Fender Reggie Hamilton Standard Jazz Bass

2008 Fender Reggie Hamilton Jazz bass
The specs have already been listed. i wish it had a passive tone control when in passive mode...to get that vintage P tone. Also really should come with a case. everything else is great.

I call this a Super P, with the active preamp and the jazz pickup you can get a variety of great tones. The mid control really allows you to cut thru and still gives you full bottom. Just wished it had a passive tone control in passive mode.

Made in Mexico, but the quality is excellent. the bass is about 9 lbs...a little on the heavier side for a jazz..but the body really has a strong sound acoustically...great sustain and harmonics. Plays great..excellent neck.

I am glad it has an active/passive switch..I don't trust batteries. Bass is very solid.

Emailed me back when i had some questions about the electronics.

I own other jazz basses..but this is really a precision with a jazz neck and body..stronger sound in the low. middle mids than a standard jazz. If it had a passive tone control I would rate it a 10. I love the sound of a precision..but I prefer a jazz neck... This bass really fills out a band.

Alder body
Maple neck
Rosewood fingerboard
20 frets
1 American Series Precision Bass pickup (neck)
1 Custom Noiseless Jazz Bass pickup (bridge)
Mini-toggle active/passive switch
Active mode: master volume, pickup pan, 3-band EQ with bass, mid, and treble boost/cut
Passive mode: master volume, pickup pan
Black/white/black 3-ply pickguard on black version
4-ply tortoise shell on sunburst version
American Vintage Jazz bridge
Open gear tuning machines
Hipshot Bass Xtender drop D key on the E string

The pups are very sweet and balanced. And, with 18volts, that's correct 18, you'll have enuff headroom to wear a 10gl hat. When both pu mixed really a nice rich tone.

Got this from MF. the neck action was and remains to high have tried to adjust but the truss rod seems to have no effect. Everything else good on this bass, but the neck, well..

This bass and roaches will be here in the end.

Will find out soon. think the neck is warped.

Been playing about 10yrs. Own a number of bass, mostly Fenders and a Rick. This is a good bass with soild features for someone that needs to cover every style. To be honest, it feels like a studio bass, not something you'd slap a stick on and rock the nite away.

This is a Hybrid Jazz bass with all the flexibility of both Jazz and Precision. Active electronics and a Mid boost give this bass versatility that not many basses give out there. Ash body and quality parts make me think thi sbass was ASSEMBLED in Mexico out of USA parts - Guys (Gals), please get over the 'Made in Mexico' thing with Fender - a few years ago maybe, now I see the at these are being turned out as good as some USA models - at a fraction of the price. Save the money for a great bass teacher....

Hamilton put a drop-d tuner on this and I want to say - I use it more than my 5 String now. It also uses a retro bridge and FAT fretwire, I can take the bridge but would like to replace the fretwire someday - thinner is better for me. The pickups are clean and balanced, with the blend pot in the middle - you get both pickups - they don't turn into 'Puke-ups'.

This bass is heavy. But that is cool with that Ash body. I run this thing into my amp or DI into my mixer with the controls pretty flat. The bass then does the work for me. When I want to play some middy Jazz, I roll the balance pot to the rear (Jazz) pickup and boost the midrange, fingerstyle this thing near the bridge and it's a great Jazz rig. Roll the pickup blend to the P pickup and roll off the Midrange and BAM, your Huevos will hit the floor... P-Bass all the way.

Like I said, I think this thing uses USA parts - not sure but the trussrod is accessed from the body side of the neck, not the neck side... Hmmm. The neck is phenominal quality. The tuners are NOT cheap and the D-Tuner is Hipshot, very cool. You could really put this up against a USA made Fender anyday - it come close to some of the custom shop stuff I've seen. After initial setup, this thing has just played, and play, and played.

It's a Fender dude.

Never had to as I normally work on these myself, or one of the local luthiers has their way with it.

Been Playing: Long enough, I should play better... This is not my last bass but and I should be able to play it till I give up or die. It's all I want in a Jazz/Blues/Roots bass - Period. I saved a bunch on my car insurance with this bass because I stopped driving all over town looking at soemthing better. And - it won't break my bank to buy another one - which I would in a minute if this were stolen.

Get over the USA thing with this bass. This line has now been blurred, Viva La Hamilton!

I bought this bass August of 2005. I had saved up summer money for new bass, and right as I was about to purchase a Ric 4003, I saw this. Ever since I had started playing bass (about 3 years before), I had been completely in love with Jazz Basses. I'm not saying this takes the place of a ric, but 300 bucks extra in my pocket helped me buy more bass-related paraphenilia (sp?). I bought the 3-tone SB/4-ply tort. shell version, and to this day, about a half year later, every time I look at I think about how beautiful it is. Even though it has the 3 band Active EQ, I never use it, and now that the batteries have finally died for it, I use the mini-toggle as a kill switch. I love the stained neck, and the satin-esque finish on it. It looks vintage, but feels brand new. The tuners are Fender stamped open tuners, and they look amazing. As much as I am a straight up E-A-D-G guy, the drop D hipshot tuner does come in handy. The bass comes with a Fender Deluxe Gig Bag, but I got a tweed/plush int. case for it.

