Fender Highway 1 Jazz Bass

Fender HWY1 jazz, as far as I know, made in 2003. according to the salesmen, it was american made with some mexican parts. 20 frets, light satin crimson red finish. Two volume pots, one tone. Two SC jazz pickups. Passive electronics. Alder Body, Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Comes with Deluxe Gig bag

In my band, we tend to play progressive black metal type music. This works really well for that, i've found. I typically use both pickups at full to reduce hum, and adjust the tone with my amp. I play straight in, but sometimes run it through the compressor on my digitech multi-effects processer. I can get a really nice boomy sound to a nice punchy, crisp trebly sound. This bass pretty much covers everything i would need in a bass.

I purchased this from a local music store, and it didn't need any adjustments from the store. Action was beautiful, pickups were fine. The finish, while absoltely stunning, seems to chip away easily. i accidentally bumped it against a chair and got a tiny chip on the backside, but its hardly noticable. The slim jazz bass neck is just amazing.

this bass seems very reliable, everything is on nice and tight. the finish is very light, and without a doubt will fade away with time (but thats to be expected, and will give the bass character more than anything). This bass so far has been very reliable in it's sound and overall feel and playablity.

so far i haven't had the privilage of having to deal with these folks.

I use this bass with a Kustom KBA 100x amp, with a multieffects processer and a distortion pedal (neither of the pedals are used live). If this bass was stolen, I wouldn't know what to do, because I couldn't afford another one, and going back to my Johnson P-bass copy wouldn't be fun (though purchasing another one would be top priority). This bass is DEFINATELY a worthy investment, it played and sounded better than any other bass in that music store, including the $1000+ fenders they had in stock. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to upgrade.

This is a Fender Highway 1 Jazz Bass, in honey blonde finish, made in USA, supposingly in 2004.
It has an alder body, a maple neck and a rosewood 20-fret fingerboard. 4 strings.
The electronics is the standard one of the regular Jazz Bass : 2 J pickups, passive electronics, 2 volume + 1 tone controls.
The finish on the body is satin lacquer. This is half way between solid and transparent color, and it gives some kind of ?vintage? feel to the bass.
The bridge and tuners are the same than on the MIM Jazz Bass. This means you can?t mount your strings through body (only through bridge, vintage manner).
The neck has no graphite reinforcement, and the bass is delivered with a gigbag instead of a hard shell case. Here are the main differences between this model and the regular MIA one.

I mainly play rock, blues, pop and sometimes a bit of funk/jazz. I use it with an Ashdown MAG-300R head + MAG-210T cab (an extra cab, MAG-115, is currently on order).
If you use this bass will controls wide open, you have no noise at all. If you lower the volume of any pickup, then some noise appears. I don?t care about that, since I always play with controls all cranked up, and then I adjust my tone with the EQ of my amp.
This bass is very versatile. I didn?t find what it couldn?t do.
-1 for the noise, though it doesn?t disturb me at all, but it will probably disturb some other people.

Straight out of the box, the bass was very well setup. Decently low action, no buzz at all. Since I slap sometimes, and since I also play hard with my fingers, I prefer the action not to be at the lowest point.
No flaws, no oddities on the making and the finish. Excellent.
The bass is light, the neck is very thin, and the ?highway? name is a good choice, since this bass makes you want to play it more and more, and when you put your fingers on the board, you have the impression you can play anything at any speed.

Just received it a few days ago, so I can?t tell, but looks like it is very solid.

Didn?t have to deal with them. 5-year guarantee.

I?ve been playing for 28 years now. The weird thing is that I often changed basses, but never felt really happy. For the first time, I have the impression this is the one. And yes, I was stupid enough to search and search for so many years while the choice was obvious.
If it were lost or stolen, I?d probably pick another one.
I put 10 here, since what some people will call downside does not disturb me at all on this bass.

Standard Jazz Bass
Vol-Vol-Tune
Two j-bass style pickups. 20 frets. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard.

