LEO QUAN.(APPARENTLY THE STOCK BRIDGE HAS A TENDANCY TO SLIP, AND BESIDES THE ADDED ATTACK AND SUSTAIN OF THE LEO QUAN IS A STUNNING IMPROVEMENT) TUNERS SEEM FINE.

FENDER MAKES A ROCK SOLID PRODUCT. I LOOK FORWARD TO YEARS OF PERFORMANCE. OTHER REVIEWERS COMMENTED ON THE SATIN FINISH CHIPPING AWAY, BUT IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR INSTRUMENTS LIKE AN ADULT YOU CAN AVOID ANY DAMAGE.

NO CONTACT YET!!

I'VE BEEN PLAYING BASS FOR 11 YEARS NOW AND HAVE GONE THROUGH A FEW BASSES. STARTED WITH AN OLD GIBSON GRABBER AND PLAYED IT FOR YEARS. WANTED SOMETHING NEW SO I TRIED AN IBANEZ ERGODYNE FOR A MORE CURRENT SOUND. THE GIBSON SOUNDED GREAT BUT PLAYED KIND OF SLUGGISHLY, THE IBANEZ PLAYED GREAT BUT SOUNDED RATHER TINNY AND FAKE. THE HIGHWAY-1 IS THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF PLAYABILITY AND TONE. BUY IT!! 2 SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS MAKE THIS AN INCREDIBLE BASS FOR 100'S LESS THAN THE AMERICAN STANDARDS. I WOULD RATE IT HIGHER THAN 10 IF IT WERE ALLOWED

This bass was made in 2005. Classed as Made in USA. 20 frets, standard jazz kneck i think. It has volume of each pickup, one tone etc all the jazz standards. A nice rosewood kneck, with rolled edges, a nice touch, that you dont get on mexicans. The kneck is also graphite reinforced, but i dont understand why or how?? Came with a Gig Bag, its really good and handy. You must understand that i played a crap j bass copy for the first 3 years of my life, so this bas feels like a dream.

This bass just sounds so warm and phat just how i like it, with full on both pickups, and the tone rolled all the way in the opposite direciton, which i think is full bass. You can get it quite the opposite tho if you solo the bridge pickup and turn the tone all the other way. I really like its sound.

The set up seemed pretty good. Anything is better than my last bass. I looked down the kenck it looked good, almost exactly straight. No buzz on any fret. This was the first thing i checked , along with the intonation, which was perfect. I guess its the difference between a bass built on monday morning , or on an exhausted, lazy worker's firday night. I guess i got a monday morning one :D Oh wait, i forgot the intonation screw came out on the G string whi

The paint dosent seem very durable, but thast the point of the highway 1. so i really dont care, i got mine in honey blonde transparent , altho you can only just see a slight grain. I think the finish will wear off in places.
Oh wait, i forgot the intonation screw came out on the G string while i was gigging. that put me on a downer, i only had it for 3 days and then it just slowly moved itself out while i played. The saddle has stayed there tho so its just a case of getting a new screw, which i cant find anywhere? I think i will just upgrade the bridge, meh why not.

well i got the music store to order me a replacement screw, i could comment once i find out how much i will be charged!! altho it has a lifetime warranty, it wont let anyone outside of USA register online, so i dont know who i would contact if it broke?

Im really happy with this bass, it is really easy to play. my playing improved 10x. If lot or stolen, i would buy again straight away.

This is a 2004 year model Highway 1 Jazz bass, with satin lacquer sunburst finish on an alder body. It has a very slim one-piece 20-fret 34-inch-scale maple neck with a skunk stripe down the back, and a rosewood fingerboard. The electronics are passive and it came with two single-coil passive pickups. Each pickup has a volume control and they share a single tone control. The massive tuning keys are standard Fender as is the bridge, which I quickly replaced with a Leo Quan Badass Bridge II. The gig bag is nice but I am storing my bass in a hardshell case.