I can really get alot of sounds out of this, because the pickups are so amazing. You can't get an american jazz or precision to sound like this. It is unique. I run it through a Boss ME-50B effects pedal and then through a Behringer 3000XT head with an SWR WM's 2x10 and Son of Bertha 1x15 cabs. I keep roundwounds on it, because I have other basses for flatwounds.

It was set up great out of the box. I don't know if that was Fender's or Musician's Friend's doing, but it was perfect. I had to adjust the jazz pickup in the bridge a little but no worries. Oh yeah, the finish is god.

I play 95% of our shows with this as my only bass, because it hasn't f-ed up on me (yet). Everything seems solid and long lasting on the bass, due to the mostly American parts. I've been thinking about putting strap locks on it, but haven't yet.

I've never dealt with Fender. I hope I don't have to.

I know I'm not a 20 year bass veteran, but just because I'm 16 doesn't mean I don't know my shit. I know the difference between decent, better, and awesome and this is an awesome bass. Fender is really pulling it together and making high-quality basses with prices comparable with lottery winnings. I wish this wasn't already someone's signature bass, because if/when I become famous, I want it to be mine.

This is a new model for '05, basically a Mexican built version of the Custom Shop R.H. Signature. Features on this bass are unbelievable! It's a four string Jazz bass with Alder body, Maple neck, and Rosewood fretboard. Mine has a sweet 3 Tone Sunburst and four-ply tortoise shell pickguard - great vintage vibe. The only other available finish is black with black pg. Pickups are one American Series P-Bass Split Coil and one Custom Noiseless Jazz with Master Volume, Pickup Pan, and 3 Band EQ with a mini toggle that bypasses the preamp and gives you a completely dry signal with only volume and pickup pan. The jack is side-mounted, which is perfect. And the low E is equipped with a Hipshot Drop-D Extender. The bridge is American Vintage Jazz. I do wish Fender had upped the price about $50 bucks and included a hardshell instead of a gig bag. The bass is just way too nice for that. I still gave the features a 10. The hardshell would have put it up around 15.

The sound is pretty much anything you can imagine. In passive mode, you can use the pickup pan to get a smooth, mellow Jazz tone or a big fat Precision sound or anything in between. With the pan centered, you get the warmth and girth of the P pickup and the smoothness of the J which make for a very nice sound. Flip the mini toggle to Active and you can dial in just about any sound you could want using the 3 Band EQ along with the pickup pan.

Having played a bunch of Mexican Fenders, I can say that this bass is a HUGE step up in quality, fit and finish. Action was a hair high for me straight out of the box but I just like it low. I've played the American Series stuff too and this bass would stand up next to them very nicely. My only gripe was that the volume knob came off in my hand the first time I turned it because somebody forgot to tighten the set screw. About 15 seconds with a really tiny allen wrench remedied that and everybody's happy. It's not quite a US Fender but it's real close.

I don't plan on abusing it too much, but seems to be rock solid. I'd gig it without a backup... until something went wrong.

I've had two Fender guitars and now this bass and haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing bass for about three years, guitar for ten or so. I play at church Sunday mornings and fill in with a friend's band when their bass player can't make a gig. I try to keep my gear collection pretty thin. Right now, I've got this bass, a Taylor Big Baby for fun and my '97 limited edition Taylor 414ce Koa. She's been with me for almost eight years now and I expect this bass will be a long-term member of the family too. If she was lost or stolen, I'd definitely replace her immediately. To me, this is the perfect do anything "Frankenstein" bass at a great price with a classic, timeless look and a nice, familiar Fender feel. It's really hard to go wrong with this one.

This is a brand new model, a budget version of the Custom Shop signature bass. It was purchased to fill the gap in my current stable that is being held by an old Fender Prodigy which is now self destructing due to years of use. It is made in Mexico, but most all the parts seem American. It has the much desired P - J pickup configuration consisting of an American P pickup & a "Noiseless" Jazz pickup. It is active or passive & in active mode it is 18 volts & has master volume & pickup pan plus cut/boost knobs for bass, middle & treble. In passive mode there are no tone controls, just master volume & pickup pan.

I'm pretty sure it's an Alder Jazz body with black standard type Fender finish. Quarter sawn maple Jazz neck, rosewood fingerboard & oddly enough with no skunk stripe. Truss adjustment back at the neck heel like traditional American Fenders. Also, very nice modification in that all the Made In Mexico caveat & serial number now appear on the back of the headstock & leave the front with a clean traditional look. It has an American bridge (no string thru body option & I may modify this)& the tuners, if they're not American, they're much higher quality than my Mexican Mark Hoppus P Bass. Also comes with the hipshot adjustable D tuner on the E string. The Fender specs call for "vintage" frets, but they appeared to be just like standard medium jumbo to me. Comes with the nice Fender gig bag, no adjustment tools with it which I thought was odd as this bass was custom ordered for me through a local music shop supposedly directly from Fender.