Its not all flashy and stuff but its the standard passive setup. What else do you need on it?

wow
ok, this thing totally kicks. You can pretty much get any sound you want from this thing. It can be very bright or very boomy. Im going through a Yorkville Bassmaster xt200 combo and this thing rules. After trading in my old Yamaha and buying this it was like night and day. Very clear, very powerful, very Fender American Jazz Bass! Actually I liked it even better than the true American. The satin finish seemed to give it better sustain.

I do slap/pop and fingerstyle. I thought I was gonna need the actives to get a nice slap tone but after slapping it in the store I fell in love with the jazz growl. I MIGHT add a pre-amp but I dont know yet. The sound of it is unreal. So wonderful.

ok, the factory setup was OK but not good enough. But hey, thats not a problem. A few adjustments to the action, truss rod, and pickup height and its a dream come true.

The finish is sooo sweet. I have the crimson transparent model and the wood grain comes trough beautifully. Looks like one high class instrument.

the frets on mine are perfect. No buzz with low action. The bridge is alright, nothing too fancy but not crappy.
the tuners are great. neck is smooth and fast.

so, initially factory setup not great (when IS it great?) but after some adjustments, its the sweetest thing ever

this bass is built like a tank. not too heavy but not too light. Its just perfect for me. The strap buttons have been great so far. The satin finish may take some wear though. But thats all part of the basses character :D
It will look vintage soon enough. And actually, the satin finish looks better than the high gloss IMHO. The high gloss looks too much like plastic I think. This looks more like wood.

so far I adjusted the truss rod, etc once and its been great ever since

never goes out of tune either

this thing is gonna last a loooong time.

haven't dealt with em yet

Great bass
If you are a fan on the jazz bass sound then this is the bass for you. Everything about this bass is perfect.

It is a very versatile bass. Fits many different genres. The look is classic j-bass. It will never go out of style.

If it were stolen I would be crushed, but I would definitely buy another one (when I could afford it again).

Fender American Jazz Bass style for a fraction of the price of the high gloss one.
Best bass value out there. This is a professional instrument for a great price.

It's all in the name, US Special Highway 1 Jazz Bass.
Fender quality, made in the US, 20 frets, 2 passive j pickups, 2 volume/1 tone, and of course the special Satin sunburst finish.

I've been playing bass for a few years now, and this one fits any style you could want to play. I play some smooth jazz, all the way to worship music and metal. It's a versatile J sound that really can do anything.

This bass came really well set up, my only issue is a buzzing on my A string, at this point I'm pretty sure I've got a high 2nd fret. Other than that, the tuning pegs have been a joke. They are loose after only 8 months, and I'm going to have to take them off and fix the thin metal plate that's been bent.

Everything else is perfect.

The satin finish on my bass is starting to show wear, but that shouldn't surprise me with how hard I treat it, no complaints. Electronics have been fine, no loose wires or anything. I replaced the buttons with straploks as soon as I got it because I didn't want to drop this sweet sweet bass. For now it's my only real bass, soon I'll have a fretless to compare it to.

No problems yet. I did have to have my *cough* Squier *cough* serviced a while back, and Fender stepped up to fix the prob, so I'm sure they'll do 10 times better for a US bass.

I've been playing for a couple years, and I play this bass through a 220 watt Ampeg 2x10. I definitely played one of everything before settling for this bass, it will absolutely be the last fretted four string I ever buy for less than $1000. If it was stolen, I would track it down and use my old Squier to beat whoever took it, or just go shell out the cash for another one. Overall a great, extremely versatile Fender Jazz.

