Fender Squier Deluxe Jazz Bass 5 String

Indonesian made Squier Deluxe active 5 string jazz in 3tone sunburst. Body is basswood (so the squier site says) and the neck is maple.
Volume knob, blend knob, Bass knob with treble knob on top, mid knob, and a slap switch.
Ebonol fretboard.

Volume control is pretty even, blend control works fine, the eq is reasonable but the treble gives a slight hiss when turned up all the way (but its a fair bit of treble, most people wouldnt use this treble at full anyway). Really like the scoop switch, it scoops alot of the mids and seems to boost the bass a bit.

The bridge pickup sounds sweet. The neck pickup is a little boomy. Il play around with pickup height later, but so far i can see myself sitting on the bridge pickup mostly.

The B string at the moment is a little bit buzzy, flat and farty. More than likely its the standard strings. I dont play it much except for the climax of big songs just because, tonally, its not the greatest. yet. il have a play around with its height and maybe try a different gauge at some stage later and see what i can get from it.

3band eq isnt super sensitive, but its easy enough to get a good sound with a bit of tweaking. It sounds pretty bright at the moment, but the strings will dull in time and it will mellow out.

The sunburst looks great. Iv got a small knot (wood defect) about 5cm above bridge, but still, as a whole, its a gorgeous looking instrument.

The neck is really wide. Even for a 5 string, the fretboard is wide. Despite this, the neck is nice and thin so it doesnt feel like youre playing a fencepost. The ebonol fretboard is interesting. It was super shiny when i first got it, and in no time its starting to dull. It does look pretty artificial though.

My only complaint is the frets. Theres a few buzzing frets that are giving me the willys. Il take it back to the shop and see what they can do in regards to filing some back. The A and D string first fret are the worst and getting unbareable.

Apart from that, everything fits snuggly, action is nice and low, nothing rattles when you give it a good shake and it just feels solid (yet not too heavy). If it wasnt for the fretboard id be singing its praises.

A solid feeling instrument. No qualms gigging it. Everything looks well designed and nothing seems flimsy or delicate. Even if i had the money to splurge on a second bass, i really dont feel like id need to.

Its my second bass and im happy with it. Im not exploding with joy because of it (largely to do with the fret buzzing) but im happy with it. It retails for $699AUD but on special i picked it up for $550.. for the price of a beginners bass, it really is an outstanding instrument. Once i get the little things sorted out i can see it valiantly serving me for many years:) I would give it an 8 at the moment, but optimistically, im giving it a 9.

All in all, you can read as many reviews as you like, and you can get a pretty good idea of the product, but nothing will give you a feel of the instrument like sitting down in the amp room of your music shop with it and just playing around. If it helps, i did, and i still bought this bass:)

2007, Made in Indonesia...
colour - Black
matching headstock
black ebonal fretboard

Controls: Volume, Blend, Bass/Treble stack, Mid, slap contour switch
2 single-coil jazz pickups setup RWRP (reverse wind/reverse polarity) for noise cancellation.

Body material (I think it's agathis)
Body style Jazz
Finish gloss black
Bridge, high mass Fender style bridge
Tuners open-back, clover-leaf style
Neck Maple - wide for a 5 string, but a good shallow profile

There is a couple of basic sounds that are KILLER!
The slap tone is exceptional for a bass of this price.
The "normal" tone is thick and juicy and when you go bridge pickup solo, you can dial in some serious growl.

Jaco-esque mid-bark is not really achievable on this bass. But for a great funk, rock grind, this bass delivers.

The tone controls are not very sensitive, so most of my tone shaping must be done through my preamp, but that's just fine by me, because the starting palette is excellent.

Black finish is fabulous...shows fingerprints really well (but that's the nature of gloss black).

The fingerboard is SWEET! and the fretwork is really quite great considering the bass price.

The tuners aren't the best, but they're more than adequate...as is the bridge...

For the price, I'd give the bass a 10...but I must be honest and just give the bass an 8 in this category.