I just got this bass last week & so far I have only tried it with my SWR Workingman's 10 combo. The way I have that amp set though exactly mirrors my large Trace Elliot & Ashdown rigs, so I know what I'm hearing perfectly. I sometimes use a couple of different chorus pedals, but in order to fully experience the active preamp, I took my Nathan East parametric EQ completely out of my effects loop. Traditionally, I only use that for passive basses anyway. I play rock & hard electric blues.

The outpower of the preamp is not as loud as you would think & this is very good in my opinion. You can plug it into the standard input of your amp instead of the lower db active input. This is very vaulable to me as I use multiple basses hooked up to an A B C switch & that in turn plugs into just one input on the amp. The output strength is about exactly like my Hamer 12ver, so it's a nice match. In the active mode, the tone range is very wide & you can go from a very nice standard P Bass sound all the way through a slightly fatter Jazz Bass sound & anywhere in between. This is why the P - J configuration has always been my favorite pickup combination. In the passive mode, just having the master voulme & pickup pan is a beautiful thing as you can completely color the bass with your amp or preamp setup if you go that way. I imagine using that configuration through some of the Sans or Line preamps would really let you get exactly what you want since you're starting with a dry signal. This has been my recording experience with the Hoppus bass, which also has no tone circuitry. In the active mode, I was getting exactly what I wanted by cocking the pickup pan to 3/4's P Bass & bass, middle & treble full on. I tend to run my amp tone flat on treble & bass & cut almost all the mids out. That way I can control everything on the bass & it works very well with this bass too. So far I have found nothing I don't like about this bass.

OK, here we get into the only negatives I found about this bass. There is nothing really wrong with the fit or finish, but as to be expected, it just ain't Fender American. My frustration is that Fender never releases any specialized basses like this from America unless they're Custom Shop & I just don't have 2 - 3K to spend on a bass. There were no flaws on the finish that I found, but I'm not exceptionally concerned about these types of things, I'm a live player & my basses get plenty of natural wear early on.

The neck was a good half turn out on the truss adjustment. I do this type of work myself, so it was no big deal. When I took the neck loose to access the truss rod, everything was tight & accurate where the neck was bolted on. As of this writing, the neck has remained in place & is straight as an arrow. The bass was almost in tune right out of the box, so it had been checked at some level no too long ago. My main concerns about the neck bow would be if the bass sat for some time before being sold and/or being adjusted properly. Sometimes when they sit too long. they never really straighten out level & you end up with a neck twist.

This bass will stand up as well as Fender American I would think, there's no real reason for it not to. Since most all the parts are American, I expect the best. The neck is really the only variable in this factor, but at this point I have no concerns.

I feel that this is one of the 1st real attempts for Fender to offer a foreign made instrument with real quality. My Hoppus P Bass is tight, no real complaints but this bass is a real step up in quality when you put them side by side. The little things like putting Made In Mexico on the back of the headstock & the bass being constructed almost entirely of American hardware indicate that Fender is getting more serious in offering top line instrument quality at more affordable player prices. The features just blow away anything Fender American has without going to the Custom Shop. You could easily replace your main 4 string with this with no qualms about it. Maybe even your 5 string if you get creative with the hipshot.

This bass has a limited lifetime warranty I think, so if the neck does twist, or whatever, you should be covered. Since the neck is one solid piece of maple, there should be no separation or lamination issues unless it's with the fingerboard, which again would be covered. I don't anticipate any problems with the electronics except by virtue of age & stage sweat, so there's nothing you can do about that. Everything else would really be just mormal usage & age wear, which nobody covers, so this warranty is probably as good as you'll get anywhere. I don't remember but hardware & stuff is probably one year. I assume it would have to be returned to the factory for warranty, but maybe they have a few warranty stations nationally. I've been playing Fenders for 30 plus years & never really had a warranty issue, I've either had crappy ones I got rid of or great ones I wore out. This bass appears to be a great one.

I've been playing for 38 years. I currently own:
Fender Reggie Hamilton Standard Jazz Bass
Fender Mark Hoppus P Bass
Fender Prodigy bass
Fender Jazz Bass modified into an 8 string configuration
Hamer Chaparral 12 string
Musicvox 12 string
Carlo Robelli 8 string
Ibanez Somethingorother
Ashdown Mag 400 head with custom 2-10 & 1-15 cabs
Trace Elliot AH7 150 watt head & Trace 2-10 & 1-15 cabs
SWR Working Man's 10 combo
I investigated several other basses beforehand & did indeed buy this sight unseen by virtue of the features & my experience with Fender. I considered basses by Ibanez & Yamaha & some others, but none really had as many features as this & I personally am just much more comfortable with a Fender in my hands. I'm a huge fan of no tone controls on a passive bass for recording & dry preamping. If it ever breaks or gets stolen, I'll probably figure out a way to get some extra cash & get one of the Custom Shop ones.