New Fender American Professional Classic Jazz Bass

[HeadlessBassist]

Fender American Professional Classic Jazz Bass (or in other words, "We redid the American Performer Series in satin faded poly finishes, and added '62 'Coastline' Pickups, a Grease Bucket tone circuit & '66 Lollipop Tuners.") Nothing to see here, then! Those new pickups based on the Pure Vintage series do sound good, though...

 

 

Edited October 14 by HeadlessBassist

[Supernaut]

Bring back the American Standard. 

[BassApprentice]

20 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Bring back the American Standard. 

They have. Or if they haven't, they probably will. Maybe.

 

The Standard American (but it will be made in Mexico)

 

 

[goonerjoe]

So, at a quick glance, almost a MIM spec for double the price?

[HeadlessBassist]

32 minutes ago, goonerjoe said:

So, at a quick glance, almost a MIM spec for double the price?

 

Pretty much, apart from the Pure Vintage "Coastline" pickups. Maybe the Lollipop Tuners cost £1200..?  🤔

 

On a more serious note, I'm glad they've brought back Firemist Gold.

Edited October 14 by HeadlessBassist

[Gank Bass]

Fender must be the most consistent company for dull releases!

 

How about a Sergio Vega signature Jag bass (squier and/or fender) given the huge resurgence of Deftones? Nope 

 

30th anniversary of In Utero was a couple of years ago, how about a squier jagstang? Nope

 

Jack White constantly putting out music and working with high profile people like Beyonce reaching new audiences, how about a fleet of affordable teles? Nah

 

Beatles coming round again with a number 1 (meh but still) single, how about a signature bass vi? 🥱 Nahh

 

What about yet another sunburst precision bass that we've seen a million times? Now you're talking!

[Misdee]

These basses look like opportunity for Fender to put together mainly already existing parts in a slightly different way to create a "new" product

 

"Vintage" is the most elastic of concepts when it comes to basses, especially any bass with Fender written on it. There is nothing specifically "vintage" about these new basses except the tuners taken from the 1966 R.I and the colours, but every new Fender has to have some vintage credentials or it is apparently worthless in the eyes of the world. Vintage is to basses what Salon is to hair products, i.e obligatory but meaningless. Vintage is punch. Vintage is warmth. Vintage is depth. Vintage is growl. Vintage is anything you want it to be.

 

These basses sound ok but I can't see much to make them especially appealing apart from the colours.

.

One day a genius at Fender will wake up and realise that all they have to do is make basses that look and sound like old ones of various eras but play better and are made to the standards of decent  modern instruments with quality hardware. Like the American Standard range that was introduced in 2008 but that look as pretty as the basses they made in the 1960's and 1970's. Then they'd be fighting customers off with a stick.

 

 

[Reggaebass]

3 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Bring back the American Standard. 

Have to agree with that one, many have come and gone but my 2014 Olympic white one is going nowhere 

[Lozz196]

3 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Bring back the American Standard. 

 

5 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Have to agree with that one, many have come and gone but my 2014 Olympic white one is going nowhere 

Yup, my 2015 black/maple American Standard Precision is the same

[Misdee]

I've got a 2009 American Standard P and a 2012 American Standard Jazz and they're both examples of a really good Fender bass.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

The mustang bass in this range looks cool — especially the red one, however the spaghetti logo has absolutely no business in being on the headstock of a mustang bass.

 

I'm not at all fussed about a fender needing to be made in the USA to be a serious instrument. I own a vintera mustang bass, two vintera strats, a vintera tele, a player series mustang bass, 3x JMJ mustang basses, and a Ben Gibbard Mustang guitar and they are all proof that the Ensenada factory is making absolutely fantastic instruments. My next purchase is very likely to be another Fender Mexico one, a Lake Placid Blue Vintera II Bass VI (if a secondhand one pops up at a price that makes sense)

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Gank Bass said:

Fender must be the most consistent company for dull releases!

 

f***ing clever marketing strategy, they keep releasing the same two basses, we keep buying them 👍

[basshead56]

Not gonna lie, I'm a fan of the Sherwood Green P and Mustang. Both look gorgeous to me.

 

I can understand the need to fill this gap from a marketing point of view, especially considering how poorly the American Performer range that preceded it appears to have sold.

I found the previous Am Performer offerings kinda weedy. Limited finishes and fingerboard options, the P bass was only PJ and the headstock decals all looked awful. Very overpriced compared to the more recent Mexican offerings (my 60th Ann. Roadworn Jazz still beats the pants off a lot of other instruments that cost a heck of a lot more!!!)

 

I reckon the Am performers were nowhere near as nice as the old Highway 1/One's or American Specials beforehand and I think that was a deliberate ploy to try and walk customers up another few hundred $$$ to the Am PRO/ PRO II lines

 

And now we are here - 'Oh look, we've sold bugger all Performers but we need another line to fill in the ever-widening gap between Mexico and US production.'