As all new basses, it's difficult to see how this will standup to the test of time and use, but I think it stands as good a chance as any bass in its class...I'll give it a 9.

It's new...I can't have an opinion on this.

I've been playing for 17 years and have tried a lot of different jazz basses...this one stands up to many costing more than twice as much.

This bass really doesn't lack much at any price.

What would make it better? Better tuners, maybe...and better electronics (however what it has is more than sufficient.

Love active picks..has great finish, strong and sturdy frets and very playable..slap switch is great

Sounds awesome for Rock to Jazz to funk

Perfectly set up except for one tone knob, took back to Guitar center and fixed no prob/5 min.

Seems extremely sturdy...I will use with no backup absolutely!!! Finish seems great and hardware seems sturdy

Have not dealt

I would definately buy again..compared to ibanez Soundgear 5string...plays better even though neck is larger..wish it had morer frets, but hell, I won't fully use all the ones I got..LOL

I recently purchased my 2007 Squire Deluxe 5 from a large chain with a store here in Peoria, IL. I needed a 5'er to have available to play about 3-4 songs each show that required something more than a 4-string (my primary is a 2002 Rickenbacker). Before I decided to purchase this instrument, I tried it out in the store. What sold me is the slap switch and the wide and thin neck. Once I started playing it, I knew I was going to have it. The neck reminded me of the neck I had on my old Lakland 55-01, chunky yet smooth and playable. The big question was the electronics, however. Many years ago I owned a Squire that was noiser than a hissing cat. Not this bass. I was very impressed that the electronics had virtually no noise, even with the treble switch way up. The quick-change battery holder is nice...I hated breaking out the screwdriver to get to the battery compartment on my old 5-string. The black finish is beautiful - much better than on the Ibanez 305 it replaced. Overall, for $300 the features are a great value.

Above I mention how quiet the electronics are. The eq is average...You'll have to turn the knobs a bit more to get response, but it's not terrible, either. When the slap switch is deactivated, the bass has a darker, chest-punchy tone to it. When activated, you get a nice hi-fi, sparkly and scooped tone. However, if you have bad technique, the treble range will really pick up your clicks and bad habits.

The action was good enough to perform with literally minutes after I bought it. No adjustments were necessary. I did find a small chip along the edge underneath the bass, but overall the black neck and body and matching headstock are sexy. The lack of inlays give it that boutique look. Although the bass looks heavy, the choice of basswood keeps the weight manageable.

I haven't had this bass long enough to give it an honest reliability rating. I do believe I will get at least average reliability return on this bass, based on inital quality.

I have not had to deal with customer support.

I've able to perform with it and I am very impressed with the whole package for the money. It compliments my Rickenbacker by giving me some better slap capabilities, and I am not afraid to use it during my pro shows. Who cares that it is a Squire. It does a fine job of filling in for role needed, and my wife won't divorce me for its cost. She (the Squire) also looks good next to my Ric! Thanks Fender for upgrading the quality out of Indonesia!

2007 Indonesia-made 5-string bass guitar. Basswood jazz-style body, satin finished bolt-on maple neck with ebonol fingerboard, 20 medium jumbo frets. Standard open-gear Fender tuners, chrome bridge with barrel saddles. 3-band 9V active preamp with "slap switch." Easy access 9V battery compartment - a nice touch for a $300 instrument.

The standout feature - and potential dealbreaker - is the neck. This bass has full 19 mm string spacing at the bridge and is 2" wide at the nut. Not a problem for me, since my previous bass was an even more gargantuanly-proportioned Fender Roscoe Beck V. This Squier's neck is thinner back-to-front than the Roscoe Beck's, and its radius is flatter, so it's a pleasure to play for me. But be forewarned if this is your first 5-string.

The tone is very "active" sounding, with a definite EMG vibe. With the preamp set flat, it's instant Wooten or Marcus. The slap switch makes a big difference: it goes from thick to thin and midrangey with a flick. Overall, I like the preamp, but boosting the mid and treble bands introduce noticeable hiss into the signal, which is something to think about if you're recording. The B-string sounds wimpy acoustically, but is clear and evenly matched with the other strings through an amp.

