Fender Jazz Plus. Anybody know much about these?

[haruki]

Hi.. some time ago I bought (secondhand) a Fender Jazz Plus...didnt know much about it - still don't.
They seem to be fairly rare beasts and just wondered if anybody knew why? I kinda like mine.

For those that dont know they've got active lace sensor pickups; non standard badass like bridge and smaller headstock and body. They dont have the normal control plate either. I gather they were made in the early 90's.

I mainly play fives now so it doesn't get out much.

Do I have a future classic... or an evolutionary dead end? Anybody know why these never took off?


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[Sean]

I think that's what evolved into the Deluxe.

[Macko1968]

Fender's "luxury" model Jazz bas, as you say from the early - mid 90s. I think the control layout was the same one used on the Kubicki Factor. Not sure why they never really took off, I guess Fender buyers don't go for the "down-sized" super-jazz look. Fender made plenty of them but by the end dealers were offering huge discounts, I seem to remember Peter Cooks offering a few for like £399 - less than a standard US Jazz.

[warwickhunt]

Without wishing to incur the wrath of all Fender owners (about 75% of the bass playing community, so that's quite a few enemies)...

Fender owners 'can' be quite traditional, if they weren't then they'd be playing one of the many other Fender-alikes on the market. Hence Fender may branch out (as in this case) every now and again but they always come back to the tried and tested. I do recall these being released and though they did offer some advantages over your standard Jazz (the Kubicki inspired/copied controls NOT being one of them) buyers avoided them en masse and they were knocked out in bargain sales in dealerships all over!

Not to say that it isn't a good bass... but I wouldn't pin your retirement/pension fund on it

[haruki]

Cheers - thanks for that. Good job Ive got that account with Northern Rock then.

Interesting that you mention the control layout - I thought Iwas being a bit dense but once you got beyond the active mode I'm never quite sure what does what. Too lazy to read the book. The semi-active bit confuses me too.

Hey ho. At least it dependable, nice and light, and sounds ok.

[Tait]

The Fender Bass, an Illustrated History says:

"[i]The jazz Bass Plus four-string was developed and released in the summer of 1990, months after the Jazz Bass Plus Five. George Blanda and Seiki Goto combined efforts in the R&D department to give the new models unique characteristics. The headstock shape was reduced and the decals redesigned. The back-routed access for the electronics introduced a new challenge for the Corona facility.

The complez electronics evolved from R&D and Custom Shop's short-lived Kubiki bass experience of 1989 and 1990.

Versatility was the key to the Lace sensor/active package. Volume/pan was the first control. Active treble/bass boost and cut was provided on the next stacked concentric potentiometer. The last control was a rotary switch that provided active/passive selection with an ajustable mid-boost or cut."[/i]

It also says that it has a downsized body shape which [i]"adressed the needs of a contemporary marketplace driven by heavey metal look and sound. The instruments lacked the traditional Fender pickguard and paired the new Lace sensor pickups with a versatile active circuit."[/i]

I hope I've not just breached any copywright laws lol.

Edited April 27, 2008 by lwtait

[Jono Bolton]

I think it looks cool, I wouldn't mind one. The stacked knobs would look better in chrome IMO. Maybe some kind of scratchplate too.