That Evil Woman ...

[uwe]

... 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):



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:

[Chris P.]

Very Nice, Uwe! I like that colour! Congratulations with the bass ánd Edith! Lucky guy!

[Pilgrim]

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!

[Dave W]

Nice!

Next year, drop the hint for a Coronado Wildwood. 

[OldManC]

Now that's a woman (and a bass) worth keeping around! Enjoy (both). 

[patman]

I hope you know how lucky you are...

[Freuds_Cat]

My mate Dave, recently imported a very similar bass. I too like the "better" bridge and tuners. Lovely instrument. Enjoy it Uwe, guilt free 

[Highlander]

4 strings, reasonably balanced, nice classic sound...

Does wot it sez on the tin...

Nice parcel to find (hidden) behind the tree...

[uwe]

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!

[godofthunder]

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 !

[uwe]

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!

[godofthunder]

 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.

[Muzikman7]

Nice bass Uwe I have a 2003 CAR American Jazz they're great basses.

[uwe]

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   - 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!  

If only we had won ze war, I wouldn't have to bother with stuff like this now.  


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:

[Droombolus]

If only we had won ze war, I wouldn't have to bother with stuff like this now. 

We would've had Krupp Stahl bridges on all bass guitars, no doubt ......