Well, Jeff Jenkins (see his review below) has it absolutely right about this bass. I play finger-style exclusively, mostly classic rock, some jazz and some metal, and this bass is capable of creating every sound I want. I am using it with a 300 watt Behringer BX3000T head, two Avatar cabinets, one with an Eminence 12? and one with two Eminence 10? speakers. I also practice through a Rogue RB-120BT, which has 120 watts and a 15? speaker. The bass sounds great through both amps. For effects I use a Digitech Bass Squeeze for compression and a Hartke Bass Attack to add tube-like warmth. It may be a fluke, perhaps a production fluke, but this bass does sound much better than its more expensive Fender brothers and sisters (the neck also plays easier). I know because I did side-by-side tests. The sound is aggressive, punchy and warm, and cuts through the mix well. I have never been a big believer in the whole finish-affecting-the-tone argument, but am starting to become one. Maybe it is the finish, maybe it is not, but the bass just sounds so very good I want to play it all the time. So, I'm with Mr. Jenkins on the whole psychological effect of owning this bass, and also must agree that you can pay a lot more money and probably not get a better bass. I must note, though, that even though the stock pickups sound awesome with both knobs at full, backing one of them off causes some hum. Wanting more control of each pickup's volume (for tone control purposes), I replaced the stock pickups with DiMarzio Jazz humbuckers (DP123 Model J) and the sound is even punchier. I thank Gigue for the fine Harmony Central review of these pickups and for web site at www.subsonicfamily.com/bass/, which has side-by-side pickup sound-file comparisons.

I saw the bass before and after the music store set it up and Fender had not set the neck up at all. It looked like an archery bow. The pickups were adjusted and I saw no flaws in the hardware or otherwise. The good folks at Music and Arts in Spartanburg, SC (where I bought the bass), set the neck up for me and did a darn good job. I played it for a while without adjusting it. However, being the anal retentive perfectionist that I am, I have (of course) made adjustments. One thing I like about the new Fender necks is having an open truss rod adjustment point at the head, because truly, each change of string type and/or gauge alters a bass guitar setup a bit. Another thing I like about this neck is that it is so very thin and fast. The action is now quite sweet. My string height at the fret closest to the bridge (20th fret) is 3/32? to 4/32?. I have a heavy plucking hand and so occasionally get some fret-slap noise on the A string. It is, however, not serious enough for me to raise the action further. A higher-tension string-set I had on resolved the problem but I did not like that sets tone and so went back to a lower-tension string. As far as finish goes, I am not a fan of the look of the dull lacquer finish (even if it makes the bass sound better). I prefer my musical instruments like my cars, all clean and shiny. So, it occurred to me to go to my garage and retrieve some non-abrasive, non-silicone-based carnauba wax (one from Sears and Meguiar's #7). Boy does it shine now. I challenge you to tell from off-stage that this is a lacquer finish. You can't. I keep it looking good between playings with Meguiar's Quik Detailer. One thing I wish Fender had done, though, is sand the body a bit more prior to painting. I know that the costs saved in the finishing process are what allows Fender to price this fine instrument so low, but the joint lines are visible. Oh well, it is the sound that matters.

I have owned Fender basses before and see the same rock-solid construction in this bass. All the hardware is solid, including the strap buttons. The alder body is quite a bit lighter, but that is a plus. My old Precision basses used to ?break my back? after about three sets. Others reviewers mentioned that the finish is not as durable as the polyurethane finishes. This may be true. I have tried several different sets of strings on this bass (ironically ending up with Fender OEM strings) and now notice little marks below the bridge. Other than that, there is really not much that can go wrong with this instrument. Being a passive bass, the circuitry is simple and there is no battery to die in the middle of a set. I guess if I used it as a battering ram, it could fail. :-) In less than a concert situation, I would not hesitate to play this bass without a backup instrument available.

I am pretty impressed with the fact that the neck and body are warranted for as long as I own them while everything else is warranted for a year, but have to give Fender the benefit of the doubt on customer support. This is my third Fender and I have never had to contact them for a single problem. I have a sense that their support people must feel like ?Lonesome George.? In my book, making a product that does not require customer support is the best kind of customer support.

I have been playing since 1964 but in 1976 took a lifetime sabbatical from music as a profession. As you may tell from my gear listed above, I am purchasing the highest-quality, lowest-priced gear I can get, and this bass is an incredible value. Including the cost of the new bridge and the new pickups, I have less than $800 in this bass, and this baby sounds and plays better than some $1,500 to $2,500 basses I have tried. What I like best about it is the aggressive, gutsy tone that is typically Fender, the tone by which all other electric basses are judged. It growls, it purrs, and it's a keeper. If it were stolen, I would replace it with another Highway 1 Jazz Bass, but would try to find the thief in order to instruct him in lessons of proper social etiquette.

Made in 2003, 20 medium-jumbo frets, Satin finish, standard jazz controls, all passive electronics, alder body, maple neck with the skunkstripe, rosewood fretboard, nice thing neck with a satin polysomething or other finish, supposed to come with a gig bag but the place I bought it from "forgot" that, so no luck for me in that area. The pickups were a little dull sounding, but hey... it's a fender, who cares?

