Which Jazz bass?

[dub_junkie]

Best playing passive jazz bass I've owned was a transluscent white 44-60 with plek'd neck. Such a superb feeling/playing bass. I also owned a 55-60 Custom which was a bit special also. 

fwiw I've never had a Lakland Skyline that was less than hugely impressive

 

[ead]

If it has to be a Fender then for me a Geddy Lee sig.  Japanese would be pre-loved, but you can get the US ones new I think.

[Delberthot]

I too had a Musicman Sterling HH as my main bass for a while then assembled my Warmoth/Status Jazz bass for a change.

 

It's a heavy maple body, EMG X series pickups, BQC system and a Status jazz neck with Hipshot Ultralites. It comes in at a hefty 14lbs (I can hear some of you groaning at the thought of that 😂 )

 

A couple of weeks ago I changed the batteries after sound check and it stopped working. Turned out that it was the connection between the batteries in the double battery box so I had to get the back up bass.

 

It's a 2010 Fender Japan '75 reissue with US pickups in old candy apple red with matching headstock.

 

It couldn't be any different to the Warmoth but I absolutely love it.

 

The short version is that both basses are more than capable of replacing my Sterling and it gives me an excuse to post pictures of both of them. 

 

 

[TrevorR]

12 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I'd buy a Sandberg TT4 above a Fender.

Me too! Any day of the week!

[jd56hawk]

8 hours ago, Twigman said:

Or this - the MIJ 'Noir' at 1/3 of the price

 

 

:

Go for it.

It'd be nice with black hardware and some DR Red Dragon strings, but it's still nicer than a typical black Jazz bass 

Edited 20 hours ago by jd56hawk

[HeadlessBassist]

Duplicate Post.

Edited 10 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[HeadlessBassist]

12 hours ago, Delberthot said:

It's a heavy maple body, EMG X series pickups, BQC system and a Status jazz neck with Hipshot Ultralites. It comes in at a hefty 14lbs (I can hear some of you groaning at the thought of that 😂 )

 

Wow, how did you manage to make a Jazz bass weigh 14lbs?! I thought my recently sold Status KingBass Mk-II was bad enough at nearly 12lbs.

 

When playing, watch out for random sink holes appearing underneath you - you may find yourself in Australia for Christmas!

[Delberthot]

6 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Wow, how did you manage to make a Jazz bass weigh 14lbs?! I thought my recently sold Status KingBass Mk-II was bad enough at nearly 12lbs.

 

When playing, watch out for random sink holes appearing underneath you - you may find yourself in Australia for Christmas!

 

I asked warmoth to make me a body between 6-7lbs and they sent me one at 7.5lbs. I need a bass that balances at about 45 degrees, otherwise I spend the entire gig fidgeting to try to get get it to sit at that angle.

 

Luckily I train 3 times a week so 14lbs for a 3 hour wedding isn't too much trouble

[HeadlessBassist]

7 minutes ago, Delberthot said:

 

I asked warmoth to make me a body between 6-7lbs and they sent me one at 7.5lbs. I need a bass that balances at about 45 degrees, otherwise I spend the entire gig fidgeting to try to get get it to sit at that angle.

 

Luckily I train 3 times a week so 14lbs for a 3 hour wedding isn't too much trouble

 

I must be getting old & weak. I did turn 56 on Sunday... 

Edited 10 hours ago by HeadlessBassist

[Delberthot]

Ive only just turned 50 😀

[jd56hawk]

23 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Those would all benefit from a tort scratchplate. 😁

Better than tort.

[Supernaut]

On 23/12/2025 at 11:20, Twigman said:

 

I'm in the market for a jazz bass.

My current bass for everything is a EBMM USA Sterling 4HH - been number 1 bass for last almost 9 years.

But I fancy a change.

I've owned precisions and find the nut too wide - I have 2 precisions with jazz necks but I fancy a real jazz.

I am leaning toward buying new.

