The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Fender Basses => Topic started by: uwe on December 27, 2010, 08:46:03 AM
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... is drawing me to the Dark Side ... ;)
Alas, Christmas was not without sin for me! The fact that three of Edith's initial presents were Fender bass books was a harbinger of things to come in hindsight, but they were nice enough books (eg by Tony Bacon et al) and I was not cautious enough. So after I'm done unwrapping she quips: "You really didn't think you'd only get a couple of books, did you?!" Says it, leaves and comes back dragging with her what looked suspiciously like a gift wrapped bass case which revealed a beautiful American Standard 2010 Jazz Bass in fashionable Candy Cola (bit like CAR but darker and deeper, not as garish, actually pretty much a Christmas red):
(http://www.themusiczoo.com/images8_08/American_Standard_Jazz_Bass_Maple_Fretboard_Candy_Cola_Z7170778combo.jpg)
That isn't a pic of mine, but it gives an idea though the luster of the real thing is much more stunning. So here I stand, forever tarnished with my now 4th :-[ Fender bass (the other three: MIJ Sting, MIM Vintage Jazz, MIA early eighties RI Vintage Series 62 Precision).
Seriously, the bass is beautiful with all those fine single coil nuances that I always liked about a Jazz Bass. The workmanship is flawless and I like - purists stop reading now - the very gentle modernizing they did with the satin neck fin, the lightweight tuners and the High Mass Vintage bridge with neck-thru or toploader function (if only they had added the correct 7/64 hex key for the intonation adjustment screw among the abundance of case candy).
Case is fancy too:
(http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/fit,400by400/quality,85/brand,zzounds/0996171506hi-af420cc7b8636158175ac5856991ced1.JPG)
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Very Nice, Uwe! I like that colour! Congratulations with the bass ánd Edith! Lucky guy!
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You are a lucky guy! Even if you make the pro forma complaint, I know that a quality instrument is always high on your list - and Fender does just fine in that category. Enjoy!
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Nice!
Next year, drop the hint for a Coronado Wildwood. :vader:
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Now that's a woman (and a bass) worth keeping around! Enjoy (both). :mrgreen:
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I hope you know how lucky you are...
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My mate Dave, recently imported a very similar bass. I too like the "better" bridge and tuners. Lovely instrument. Enjoy it Uwe, guilt free ;)
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4 strings, reasonably balanced, nice classic sound...
Does wot it sez on the tin...
Nice parcel to find (hidden) behind the tree...
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The single coil purity of a Jazz has always appealed to me. I can't really stand a Jaco "rear pup only" sound, but I do love the front pup solo (the depth of it and how it sounds a little hoarse) as well as the compression you get as you add the bridge pup to it.
Since Ken mentionend it: String to string response is immaculate. Forceful E and G and surprising high register sustain for a bolt-on. Did older Jazz Basses have a reputation of uneven string to string response?
I also like the ergonomics to it. In its utalitarian way, a P bass is ergonomic too, but the Jazz body has that feminine elegance to it. And that elegance is in the sound characteristics of the bass too. In comparison, my MIM Jazz sounds nastier andd rougher, a bit the Epi TBird versus Gibbie TBird effect, but not as pronounced. The MIM pups are quite a bit louder too which might account for their slight middishness.
I'm still baffled by the fact that the Jazz outsold the P bass. To me, except in the seventies when every fusion bassist and his aunt seemed to have one (Jaco!), the P Bass was always the more prevalent model over the Jazz.
My first bass was a sunburst Korean Ho Jazz Bass by famous brand "Johnny Guitar" (you can't even google that brand) and it featured two mini-humbuckers (one of which dropped out after about six months as did one of the tuners, the frets too were pretty much played down to fretless after a year of my teenage practice, I played all day back then). I guess I've come full circle!
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Welcome to the club Uwe! I myself am also a staunch Gibsonite but can lay claim to owning something like 5 Fenders now ??? My Jazz is a '08 American Standard and I have to agree with you that the fit and finish are exceptional. I bought it for our Zeppelin set, from the stage it looks for all the world like a '64, and cost me far less than a '62 or '64 reissue. After it's little mishap on stage it now sports a road worn neck. I put a Dimarzio Ultra Jazz in the neck position, I can almost get it to sound like a Gibson ;) One of my favorite things about the new Fenders are the case, beautiful piece of work ! (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/godofthunder59/img_0718-1.jpg)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGxIoL8GJ3Y
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Scott, can you actually confirm that the hex key for the intonation adjustment hex socket screw is 7/64 then?