I play mostly punk, blues and rock, and this bass works great for all of them... after I scrapped the pickups. Those pickups just didn't have the balls I needed, so out they went. It had a fairly mellow sound, little less bass and midrange than I like but still quality sounding.

This bass was great right from the start, but it felt a little... I don't know, I guess the best word is "weird". Something didn't feel right when I played it, turns out somewhere along the line someone swapped the standard .045-.110 strings for .045-.105 strings, so when I went to put on a set of my usual 45-110's, the damn thing got all screwy so I had to reset everything. Fortunatly the bozo hadnt reset the neck, which explains why it didnt play right. The neck is smooth as silk, with a gorgeous shiny finish on it (Ooooo.... shiny.....). The finish on the body was beautiful, but the damn thing keeps chipping off. Seems every show I play I put another scar on the poor baby. Still, I love it to death.

I'm not gonna lie to you... I'm a punk kid. I know it's not fashionable to say that, and I know the jazz community will probably turn their noses up at me because I don't know the difference between a mixowhateverthehellitscalled scale and a dorian scale, but it's the plain honest truth... I was brought up on bands like Rancid, Operation Ivy, Social Distortion, the Dropkick Murphys and many others that no one has ever heard of. Now, this being said, anyone who has ever seen a punk show knows that instruments are thrown around like the new guy in a prison. This bass has stood up to all my abuse I've heaped upon it, with the exception of the finish. Still, it looks like it's been in a knife fight but it still played great. The hardware is top notch, but I'm gonna replace the bridge with a Leo Quann BADASS II bridge just because I feel like it.

Never had to deal with them, this thing will never die.

If this bass disapeared I would hunt down the S.O.B. who did it and destroy them. This is my pride and joy, and if anything happened to it I would definatly replace it. I wouldn't mind having slightly hotter pickups in there, but you all knew that anyway. I love the feel and the sound of this bass, and my only complaint is that the finish keeps coming off. I played an American Jazz bass at the time, and I couldn't hear any significant differences between the two. So, since I was on a budget I went for the Highway 1 and I've never looked back.

If you would like to see my fender highway 1 in action, check out www.redrocketband.com... I know, it's not a punk band, but it's music... watch the video, look at some pictures, drop us an e-mail and enjoy yourself.

2003 Highway 1 Jazz bass, satin finish, sunburst, gigbag included. All the usual features of a Jazz.

I run it through an Ashdown 300w head and a 4x10 cab. It has a good variety of usable sounds, and has much more punch than I expected from a passive guitar.
I play in a covers band doing a huge variety of stuff, and the Jazz pretty much covers every sound I need without much fuss.

Part of the appeal of this bass, is the fact that it's gonna look old really fast. I've had it for about 18 months now, and it's starting to look pretty shabby.
The setup wasn't half bad, a bit of tweaking and I gigged it the first night.

This is my real problem with the guitar. Whilst I wanted the finish to look shabby, I didn't want the rest of it to follow suit with such vigour!
The strap buttons both need continual fiddling, and the holes are packed with all sorts to keep the screws in place.
The tone and volume pots hurl themselves off at irregular intervals.
Just the other day I noticed one of the machineheads is slipping quite badly.
Basically, after every gig, I have to screw the thing back together, and hope it dosen't fall off the strap/throw a control pot at the audience/give up a tuning peg.
This is the cheapest of my three basses, and it really feels it these days. I guess that Fender had to cut corners to get in in at the price it is, but I'm disappointed that some of the basics are so poor.
I think that anyone who treats their gear rough, should steer well clear.

Never bothered.

My other basses are a Stingray and a neck-thru Spector NS2000, both of which are so much better made.
The Jazz hasn't put me off Fender, as I really like the tone and the style of it. I only wish I'd gone the extra mile and bought a proper USA Jazz, rather than just seeing USA on the headstock and assuming that it would be a rock-solid instrument.
I'll get another at some point, but I'll be upping the budget to get something a bit more reliable.

Bought it for sensationell 390 Euros at Ebay Germany, great Deal!!!
It was completely new, with the original Gigbag and a lot of tags and stickers from Fender. Everything you expect from a Jazzbass. Honeyblonde with Rosewood Neck, perfect Setup, i will play Fender Basses for the Rest of my Life.

I changed my Sound totally, from Trace Elliot V-Type with 4x12 Cabinet and a 1983 Squier JV-Preci Hotrodded wit MEC-Active PU to SWR Workingmans 4004 with the Henry the 8x8 Cabinet. It was perfect for me. This Bass ist the perfect instrument for me, although the Squier was a real Rockmachine. I think, if you are looking for a Jazzbass-Sound with Vintage Features, you should test the Highway-One.

