Fender 24 Fret Jazz-Personal Review

[Mike Bear]

So we got one where I teach today. It was a very nice looking instrument. First thing I noticed was the Duncan Bassline pick-up's in it and a toggle switch like on the Marcus M. bass.

 

I tried the bass on 2 amps. A Fender 250 combo with 2X10 speakers. And a 2X10 Ashdown 500. First thing I noticed, it sounds like a jazz bass. I don't say that often if anyone knows my thoughts on jazz basses. I believe most of them these days don't have that jazz bass sound. This one did. It was VERY bright in addition. The Fender is a darker sounding amp in my experience and so is the Ashdown. EQ's flat on the amps, this bass had some sheen to the tone. The toggle gives a nice low end rump to the sound.

 

The tone controls were very extreme in tone shaping. Much laid out like the Fender Zone series. Made me say "whoa nelly", let's just see what it sounds like favoring the neck pick up for starters. It sounded very nice. Eventually one of the workers at the store tried the bass out after me. A very good funk player, he really dug it. It was nice to stand back and listen. He's not the biggest Fender fan, but he seemed as excited as me. The bridge favored was very nice sounding. We also both commented on how we'd like to try out a 5 string version. My jackass comment of the day was "where's the 6-string". Well hell if they are gonna go 24 fret, they might as well go for the ultimate sin.

 

My biggest complaint about Fenders are the set up's off the rack. I know you should get your instrument tweeked to your liking be it any brand, but they always have Jamerson set up's., (sky high) and my name ain't Igor. This one had a very nice set up. I thought the bass overall felt very nice and sounded even better. There's lots of tones to be had. Made in Korea. That was a bit of a shock. I was a bit sad about the price. Just under $800 to the normal guy off the street. I'd expect it to be a bit less if it was MIK, but the sales person, commented about the Duncan pick-up's possibly raising the price. Come to think of it, I haven't seen many MIK Fenders. China, Taiwan, Japan, USA, Mexico, Indonesia I've seen. Well all the high end Ibanez are being made in Korea. At the Cort factory with all the other brands. I'm fairly impressed with some of the new Ibanez basses coming out these days from there. I recall a roundtable article with some companies about production overseas and the quality rising.

 

I believe if this bass catches on it can take on the entry level Sadowskys as well as all the jazz basses on crack made by other great builders.

 

Well, that's my 2 bits. Thanks for reading. Like to hear some other's thoughts.

[Quinn]

Thanks for posting this review, Mike. I haven't had a chance to try this model yet.

 

Originally posted by Mike Bear:

First thing I noticed, it sounds like a jazz bass. I don't say that often if anyone knows my thoughts on jazz basses. I believe most of them these days don't have that jazz bass sound. This one did.

I was wondering what you attribute this to. Do you think it's the sound of the Duncan pups or maybe the fact that it's passive?

[Mike Bear]

I had read up some on the bass last night. One angle is that the body is made of alder. That's a good start. Not all the jazz basses are made of alder these days. You know, I have conversations about different woods with my guitarist all the time. They always end in this thought.... well if the quality of the wood ain't so hip, it doesn't matter what's on it.

 

It has that nice snarl going for it. The sound has a good color. That's the best i can describe it. Most jazz basses I pick up sound OK but are not as colorful as the Geddy, and some of the other jazzes I've played. I do honestly believe that Fender basses are quality based on a instrument by instrument basis. I feel there's NO consistancy.