Your Imperial system is driving me mad. I have close to a hundred bass bridge adjustment hex keys (inch and its sensible alternative), but whenever I feel I have them all, some new perverse size comes up. What inner demon drove you to create yet another size between 3/32 and 1/8?!!!!
PS: Your The Ocean version is nice, not as sloppy as the live Zep versions I know!
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Uwe 1/16 fits mine. Beautiful bass by the way, if only Gibson showered us with so many choices on two platforms like Fender does.
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Nice bass Uwe I have a 2003 CAR American Jazz they're great basses.
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Uwe 1/16 fits mine. Beautiful bass by the way, if only Gibson showered us with so many choices on two platforms like Fender does.
We can't be talking about the same thing then, Scott. 1/16 is tiny :o - that is probably the size of the allen screws elevating the saddles up and down. I'm talking about the much larger sized allen screw that intonates the saddle, i.e. moves it back and forth, towards or away from the bridge! A 1/16 would never give you the grip and force to move a saddle under string pressure back and forth, you'd gouge it in no time. A 1/8 hex is slightly too large on mine, a 3/32 slightly to small, so my guess is (possibly confirmed by one singular posting in one Fender bass forum I found) it's a 7/64. Unless someone of you is cruel enough to tell me that further sizes between 3/32 and 1/8 exist. :-\ Knowing you guys' anarchistic penchant for disorder you probably have a further dozen intermediate sizes and Fender chose the rarest one.
Will you please now do your home work for me, subito! :mrgreen:
If only we had won ze war, I wouldn't have to bother with stuff like this now. :vader:
For illustration, in the set below the 1/16 hex is the second-tiniest one while the 7/64 is in the middle range (fifth from the right, fourth from the left) of the smaller ones:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jZF9JAc-L.jpg)
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If only we had won ze war, I wouldn't have to bother with stuff like this now. :vader:
We would've had Krupp Stahl bridges on all bass guitars, no doubt ...... ;D
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Sweet bass. The only Jazz I have is a Sadowsky that I got after stupidly trading off my old "91 RI. I thought I should at least have some kind of Jazz bass. I love that deep red color on your bass, bit of flash.
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By far my favorite Fender Color.
My old Japanese P bass was a similar color, only I seem to remember it having a little "metal flake" in it. 'Course my memory is not so good anymore.
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Obvious question but have you tried a metric wrench? That bridge is probably not MIA. If all else fails, get out your grinder or file and reshape one that's close. ;D
My Duck Dunn replica. MIA by me. 'Vintage CAR' body (base coat is gold, not silver as in later Fenders), Allparts neck, threaded saddle bridge (adjusts with slotted screwdriver), Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pup.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/Chrome%20Soapbar/CHROMED/Charlie/DunnHood.jpg)
Uwe: That looks glorious.
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Unless something changed with the latest American Standard series, they should still be Imperial.
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Interesting that even the cheapest China bass (including Squier) generally come with the proper hex keys and Fender doesn't include one that seems to be fairly rare in their export MIA. Ignorance or apathy?
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Very seldom have I gotten tools with a new Fender bass. They get snatched up at the store usually.
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The MIA and MIM basses and guitars I've bought all had a sealed case candy packet which includes all wrenches. If it's not there, blame the importer or retailer.
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Oversight not malintent. The case had two hex keys, a good cable, case keys, a cloth, a manual and a good strap. Just that one darn hex key was missing - Fender Germany Customer Service was dumbfounded what size key it might be, they guessed the size that would have fitted the truss rod key. But they were nice and gave their metric best. I am now the proud owner of a 18 key imperial hex key set featuring, look and behold, a 7/64 one, fingers crossed.
I tried metric keys galore - none fitted. Survival of the Imperial system is the one great injustice of WW II ...