I took the bass and did not change anything. Top Player!! The Satin-Finish looks great, but it is not very durable. I play my Bass 10 months, and in 3 Years it will look quite relic. But that''s Rock''n''Roll!!!!

Finish is not durable, but it is authentic, no problem for me, it''s a player''s Bass!!!

I don''t have to deal with them and i never will. It''s a Fender!!!

I think, it is a very nice Fenderbass for a cool price, even if you would pay the actual recommended price of 700 Euros. I could compare it with an Ibanez Jazzbass, 70ies made, and it sounds perfect. I played many Fenders. US, Mexico and Japan, i loved them all, but this instrument fits the best....

2003 I think...made in USA...4 string sunburst satin finish.
Standard Fender Jazz passive pickups.
Alder body, rosewood fretboard, maple neck.

Sound is heavy duty old school to the max.
Using it through a Yorkville 200.
Not noisy at all....just real solid rich full sounds. This bass makes a great variety of sounds. Equally good for stage or studio.
I like everything about this bass.

Action was a bit high so I lowered it and now it is fine.
Pickups required no adjustment.
No flaws on the bass.

This bass withstands live playing with ease. Hardware seems like it will last a long time. Finish is a bit sensitive to bumps ( because it is flat). Strap buttons are ok. I have yet to adjust the truss rod. I would definitely gig without a backup.

N/A

I have been playing for five years and own a 1985 Ibanez Roadstar bass. I have read alot of people trying to compare the MIM Fenders and even the Geddy Lee to this one. I have tried all three and found this a much better sounding and feeling bass. Made in the USA with a fast neck and noiseless pickups make this the bass for me. Try before you buy because bass is a personal thing. I honestly think that value for money, you cannot buy a better bass

2003, USA Highway Jazz Bass as described below. Purchased new with gig bag, manuals, wrenches and polishing cloth. Not a ton of features but it's a timesless design whch gives you everything you really need.

Really sounds awesome! Warm, rich, full, round tone. Sounds like...well...a Jazz bass! I also have a Fender MIM Jazz bass and they seem identical except for the finish, and the pickups. The pickups seem a little hotter on the Hwy 1, but it's hard to tell since the MIM is fretless. The sales dude told me the MIM, CIJ and Hwy 1 necks and bodies are made in California and shipped to the various assembly plants. I believe it since the MIM harware, neck and body are the same. If you really like the satin finish, get the Hwy 1, otherwise MIM is the way to go. Same damn thing. My MIM was $225 used, so I feel a bit silly paying more than double for the same bass, but the satin sunburst finish is great. Not worth the price difference. I'm sure the Hwy 1 will retain it's value better than the MIM, but we're talkin peanuts here.

All of my other basses have active electronics and humbuckers. I was suprised at how much better the Jazz bass records than those active models. Looks like Leo had it right all along! Go figure, I could have saved thousands over the years!

Factory setup was awful. Every Fender bass I played at four different stores were setup like crap. Fender could triple their sales if they adressed this quality issue. Neck was badly bowed, bridge saddles way too high, pickups too low. After about an hour I had it set as good as these can get, which is very good, but generally not as good as an American Series. I removed the rattle trap of a bridge it came with and installed a Leo Quann Baddass II, which is much nicer. Really plays great now. Satin finish is really nice. The bass does seem to breath well and no fingerprints! Yay!

These things are solid. Write it into your will. It will be around long after many of us reading this review! (cheerful thought, huh?)

I've never contacted Fender. Never had to either.

Been playing for 30 years. I own Steinberger, Kubicki and Ibanez basses. I've owned Rics, Kramers, G&L and Fenders in the past. It's a great bass for what it is. You average, dependable, workhorse Jazz. Nothing fancy, but there's a reason most producers prefer to work with bassists who play Jazz and Precision basses. Deep full tone for days!

This bass was made in 2004 in USA, although I looked at the wiring diagrams published on the Fender.com webpage and it seems that the bass is built partly of Mexican parts. Otherwise, a classic jazz bass, two passive J pickups, two volumes one tone control etc. The neck is very fast, IMHO. One feature unique for Highway Jazz basses is their finish, which is satin, I guess. It has a vintage-like look, does not shine like a diamond, so if you are into that thing, you're gonna love it; on the other hand, it does not seem to withstand scratches as much as a polyurethane finish would. After some days of playing, you could see the bass has been used (very small scratches from the belt etc.). This may add to the "vintage" vibe of the bass, but to me that is an inconvenience.

