New Fender American Professional Classic Jazz Bass

[Quilly]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

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.

You wonder where its going to end, the snobbery around MIM instruments is fading especially considering how good the the Vintera instruments are, I've had a few MIA jazz bases in the past and I can honestly say my player P bass was as well put together, hard to see where the extra money is going for the USA entry level basses. 

[HeadlessBassist]

28 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

Reinventing the wheel, again?

 

No, they did away with the wheel - it used to operate the truss rod on the American Elite series. 🤷‍♂️

[HeadlessBassist]

1 hour ago, Quilly said:

You wonder where its going to end, the snobbery around MIM instruments is fading especially considering how good the the Vintera instruments are, I've had a few MIA jazz bases in the past and I can honestly say my player P bass was as well put together, hard to see where the extra money is going for the USA entry level basses. 

 

The simple answer is the extra money buys the American workers houses, Ford F-150 pickup trucks, and also adds to their pension schemes. 

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Quilly said:

You wonder where its going to end, the snobbery around MIM instruments is fading especially considering how good the the Vintera instruments are, I've had a few MIA jazz bases in the past and I can honestly say my player P bass was as well put together, hard to see where the extra money is going for the USA entry level basses. 

Yep, although I would say my US Precisions are better than my Player am not sure the difference in quality is as much as the price tag would suggest. Sure the US has better tuners, bridge, pickups, and is string-thru but does that equate to nearly a grand? And I daresay a fair bit of the "betterness" - for myself - is personal preference on neck size and finish rather than difference in quality.

[bassist_lewis]

I managed to play one of the Mustangs when I was on holiday in the US last week and it plays very well. Setup wasn't quite to my liking but it felt well made. The neck had a brushed feel I've not encountered before. Not bad necessarily, just new to me. It sounded good through an Ampeg combo, and given I don't like Ampegs that must mean it sounds very very good! Its a slab body, but the there is more controlling round the edge than my JMJ Mustang, much more rounded. I would appreciate 70s contouring on a Mustang, but again its not huge minus.

Overall it felt like a well made instrument. I'm not sure £1500 worth of well made, but you pay a premium for American labour. I recognise the comments about this line rehashing other lines and I think that is a valid criticism, especially for the Ps and Js. However, as far as Mustangs go, this is a nice slightly higher end addition to the current roster i.e. the Squier CV and Broncos (yes, I know its technically a Musicmaster), Vinteras and JMJs. I never liked the American Performer Mustangs with two pickups, so this feels like a good replacement to me.

It'll be the faded Dakota red for me please... when I have money... which probably be never in this economy...