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Met up with Basschat forumer Karlfer this afternoon, to do a trade and ended up with this rather nice US Deluxe HH Dimension Bass. It was a pleasure meeting and doing business with Karl and talking bass, of course. For some reason, Fender's Dimension series of basses didn't seem very successful, coming and going rather quickly. I remember buying a new SQUIER Deluxe Dimension Bass V MN Black, for under £300 and being very impressed. A lot of Fender players are very traditional and I guess they didn't take to Fender's attempt to produce an EBMM Stingray beater. My first impressions of this particular Dimension bass, are very positive and having owned a number of EBMM Stingrays, can see the similarities and differences. The Dimension uses some very nice woods and hardware and the build quality and finishing are very good. The 2 HB pickups come with a 5-way selector switch, that gives 2, double pickup, single-coil options. And it is these 2 options that I like the most. The pickups in full HB mode, singly or together sound good but I prefer the clarity of the SC options. So how does it compare with a Stingray? The bridge pickup is a lot closer to the bridge than on a Stingray. So if you are after a bass that can do that Stingray sound, you'll be a little disappointed. The Dimension's pickups don't have the HB quality of an EBMM Stingray, IMO. But they do have there own sound and a lovely variety of combinations to delight your ear. This bass sounds great through both my gigging rig (Galien Krueger - Mark Bass) and through my practice/back up amp (Fender Rumble 500 combo). It's a lovely mix of Stingray and Jazz Bass, to my ears, with something of it's own as well. This Deluxe bass came with very low, very solid action and this combined with a very comfortable neck, make it a pleasure to play. To my eyes, it's a bit of a looker too, with a translucent sunburst finish, over some lovely wood grain. Although, on a personal level, I'd have preferred a tort scratchplate, with black, Jazz Bass style knobs. As in it's name, this bass comes with some welcome, Deluxe features. A very tasty, Hi-Mass bridge, a Heel-Mounted, Spoke Wheel, Truss Rod Adjuster and a very capable 18V Preamp with Active 3-Band EQ. I also really like the Fender "F" Light-Weight Vintage-Paddle Key Tuners, with Tapered Shafts. OK, I've only played this bass for about an hour, both solo and along to my own recordings (bass muted of course) but so far I am very very pleased with it, both as a very capable/usable instrument and as a tasty addition to my bass herd. I don't think I've played a bass quite like it, which is a very good thing, in my book. So cheers Karl.

Definitely agree. I think they've really improved, just over the last 3 years. And this particular model (Little Pinky) really stands out, IMO.

Congrats on a fine purchase. The guys in PMT Leeds are pretty good. Whilst I was waiting for the tort guard, I got to quite like the original, mint guard. It would be no fun if we all liked the same thing.

Finally got to play my new shell pink Jazz with my band, last night. After a few comments like, "getting in touch with your feminine side?", it was generally agreed that the bass not only looked cool but sounded great too. I was really happy with the easy playability and even more happy with the bass's tone, in the band mix. Lots of body, penetration and that lovely growl, I was hoping for. Well chuffed.🤠

Congrats on a lovely bass foursome. The fiver and Jazz are particularly lovely.😎

Very tasty looking bass, congrats.

Slightly better group.

Finally got the tort scratchplate and put it on. Sorry about the god awful pics. No natural light available. Flash turned it white, no flash, a little dull. Anyway, you get the idea. The more I play and look at it, the more I like it.

Looks nice but not very turquoise👀

Thanks for that. The tort plate in the shop was a Fender Jazz bass one, not specific to this series. Hopefully the series specific one will do a tighter job. If not I'll heed your advice.👀

Nut: 1.5” (38.1 mm), Neck: “Slim C” profile, Fingerboard: Radius 9.5” (241 mm). Andertons and PMT have then in.🤓