Alder body
Maple Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Single coil Jazz pickups
Passive Electronics
Satin Lacquer Finish (Best part of the deal)
34in scale, thin Jazz profile neck.
Gig bag

Hey Guys, this bass is it. I may have just stumbled across a fluke, but as a Fender Bass Buff, and a general bass freak, I can tell you that this bass is unbelievable for the price, matter of fact it is unbelievable, period! Imagine having tones of a great sixties pre-cbs jazz, but also having the sweet high end of a seventies bass, in a light weight, ultra cool looking package. This is it! Let me give you some examples, Geddy---in there, Flea---in there, Victor---in there, Marcus---yup, Joe Osborn--him too, Chris Squire---you get the idea. Trust me, Im a professional and I can tell you, I own a Sadowsky 24f-5, a Zon 5, a MusicMan 4, a Lakland 5, and have played many other, but nothing...Nothing...like this. $629 is street price with a gig bag in several finishs. The kicker is the satin finish, at first glance you might think cheap, but play it, you will see that this is what gives an electric instrument its tone, the ability to let a good piece of wood breath, no tons of glossy clearcoat to mask it. This bass is for real, and you wont get a better bass for 5 TIMES THE MONEY! Wanna make it really hot, get an outboard preamp from Sadowsky or Fodera, but the underlying tone is unmistakeably FENDER, which is the tone that all others have been built. I cant say enough about my new baby.

Action is never great from the factory, it was slightly high, but I had it set up in an hour, and it wasnt too far off.
I didnt adjust the pickups, they were dead on.
There are absolutely no flaws in this bass, Perfect.

As I said earlier, its my new baby, the Sadowsky and Zon are just available if I need them for certain tones, or studio, but this bass is now #1 in my collection, its the first thing I want to grab.
It makes me want to play!
Its a Fender so I dont think I need to say anything about a company over 50 years old about their reliability.
I never go without a backup, but with this one, I would.

Again, Fender

Im a pro player in Pigeon Forge, Tn. I do 2 shows a day, seven days a week, and we play everything from Bluegrass to Pop. I also do some studio work, and enjoy playing music such as Steely Dan, Weather Report, Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra, and anything Pop.

Your ususal jazz set-up: 2 volume and master tone controls, alder body, maple "c" shape neck with rosewood fingerboard, standard machine heads, the standard 20 jumbo frets, 2 Standard Vintage Alnico Magnet Jazz Bass Single Coil Pickups & vintage style bridge. The difference between this and the standard US is that a) it's cheaper but made in the US b) the trussrod adjustment is made from the headstock end (surrounded in brass) c)you don't get the string thru bridge and d) it doesn't have the stealth switch (places the coils in parallel). All of which I was more than happy to settle for, especially with the price! It came with a funky deluxe gig bag- which I parted with at the music shop to get a hefty discount on a hardshell. It comes in the following finishes: 3-Color Sunburst,Daphne Blue, Crimson Transparent, Honey Blonde all in Satin Lacquer Finish). As usual the sunburst requires more $$ out of your wallet... I was hoping that I could get in natural but I settled for the Crimson Transparent- it's a beautiful deep red that exposes the grain quite nicely.

I had a friend who always said "how the hell do you get that tone?" and it diddn't really matter what bass I was on, it'd sound pretty much the same (except for the reeeeeeaaaalllllyyy exotic wood basses or the basses that were so cheap they resembled something you wouldn't even use for firewood). This bass gives me that same tone coming from my pads but adds in the genuine jazz growl that i've fallen in love with (...making my girlfriend rather jealous hehe). With 2 rounds of pre-amping (from my amp and my Zoom 506II) I can do almost anything... of course it will always be a passive bass and will always have single coils, but you can still do a fair bit if you've got the gear.

P E R F E C T!

I've had a few sound techs (although I am a sound tech..anyway) come up to me and say that this jazz has a slightly funkier tone. And I said, yeah... jealous yet? hehe. As the other review says- the thinner finish pronounces the bass sound quite nicely with that added resonance and sustain. I know this bass will definitly last, just from the feel. What more can I say? it's a Fender, it's US made.

I played the new US Standard and found that the tone slightly differed (probably due to finish)... the sustain did last longer (string thru) but I use a fair whack of compression which holds my sustain longer. The one thing which Fender must we congratulated for is finally jumping on the parallel wiring option. There's an "invisible" switch at the centre of the colume pot that moves between series and parallel wiring. It's amazing how fat it can get! but then, i said... "my wallet isn't $3249 (AUD) thick." Then I played a Mexican- normal jazz tone, just not built as well. It diddn't feel cheap, just not as good. So my wallet and preference settled for the Highway 1. I don't want this gorgeous bass stolen or even borrowed! I want the tone to come through in the years ahead on my journey through this beautiful world of music. I am thinking of putting in a switch for the series and parallel option (but i'm not bugging to do it), but I love it just the way it is now :). All I have to say is that it's great that Fender have finally produced a product like this- not compromising on quality and construction but not making it so expensive that it's impossible to buy.