I don't want Mexican or Indonesian - call me whatever you like but I've decided Japanese or American only

So I've narrowed the choices down to: - prerequisite RW boards only

 

MIJ 'Hybrid' II £1,500 ish

pros: price, colours, headstock end truss rod adjustment

cons: basic bridge, no case only gig bag

 

American Professsional II £1,900 ish

pros: slim profile neck (I like that), option of top load or string through bridge, hard case

cons: 5 bolt neck (limits choice of replacement necks if required) - not keen on any colour scheme, not keen on the tuners - prefer the large vintage open wheels,

 

American Vintage 66 £2,200 ish

pros: love the sea foam green colour with matching headstock, like binding on the fb, 66voiced pickups, hard case

cons: price, never liked the vintage bridge

 

Mod Shop £2,000 ish

pros: choice of colours, block inlays available, choice of pickups, same bridge as Professional II with through body stringing and top loading available, hard case

cons: no neck binding available, same tuners as Pro II, no matching headstock,  10 week lead time

 

Custom Shop £4,000 ish

pros: can have almost any spec you want

cons: it'll cost both time (long lead time)  and big money

 

I am leaning toward the MIJ Hybrid II in Noir but the Vintage66 in sea foam green is also tugging at my strings....

 

If you were in the market for a NEW Fender jazz, which would you choose and why?

 

 

 

American Standard series. 

[HeadlessBassist]

22 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

American Standard series. 

 

Yes, but which one? The early 2000s ones with the S1 parallel/series switching were a bit flaky, the 2008 was a seriously good instrument. The 2012 was pretty good too, with a very modern punch to the sound.

[King Tut]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Yes, but which one? The early 2000s ones with the S1 parallel/series switching were a bit flaky, the 2008 was a seriously good instrument. The 2012 was pretty good too, with a very modern punch to the sound.

What was flaky about the early 2000s ones? I had a beautiful sunburst jazz with a maple board that I’ve regretted selling ever since. From what I remember they were cracking instruments with the graphite reinforced necks and lovely fit and finish. I’m not being defensive here, but genuinely interested 😎

[King Tut]

On 23/12/2025 at 11:20, Twigman said:

 

I'm in the market for a jazz bass.

My current bass for everything is a EBMM USA Sterling 4HH - been number 1 bass for last almost 9 years.

But I fancy a change.

I've owned precisions and find the nut too wide - I have 2 precisions with jazz necks but I fancy a real jazz.

I am leaning toward buying new.

I don't want Mexican or Indonesian - call me whatever you like but I've decided Japanese or American only

So I've narrowed the choices down to: - prerequisite RW boards only

 

MIJ 'Hybrid' II £1,500 ish

pros: price, colours, headstock end truss rod adjustment

cons: basic bridge, no case only gig bag

 

American Professsional II £1,900 ish

pros: slim profile neck (I like that), option of top load or string through bridge, hard case

cons: 5 bolt neck (limits choice of replacement necks if required) - not keen on any colour scheme, not keen on the tuners - prefer the large vintage open wheels,

 

American Vintage 66 £2,200 ish

pros: love the sea foam green colour with matching headstock, like binding on the fb, 66voiced pickups, hard case

cons: price, never liked the vintage bridge

 

Mod Shop £2,000 ish

pros: choice of colours, block inlays available, choice of pickups, same bridge as Professional II with through body stringing and top loading available, hard case

cons: no neck binding available, same tuners as Pro II, no matching headstock,  10 week lead time

 

Custom Shop £4,000 ish

pros: can have almost any spec you want

cons: it'll cost both time (long lead time)  and big money

 

I am leaning toward the MIJ Hybrid II in Noir but the Vintage66 in sea foam green is also tugging at my strings....

 

If you were in the market for a NEW Fender jazz, which would you choose and why?

 

 

 

Something that might help you narrow things down is the fretboard profiles. Do you prefer a flatter or more rounded profile. Most of the vintage ones, actual or reissue will have a more rounded board. I personally prefer a flatter board, consequently my AVRI 64 gets far less gigs than my American Professional these days - although I still have a massive soft spot for the 64!

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, Delberthot said:

need a bass that balances at about 45 degrees,

 

You play floating thumb on both hands? 😁

[Supernaut]

6 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Yes, but which one? The early 2000s ones with the S1 parallel/series switching were a bit flaky, the 2008 was a seriously good instrument. The 2012 was pretty good too, with a very modern punch to the sound.

I have a 2016 version. Sounds and plays excellent. 

[Delberthot]

4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

You play floating thumb on both hands? 😁

I used to have trouble with both hands so I need to have both wrists as straight as possible. It gives me the fear when I see YouTube videos of guys with that really crooked right hand playing position