This my 2nd NBD in 2 days. It wasn't planned that way. In fact I was planning on getting a MusicMan Cutlass and upgraded amplification. Instead I got a rather special Jazz Bass yesterday and whilst at the shop, I A/B tested my amp gear with the gear I was going to get. And TBH, there wasn't enough difference to warrant the outlay. So I had some cash left over and remembered a couple of basses I'd tried out, a couple of weeks earlier. Both were Fenders. A Vintera Mustang and a Precision. The Mustang was a nice bass and I seem to have an inkling for a short scale, every few years. The only thing was that it's overall tone just didn't quite hack it. Pleasant but lacking in depth, fullness and quality, to my ears. How much is down to the smaller size of the bass and indeed the pickup, is hard to prove. But I think those dimensions do really count to the overall tone. The Fender, MIJ, Midnight, Traditional 60's, Precision Bass however, has tone in spades. That full, Precision tone is instantly recognisable and rather glorious to hear and play. Yes, you can fiddle with the tone knob but basically this is a one sound bass, that lets your fingers and skill sculpt different tones and feel. The build quality, as you'd expect from a bass made in Japan, is really good. The fretboard and neck are particularly well done and that U profile and 7.25" radius, is very comfortable to play. I'm not a fan of gold hardware, but when it's on an all black bass like this, it's very pleasing on the eye. Over the years I've heard many folk say MIJ gear is brilliantly built but lacking in the pickup department. That is definitely not the case here. These pickups do everything you need, from a Precision pickup, with plenty of output too. This bass pretty much has all you could want from a Fender Precision, except for the dreadful gigbag you get with it. They'll say it keeps the price down but surely a half decent quality, heavily padded gigbag would be appropriate at this price point. Other than that, well done Fender Japan.

It looks like one piece to me🤓

Sorry, can't promise anything😈

Me too😍

I went out today, ostensibly to check out a MusicMan Cutlass bass, in Diamond Blue, with maple fretboard. But with a whole day at my disposal and visting a shop run by a friend, I had to check out a few alternatives. My 2 main basses at the moment are EBMM Stingrays. A classic and a special. So the Cutlass seemed a very nice alternative to the Rays. I also played a mapleglo Rickenbacker 4003s, which despite it's rediculous hardware (bridge & string cover-rest), felt very nice to play and was a nicely built bass. But I didn't like the sound of the pickups at all, thick, harsh and a little crude. I had a quick go on a couple of 5-strings, an MTD Kingston and an EBMM 'Ray. Neither convinced me to have another go with a fiver. Alao had another try on a Marleaux Consat 4-string, I'd played before, but still didn't gel with. The Cutlass was pretty much exactly what I expected. Like a passive Precision but IMO, better. I was close to saying I'd have it, when Gary, the shop guy suggested a Jazz Bass. Now I've owned/played a load of Jazz basses but had gone right off them, about 3 years ago. But he pulled out a real nice one, although my intial comment was "not a pink bass!". It was indeed shell pink, with an off white (mint?) scratchplate, being a Fender Limited Edition American Pro Jazz Bass. But what grabbed my attention and got my juices flowing, was the all rosewood neck. A thing of beauty that played as well as it looked. But it had the narrow nut of a Jazz and it was pink! I plugged it in and was surpised at how much I liked the tones available. I mainly settled on middle pickup up 100%, bridge pickup and 75% and varying the tone from 100 to 75%. Then I said to Gary, this would look much better with a tort scratchplate. He agreed and produced one. We slid it into place and it transformed the looks of this bass. Wow, now I was really interested. So Gary said he'd replace the plate and put some Elixirs on for me. Yes please! Trouble was the plate fitted everywhere, except there was a small gap between it and the chrome, control panel. stinky poo! So the original went back on, with the Elixirs and Fender are sending a tort plate for this series, for me to put on ASAP. Got it home and have been blasting along to my tunes and loving it. I've been playing actives for years but my ears are enjoying this passive bass. And my hands are feeling very comfortable on this lovely neck. Just need that tort scratchplate, to perfect the aesthetics.

Nice colour on that tasty Stingray. Congrats on all 3.

I don't think it looks out of proportion but it does look a bit weird, being so small. The whole Stingray presence is based on being a substantial bass. That looks a bit toy like, even if it's quite a pretty toy. I'm sure, with a decent player and set up, it would sound very good. But what's telling for me is I am an EBMM fan and have been looking at short scale basses but wouldn't get this one.

Reclining in luxury, my Special and 4H

Love the EBMM. Classic looks and sound😎

I've owned 3 fivers and my favourite is probably the cheapest. I had an Overwater Jazz, that I got for half price in a sale. Wonderful bass but it made my fretting hand ache after 15 mins of playing. Later I had an LTD that had a through neck and all sorts of great spec , for not much cash. But my favourite was a Squier Deluxe Dimension Bass. Got it new for under £300 and was so impressed with it's design and build quality. A real pleasure to play and it's active pickup got some very decent tones. I'm a four string player but I like to dabble occasionally.

I'm a big fan of Nordstrand pickups, especially the Big Single but that bass in the video looks like some 60s bass from the Far East. Real fugly.

I have a new Special and can highly recommend you fellas get one too. Mind you, I still love my 2014 Stingray.

Very cool bass, congrats. Hard to beat a Stingray.😎

Looks very nice indeed. I really rate Yamaha's higher end basses. Mind you, that neck is seriously wide.