What features? This is a Tele.

Sounds exactly like what I hoped it would sound like. It airs up nicely with the Fender Blues Jr., especially for the way I use it. Clear, twangy, each note is individually articulated even in a full chord. Double stops ring out loud and clear. Single notes have a bell-like quality. Very even string-to-string volume and tone balance. Great for single note phrasing. 3 position switch really gives 3 distinct tonalities from the pick-up array. Volume rolls on and off evenly. When the V control hits the full on stop I hear bit of a microphonic "click" through my amp. Tone pans from bass to treble evenly. With too much reverb and heel muting it reproduces some really neat cowboy and surf record sounds. The maple fretboard compliments the simple layout and color of the guitar...plus it sounds snappier with a bit more briliance that the RW fretboard models I tried. I'll reserve a 10 for any guitar that can do it all.

Action came out of the case a tad high for my liking...but it was perfectly playable and EZ to adjust. Intonation was dead nuts on. This absolutely refuses to go out of tune. Pretty nice tuning pegs on this model. There are only a few things bolted to the slab and they all are well fitted. Neck joint and pocket are perfect. The two highest side dots (fret markers) are partially obscured by the neck pocket...might bug some people. I got the honey blonde...I love this finish...it is matte with a hint of grain peeking through. It looks like I have a really old faded Tele with no scratches on it. Neck is wider than I am used too...but the fretwork is first rate...nice "played in" feel especially if you like to wrap your thumb around the neck to cop the E string on barre chords. The saddle adjusting set screws scratch the heel of my hand. No obvious flaws anywhere.

This would definetly be something that you could play out with. Finish, while pretty, looks vulnerable...not as tough as the "deeper" finishes that are buffed out to a gloss. I don't expect anything to go wrong. This is a simple guitar and the design has been perfected over the last 50 years.

My dad bought his Tele from the same store in Irvine, CA. I trade there often for strings and incidentals. I went in for a mandolin string 75 cents..and spent 600 bones! They gave me a square deal, up-grading the gig bag to a really nice aftermarket molded case. Helpful. Freindly. Local.

Playing 39 years. This is my 2nd Fender and my 1st Tele. I had a Strat in 67'. I presently have a dreadnaught, classical, electric and a bass. Now the Tele...this model fills an obvious niche. Amps are a Princeton Chorus (analog) and a Blues Jr.. My favorite thing about the guitar is it's fundamental simplicity, everything I hear coming out of it originates from what I put into it...there are no bells and whistles. I love the old school appearance coupled with a sound that is still relevant to the styles of music I like to play.

US made Jazz Bass. 3 tone sunburst finish in a lighter satin finish, almost matte, not as glossy as the standard J bass. This is a good thing to me because I don't like the thick glossy finish on the new US basses. It will also wear well, I think. Chrome hardware, similar to US standard, and same electronics. Basically the same bass as the American Standard at almost half the price.

It sounds great! Like a Jazz bass should. The pick ups are fine. I may switch to Antiquity pick ups down the line but these are fine for now. The Lighter finish gives it a louder ring with more sustain than the Standard. It really does. I compared side by side. It sounds great through my 1973 SVT rig.

Nice action, comfortable neck and light body. Neck pocket is tight, tuning pegs are smooth. Everything is perfect.

Just bought it so I don't know how it'll hold up, but it's a Fender so I'm sure it'll be around for a while. Finish as I mentioned is thin, but that's good in my opinion. It'll look old in a year.

Never contacted Fender but I'm sure they're very nice.

Great Bass, right price. Pick one up if you want an American Fender Jazz but don't have a ton of money to spend. I love mine.