Fender American Jazz Electric Bass (Maple, with Case)

Feature:
I first considered the Geddy Lee. What first drew me to the Geddy was the looks. That's not a good reason but I LOVED the look of those black rectangular markers, black-bound maple fingerboard on the black body with white pickguard. It played very well but upon further inspection, I found the pickups to be a bit weak and the pots weren't as smooth as I thought they should be. Not bad, but I like for my guitar controls to feel like butter. Finally, the truss rod on the Geddy is adjusted from the end close to the neck pickup and can only be adjusted by removing the pickguard (or neck!!) and instead of a hex tool it is adjusted using a Philips screwdriver. What? A screwdriver on a truss rod? Painfully having to remove major parts to adjust a truss rod? Nope.. not me. I don’t mean to slam the Geddy – it's a good bass but life is short and I wanted something special. By the time I would have put in snappier pickups, purchased a case (the $800 Geddy comes with a gigbag), put in better quality smooth pots, installed a push-pull pot and rewired to allow for series/parallel pickup switching, I would have added enough money that would have pushed that $800 bass well over the $1049 that an authentic American Jazz would cost. And after all that, I would have voided the warranty on the electronics, still had to disassemble *something* to make truss rod adjustments, and the Geddy would still have said "Crafted in Japan" on the back of the neck. So... I bought a brand new 2007 Fender American Jazz Bass. This is the real deal. In this regard, I got what I paid for. The American series neck on my Jazz has a satin finish on the back and fingerboard. The neck is silky smooth and can be adjusted perfectly straight. The truss rod is accessible via a routed pocket next to the neck pickup (without having to remove anything!) and is easily adjustable using the included T-handled, ball-end hex wrench. The frets were dressed nicely, no sharp edges, no frets protruding on the sides. Tuning keys are first class. Volume and tone knobs turn silky smooth. The plastic molded case that came with my 2007 American Jazz is SUPERB - much better than any plastic molded case I've seen. It fits the Jazz perfectly and there is enough room in the accessory compartment for strings, tools, strap, etc. Warning: There is a separately sold Fender–branded molded case on the market that is advertised to fit both the Precision and Jazz. Do not buy that case for the Jazz. It's a tight fit and the hard foam padding does not have enough "give" to allow for the Jazz shape and is a poor fit. The lid will not close easily without force. Fender should not say that it fits both P and J basses. HOWEVER... the case included with the 2007 Fender American Jazz DOES fit the Jazz perfectly. The padding under the fur has just the right amount of cushion. A nice feature is the neck of the bass kinda sits on top of the padding of the lower part of the case for easy access (placing bass in and out of the case) and the case has a deep lid which has pads that run along *both sides of the neck*. When the case is closed the WHOLE length of the neck is cradled securely between these pads. Ingenious case design. I would not trade this case for any hard-shell rectangular case and I own a few. The 4 latches all appear to be heavy-duty and open and close perfectly. Included with my 2007 American Jazz was a bag of accessories that was tucked snugly into the 7"x5"x2" lidded accessory compartment. Included was a deluxe Fender strap, owner's manual, quick-start instruction sheet, key for the case lock, warranty card, polishing cloth, small hex key for the bridge saddles, and a quality long shaft T-handle hex wrench for the truss rod. They included everything I could think of to put with a premium quality guitar. First class.

Quality:
I was hoping for a flawless guitar and it did not disappoint. From the tip of the headstock to the bottom strap pin, this guitar was perfect. Well.. there were a few fingerprints on the tuning keys. :)

Value:
Read my comments comparing this American Jazz to the Japanese Geddy Lee model. My opinion is that the American Jazz comes up as the winner in value. You get what you pay for and I feel this American Jazz is worth the price.

Desirability:
I prefer painted guitars over natural or stained finishes and I love the look of this bass. Black body, white pickguard, maple fingerboard has a balanced look that screams classic/classy. The only thing I would add would be black neck binding and black rectangular markers of the 70's necks like the Japanese Geddy Lee has.

Sound:
I would give it a 10 but I think a 10 in sound should be reserved for something Divine (haha!) I have over 30 years of 6-string guitar experience and have pretty high standards as far as quality and sound go. I wanted to get a nice bass for my 11 year old son and me ;). I wanted a passive model that got classic sounds and after trying out a few, I knew I a Fender Jazz was what I wanted. I'm fairly new at bass and this American Jazz bass easily allows the "thumb thunk" (whatever it's called) sound and "slap 'n pop" techniques that I am learning and intend to teach my son. This is a real Fender Jazz with good, strong American Series pickups so getting the authentic Fender sound is easy – even for a bass beginner.

Ease of Use:
The 2007 American Jazz has standard Jazz controls (vol neck, vol bridge, master tone) but with the addition of the "S-1" switch. When both pickups are played with full volume, the S-1 switch will alternate the sound from airy/thunky/funky to full/funky/bassy with the push of a button. The S-1 switch isn't a push/pull pot but instead, it's a button built into the first (neck) volume knob. Push once and the button stays in - putting the pickups in series which gives a fuller, bassier tone. Since the pickups are now in the circuit end-to-end (in series), the neck volume functions as a master volume and the bridge volume is removed from the circuit. Push the button again and it pops back out switching the pickups back to standard Jazz configuration which gives that famous Fender funky Jazz thwap. This puts the pickups back in parallel and both volumes can be adjusted for blend, one pickup on, other pickup off. The volume, volume, tone controls are effective at dialing in whatever passive bass sound you need. I'm beginner bass player and I knew right where to go to get those classic Jazz bass sounds. IMO, the S-1 switch is a must-have on a Jazz. If I had a Jazz without the S-1 switch, I would have installed a push/pull pot for the tone control and wired up a series/parallel switch on my own.

Overall:
I'm very happy with my purchase. No buyers's remorse whatsoever. I'm glad I sent the Geddy back and kicked in the extra $250 to get an American Jazz over the Japanese. zZounds is a caring company and they have my support and loyalty - they are probably the best Internet-based company I have ever dealt with music or otherwise.

Feature:
The case is horrible. It's made in China (yak!) and is so out of alignment you really have to spend time tweaking and making the latches work. I have no idea how it will hold up, but I dont expect much.

Quality:
I expect to have this bass for a long time. It will gig with my Ric and I have no doubt it will hold up to some less than ideal treatment. It is a gorgeous unit. Maple fretboard w/butterscotch blond body and a nice tight joint at the neck/body. I am probably a freak in that I think an ashtray bridge cover would look really cool on this guitar, but then I have left the pickup cover on my Ric too. It feels solid and comfortable hanging from the strap.

Value:
I think the price is decent considering it is a quality USA made bass, although the action seems a tad high. I think Fender really skimped on the Chinese made case. It's crap. I would rather pay a bit more for a better home for it.

Desirability:
It's a Fender Jazz bass! I think they are nicely shaped, it feels good to hold and play, and they are obviously a favorite of way too many bassists to name here. It's well constructed and will will probably outlast me.

Sound:
It's got excellent sound characteritics. I think the S-1 feature is a gimmick since it sort of creates a muddy sound thru my Ashdown ABM500 amp, so I really dont use it much. Just using volume and tone gives a lot of great different tones, from a trebely Ric type snap to "how low can you go" clear, smokey sounds. Theres a lot of bottom to be had with this one.

Ease of Use:
See above for sounds. Its a simple bass with passive pickups. How easy is that?

Support:
Havent needed support yet.

Overall:
I'm happy, although I will probably buy a Jazz Deluxe in the end. Something about the block inlays and bound neck and pickup / bridge covers.......