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We can't be talking about the same thing then, Scott. 1/16 is tiny :o - that is probably the size of the allen screws elevating the saddles up and down. I'm talking about the much larger sized allen screw that intonates the saddle, i.e. moves it back and forth, towards or away from the bridge! A 1/16 would never give you the grip and force to move a saddle under string pressure back and forth, you'd gouge it in no time. A 1/8 hex is slightly too large on mine, a 3/32 slightly to small, so my guess is (possibly confirmed by one singular posting in one Fender bass forum I found) it's a 7/64. Unless someone of you is cruel enough to tell me that further sizes between 3/32 and 1/8 exist. :-\ Knowing you guys' anarchistic penchant for disorder you probably have a further dozen intermediate sizes and Fender chose the rarest one.
Will you please now do your home work for me, subito! :mrgreen:
If only we had won ze war, I wouldn't have to bother with stuff like this now. :vader:
For illustration, in the set below the 1/16 hex is the second-tiniest one while the 7/64 is in the middle range (fifth from the right, fourth from the left) of the smaller ones:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jZF9JAc-L.jpg)
Opps Sorry my mistake I though you were talking about the height adjustment screws on the saddle.
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7/64 works just fine on mine.
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Looks great, Congrats!
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Thanks, yes, 7/64 works, amen and thank you to the good and quick people of that online tool mailing company.
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Too bad we didn't leave any military bases in Germany, then you wouldn't have had to order Imperial goods by mail. :P
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Actually, we still have a few, but probably not at the end of this new decade. Whenever a US garnison leaves for home, there is an outcry at the German communities: loss of population, loss of consumer buying power, loss of jobs and most prominently loss of NATO subsidies and funds. While many military bases are out in the boondocks (the urban ones have alll been given up a decade ago or more), those funds and subsidies ensured that the infrastructure there was always top-notch. You needed to make sure that you could get your tanks to France in time in case the Russians broke in! :mrgreen:
So in hindsight, neither Joseph Goebbels' late war desperate propaganda "Do not fool yourself to believe that US occupation will be any better than Bolshevik one (this was when more and more German cities - Frankfurt among them - and villages were surrendering to US Forces eagerly and without hardly a shot being fired), they will be turning our mothers, daughters, sisters ansd wives all into camp whores!" nor the post-war initial non-fraternisation rules of the US Army worked too well!
And, yes, 25 years ago I could have gotten that darndest hex key at a US Army PX Store. When googling for it now, I found out that the offerers of Imperial size tools in Germany almost all cater to the Harley-Davidson and American car oldtimers buffs.
Uwe
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"Led Zep ain't bad" LMAO Nice Uwe very nice. I guess seeing as you have a Jazz Bass now you'll be woodsheding on some JPJ ;)
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Beautiful bass, Uwe!
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"Led Zep ain't bad" LMAO Nice Uwe very nice. I guess seeing as you have a Jazz Bass now you'll be woodsheding on some JPJ ;)
JPJ is an excellent bassist, very musical. And his songwriting contribution is often underrated with Zep. But neither the sound of his bass nor the way he played ever struck me a inspirational to copy. I find it difficult to emulate him. If you'd ask me play something typical for Glenn Hughes, Geezer Butler, Roger Glover, Jim Lea, Martin Turner, Neil Murray or Gary Thain, I think I could manage, but if you asked me to play a signature JPJ mannerism I'd be dumbfounded. For 2011 I will listen to him more closely though! I liked what he did on the Them Vultures debut though I found it quite different from his approach with Zeppelin.
When I think of Jazz Bass in a rock context I tend to think of Noel Redding, Mel Schacher and funnily enough Ian Hill of Judas Priest first. Hughes has been playing more Jazz Basses of late too.
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First to mind for me is Jaco... but a different beast...
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JPJ is for me very difficult to emulate. It has been a learning experience for sure.
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since i have been playing like him for years jpj is easy for me. it's all those other guys i know nothing about. ???
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Beautiful bass Uwe. I as a fender man, that dabbles with Gibson's more for collecting, see it from a different perspective. I have well over 40 fender (clones included) and each and everyone has something different for me whether it be the wood combinations or pickups. For decades I was always a pbass man but the jazz bass sexiness started in the early 80's and has grown. Probably 60 % jbass now. and i come about in between on the nut size....