If there's a deficiency in the instrument's sound, I'd say its an inability to get a more traditional passive J-bass burp out of it. That might be achievable, since I've yet to explore the full possibilities of the preamp. But based on an evening's worth of knob-twiddling, the instrument doesn't do "vintage." It still sounds great.

The olympic white finish is flawless and looks really good against the ebonol fretboard. More low-end manufacturers should consider using ebonol; it's consistent and doesn't contract or expand with humidity to leave fret ends exposed. The setup was fine out of the box, and the fretwork is excellent. No rough ends, buzzes or high spots that I can detect. The nut is cut better han a lot of MIA Fenders. The bridge is solid and sturdier than the typical stamped-plate affair.

The biggest construction niggle I have is the neck pocket; either the block wasn't cut completely square, or the neck was seated a few degrees off axis, but there's a very slight angle between the edge of the neck where it meets the body and the edge of the neck block. Doesn't affect tone or playability, but it's a noticeable goof. And the tuners look cheap up close. That's it for complaints. Better than I was expecting for $300.

I'm guessing Squier had to skimp on things to keep the price down, but the bass looks and feels pretty solid right now. (If anything fails down the road, my guess is that it'll be the preamp or tuners.) There's no play in the strap buttons or any of the components, and the massive neck inspires confidence. The knobs and bridge feel sturdy.

One thing to be aware of is that the massive neck and basswood body cause the neck to dive, so get yourself a grippy strap.

No need to contact anyone.

I've been playing bass guitar and upright for over 20 years and have owned and sold more gear than I'd like to admit. This Squier is now my only bass guitar.

At $300, you'd be hard pressed to find a better-looking or more full-featured instrument. At 5 feet, this instrument could pass for a high-end or even a boutique job. Aside from the minor construction issues mentioned above, this instrument matches or exceeds US Fenders in terms of its construction and playability. I never thought I'd be saying that about a Squier, but then I never thought I'd be buying one either. Thumbs up from me!

2007, Indonisia Made, 20 fret, 5 string, Active electronics: Volume, Blend, Stacked treble, bass, and Mid controls. It also has a slap switch. 2 single coil Jazz pickups. Basswood body,No Pickguard Maple neck with a ebonol fingerboard. The neck is very wide: 2"at the nut, 3" at the body. 19MM string spacing. 34" scale. 4+1 tuner layout with elephant style tuners and a very heavy bridge. Only things included were the allen wrenches for the bridge saddles and the truss rod.

Sound can run like a typical growley Jazz bass to a modern HI-Fi sound. Very good slap tone. For me it works well I mainly play in a Jazz Fusion style and this bass works very well. I use EDEN gear and rack effects. Since the bass has single coil pickups it has a slight hum when the pickups are soloed, but not terribly bad. Overall a excellent instrument.

The bass was set up very good out of the box. I did some tweeking: filed the nut slots, adjusted the truss rod, lowered the string saddles. The frets were very level and the fret ends were very nice...no sharp edges!! Fit and finish is excellent. I happen to order the Olympic White with a matching headstock, but is also comes in black with a matching headstock, or 3 tone sunburst with a natural headstock.

The bass is very sturdy. Hardware will last and the stock strap buttons seem fine, but these will get changed to strap locks. The finish is poly and will hold up for a long time. I would use this bass on a gig with no backup with no problem.

Squier is part of the Fender family...I would not expect any problems with them. The bass is brand new so no issues. So I haven't had to deal with them.

I have been playing 37 years and I have had alot of gear. I am so impressed how they can make a very high quality low cost instrument. If this bass were stolen I would purchase another one! Overall this is a very nice playing and sounding bass. It is very unique that it has Jazz bass styling without a pickguard and a Ebonol fingerboard. The active electronics add a variety of useable tones that are very nice. I would highly reccomend this bass to anybody looking for a low cost, High quality backup or main bass.