 

The new Vintera stuff is properly good and so is the AM PRO II range (I have 3 of em) - I take my hat off to Fender for both lines. I can see why they have gone back to re-fill this little gap.

I'm not so sure about the Classic part in the title but at least it fits with the rest of the line up.

The greasebucket tone circuit has it's pros and cons I guess and I like the lollipop tuner idea.

 

Now tossing up between the new Sherwood P or an older (12-14) American Standard P in Charcoal Frost... 

[tauzero]

14 hours ago, Beedster said:

f***ing clever marketing strategy, they keep releasing the same two basses, we keep buying them 👍

 

Some of you do...

[NancyJohnson]

"Fender.  Renaming the same old basses every year of so to keep you interested."

 

Christ on a bike, more reinvention.  If you look at Fender's UK site, they have 27 different series of bass instruments, and god knows what derivatives exist within those categories.  We've had decades of these shenanigans.  I honestly pine for the 70s, when it was pretty much American Precisions, Jazzes and maybe Mustangs/Musicmasters, limited colours, limited neck finishes.  It just seemed simpler times.

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

"Fender.  Renaming the same old basses every year of so to keep you interested."

 

Christ on a bike, more reinvention.  If you look at Fender's UK site, they have 27 different series of bass instruments, and god knows what derivatives exist within those categories.  We've had decades of these shenanigans.  I honestly pine for the 70s, when it was pretty much American Precisions, Jazzes and maybe Mustangs/Musicmasters, limited colours, limited neck finishes.  It just seemed simpler times.

Agree. Although I`m a Fender fan-boi through & through to me I`d say at most three ranges, US, Mex for those unable to afford a US model or wanting a cheaper backup, and signature models.

[NancyJohnson]

30 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Agree. Although I`m a Fender fan-boi through & through to me I`d say at most three ranges, US, Mex for those unable to afford a US model or wanting a cheaper backup, and signature models.

 

I understand the whole country of manufacture and costing of instruments, but the scope of manufacturing within this business is unfathomable.  I've said it for years that if Fender were a car maker, they'd have gone out of business decades ago.

 

There's no real innovation; they're surviving off the back of under ten models, most of which have been in production for 60 years.

 

[Quilly]

New money for old rope. 

[LeftyJ]

I dig the offsets (the Am Pro Classic Mustang, and before that the American Performer Mustang, is the only USA-made "standard" Mustang Bass currently available. Same goes for the Jaguar, if you don't count the Johnny Marr signature that's almost twice as expensive) despite them missing some classic features: the Mustang shape differs slightly from the old Mustang basses, and the Jaguar has a 3-way toggle and no rhythm circuit - but I'm pleased it does have a strangle switch instead of the Am Pro I's phase switch. 

[BassApprentice]

Having actually properly looked at this range instead of just making jokes about Fender recycling model names. These are some of the best colours they've had in a range in a while IMO. The Green P bass and Mustang look great.

[Quilly]

Looking at the photographs of these basses , they look awfully like the player series basses . The bridge looks the same and the neck is the modern c shape , I know the tuners are the lollipops ones , but so what ? . Ok there’s a grease bucket tone circuit , not sure if that’s a good or bad thing . I know you can’t tell how a bass is going to play and sound from photos but they seem like really expensive player fenders. I have a 2020 player bass and it’s an excellent bass for the money. I think I’d put my money into a player 2 before one of these , and have change for an amp .

[HeadlessBassist]

2 hours ago, Quilly said:

Looking at the photographs of these basses , they look awfully like the player series basses . The bridge looks the same and the neck is the modern c shape , I know the tuners are the lollipops ones , but so what ? . Ok there’s a grease bucket tone circuit , not sure if that’s a good or bad thing . I know you can’t tell how a bass is going to play and sound from photos but they seem like really expensive player fenders. I have a 2020 player bass and it’s an excellent bass for the money. I think I’d put my money into a player 2 before one of these , and have change for an amp .

 

Yes, that's a very good point. These are a continuation of the "assembled in USA" basses, which started with the original American Special and Highway One models, so the necks could well be from the Mexican Ensenada plant. I know they've streamlined their neck production, so that even the American Ultra II now has the nut-based truss rod and the skunk stripe nowadays. It's a shame, as the stuff they were making around 2016-2020 was far superior. It's the old premium brand game; streamline production to cut costs, thus giving you less and charging you more for it.

[LeftyJ]

That would make the new name for the series all the more confusing though. The old American Special and American Performer models were marketed as the entry level USA-made models, and it's true the American Professional Classic replaces the American Performer, but by using the Professional name they're suggesting these are on par with the American Professional II series, but with more vintage features. The difference in price between the Am Pro Classic and Am Pro II isn't that huge either. 

 

Now I would really like to see some neck heel and neck pocket name stamps 

(not that it would help much probably, because as the old moniker goes: one is made by Mexicans in Ensenada, and the other is made by Mexicans in Corona )

[velvetkevorkian]

I'm holding out for the American Unprofessional range tbh

[Grahambythesea]

Reinventing the wheel, again?