Enjoy the bass. Sounds like a great woman too !!! If you are handy i recommend putting a push pull pot for the series/parallel. Very nice pbass tone and a volume boost when you suddenly want one Not a vintage instrument so won't hurt the value.
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If you are handy i recommend putting a push pull pot for the series/parallel. Very nice pbass tone and a volume boost when you suddenly want one Not a vintage instrument so won't hurt the value.
Wasn't that standard on the "American" series Fender Jazzes before they reverted back to the "American Standard" specs? My Diamond Anniversary Jazz has it.
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Wasn't that standard on the "American" series Fender Jazzes before they reverted back to the "American Standard" specs? My Diamond Anniversary Jazz has it.
It was. Apparently not enough buyers found it useful.
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I never noticed much of a volume difference when using it on the Jazz. The series/parallel switch on my G&L, OTOH, makes a huge difference in volume.
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Does it sound noticeably different even though there's not much increase in volume?
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The sound is slightly thicker in series and a little more articulate in parallel. It's pretty subtle though. I have to say though, that that bass is, by far, the best off-the-shelf Fender I have ever had in my hands and I wouldn't hesitate to compare it to USA Lakland or Sadowsky basses.
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PUBLIC APOLOGY!!!
DEAR FENDER PEOPLE: I AM AN IDIOT, YOU ARE THOUGHTFUL AND DILIGENT. THE 7/64 HEX KEY WAS IN THE CASE ALL ALONG; I FOUND IT THIS MORNING. YOU HAD ME CONFUSED WITH THAT OVER-ABUNDANCE OF CASE CANDY. NEXT TIME I WILL LOOK MORE CLOSELY AND NOT AUTOMATICALLY DISMISS A PLASTIC BAG WITH APPARENTLY JUST A MANUAL IN IT AS USELESS PROPAGANDA.
:-[ :-\ :-X :-[
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First to mind for me is Jaco... but a different beast...
Jaco to me is not rock by a stretch. I find Stanley Clarke sounds like Jimi Hendrix in comparison, very manly while Jaco is an artist. That's not knocking Jaco, he was in a class of his own, but that bridge pup, rapid-note-burst sound never did anything for me. I need more beef with a bass sound.
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If it was purely rock it would be Mr Schacher in a heartbeat... ;)
PUBLIC APOLOGY!!!
Senile dementia has finally caught up with you, err, Uwe, isn't it...? ;D
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... and utterly taking the p*ss in a solo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtHbxsdExlE
(hardly surprising this bass ended up in pieces...)
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what a mess. jaco must have been in the manic phase of his bi polar illness or else he was high. sad either way.
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I can admire the technical skill, but his playing doesn't do much for me. Just not a style I've ever enjoyed.
And yes, he looks like he's pretty bent in that video.
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what a mess. jaco must have been in the manic phase of his bi polar illness or else he was high. sad either way.
Sad indeed. Not trying to hyjack this thread Uwe ...... happy for you regarding your latest acquisiton! However, for those of you who are interested in Jaco's illness and haven't yet read this, here's Jaco's daughter Mary's musings on her father's condition ...... quite moving, really:
http://www.jacopastorius.com/features/daddy.html (http://www.jacopastorius.com/features/daddy.html)
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... and utterly taking the p*ss in a solo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtHbxsdExlE
(hardly surprising this bass ended up in pieces...)
Seriously and with no irony: I think that solo is pretty breathtaking. For all it's flaws, inaccuracies and the state of its maker: It has guts, inspiration, originality and is taking chances in a Hendrix-esque way. Bravo.
And this thread isn't hijacked by Jaco's illness at all, it's a serious and interesting subject. And if Jaco wouldn't find mention in a Jazz Bass thread eventually we would be doing something very wrong here.
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... quite moving, really...
Agreed... it's a shame to have inherited so much from her father...
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I met one of his son's a few years ago at Fodera's 25th anniversary party. Seems well grounded and very mellow. Hopefully it wasn't a show for his sake
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A musical genius who was killed by a Neanderthal. The fact that Jaco's murderer only got four months in prison is unbelievable, especially since people who commit minor crimes are often given far longer sentences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC-rWvRdE8c&feature=related