The Fender Jazz is very versatile and will suit probably every style of music. The body is surprisingly leight and this is reflected in the sound. The bass slaps very well but sometimes lacks somewhat in foundation. I got the best results with DR Low Riders strings. The sound is very open. The bass has no active electronics but the basic sound of the bass is, in my opinion, what people expect of a bass guitar, and that is a very strong point in favour of the Jazz Bass. I have used the bass in studio and it records really nice

To my surprise, the bass hasn't been shipped with great setup. The screws of the tuning pegs were a bit loose and the action had to be set. But otherwise, fairly decent I guess, but not what I would expect from a company such as Fender. It came with all the stickers that the bass passed the controls, blah blah, but the set up was rather weak.

The hardware is so uncomplicated that it simply must last. I was adjusting the truss rod quite frequently because I have been installing various strings on it to find the rights ones, and the neck reacts very well. I have used the bass on gigs without a backup. No active electronics, therefore no worries about battery life.

Never used it.

I have been playing for about 15 years now. I have owned basses by Warwick, Aria and MTD. I purchased this bass because it is the "standard" and the sound engineers have know how to make a good Fender sound. When I played my Warwick and MTD, the sound would often suck because the sound engineer did not know how/did not have the time to voice the controls on the mix so that it suit the sound of these basses. I think I get a decent sound with the Fender on almost every gig. I am not stating here Fender is a high-end bass; it is not. My Warwick is better built and has better electronics, for instance, the MTD bass has more "balls" than the Fender. But the Fender jazz bass is a "standard", something you compare other basses to. I think you can't go wrong with a Fender jazz bass or a copy, because it has the sound that people want and are used to.

brand new Highway-1 jazz bass, 20 frets, passive electronics, vintage looking bridge/saddles, 3-tone sunburst with a satin finish ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS looking bass !! Alder body, maple neck,rosewood fretboard, medium frets, comfortable C-shape neck. Came with a gig bag..first gig bag I ever had...a friend said if you transport your ax a gigbag is fine, if a roadie transports it you need at least a bank vault to protect it.

I owned a P-bass many moons ago and I played a Jazz recently and really liked it. I will play older 60 ans 70 ish songs with this J-bass and the sound will do the trick. I haven't settled on an amp yet, but a 100 to 200 watt combo looks about right. This bass is absolutely quiet no matter where I have the controls which was a great reason why I wanted this particular piece. It has a nice bright sound when all controls are turned fully 'up' and can make a lot of good sounds by rolling off the the tone and one or the other pup. My favorite sound is to have both volume all on/ tone about 3/4. A very nice tone and vibe. And then roll the bridge volume pot back a tad and the thing just growls and jumps out. Cool !!

When I saw this thing at the dealer, the neck was really concave- it looked like an archery bow, suitable for launching arrows. It was the only American made J bass in 3 color sunburst, however, and the noiseless and impressive growl really hooked me. I told the clerk ( no luthiers present) that if they could get the neck/string height/intonation into spec I would consider buying it. They also had a bunch of MIM's, and MIJ's, and although some of them were nice, I really had my heart set on the Highway 1 and that satin finish. Also, an Aerodyne they had was a beautiful bass and played fantastic, but had some annoying electronic pops and buzzes. The dealer came around and after a couple days had a really nicely set-up bass which I was glad to take home.

I would play this bass live without a back up and without fear. It is well made and if my old P-bass is any guide, it should take my playing for years. I chose the passive electronics because of an incident ( actually a couple but not all with J-bass) where a kid at a multi band festival had an active J bass and the thing died in the middle of his set. He tried to get some other bassists to lend him their's, but because he was a truly brutal player nobody did. That band quit early. I also had a guitar with saddle piezo pickups crap to bed. To be fair, over the years I have also had passive pups die, but at least with this J-bass I will hopefully have at least one to get me through the set. I give it an 8 because you never know.

I have been playing on and off for over 35 years. I started out on bass and went from a Guild Starfire to a P-bass. Later I switched to guitar and have owned mostly Rickenbackers, in fact I sold a Rick 380 Laguna to free up funds to buy the J-bass. In my town, there aren't too many old guys like me that play bass to the older 60-70 styles of music and we could never get bass players to show up at parties and benefits. The last party I played at had 6 guitar players and no bass. I said screw that and bought the bass. When you look back over the decades you see two basses that really stand out- The Fenders and the Rickenbackers. Although I am partial to Rick guitars I frankly don't much care for the Rick bass looks and I feel that the Highway 1 bass is a great value and an outstanding bass.