In true Fender fashion, however, this was an innovation rooted not in form but in function—the sexier look was a by-product of the more practical consideration that the offset waist made the instrument more comfortable to play when seated, as most “serious” players of the time often were. Further, the large metal cavity created by this cover engulfed the treble pickup so as treble volume was increased, it was noticed to be a "microphonic feedback-inducing trap". If the Precision was a Chevy, the new deluxe model would be a Ferrari. First introduced in 1960 as the Deluxe Model, it was marketed as a stablemate to the Jazzmaster guitar which was also marketed as a Deluxe Model in its own right. The Standard Jazz Bass model is sanded, painted and assembled in Ensenada, Baja California along with the other Standard Series guitars. All Rights Reserved. The asymmetrical five-bolt neck plate, along with the smooth contoured heel allow much easier access to the upper registers. This gave the bass a stronger treble sound to compete with the Rickenbacker bass, which had been introduced in 1957 and was famously "bright". This felt substantially different from the Precision’s great tree trunk of a neck, and guitarists who were converting to bass in increasing numbers during that era found the Jazz Bass’s slender neck especially user-friendly, especially when it came to playing faster, more intricate passages. It wears it well. Five-string versions are presented with a 4+1 tuner arrangement and two Hipshot string trees since 2002. Fender literally wrote the book on electric basses, laying the foundation for musical innovation and evolution. Learn more about Fender electric basses. A Jazz Bass. Other notable appointments include a 4-saddle standard bridge with standard open-gear tuning pegs and vintage-style black plastic Jazz Bass … The first production Jazz Bass was built in March 1960. Following in the wake of the recent Blacktop and Pawn Shop Series models, Fender has now unveiled its highly affordable Chinese-made Modern Player Series, consisting of four electric guitars and three basses. Available in four- and five-string versions, all Custom Classic Jazz Basses came with a pair of custom-wound dual-coil Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, a three-band active preamp, five-bolt neck plate, 18V power supply and a Deluxe string-through-body/top-load bridge with milled nickel-plated brass saddles. As of March 23, 2010, the American Deluxe Jazz Bass has been updated with a pair of N3 stacked-coil Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, an active/passive toggle switch, CBS styling and a 21-fret bound compound radius maple neck featuring rosewood or maple fingerboards with rectangular block inlays. Around 1961 it received three control knobs: two controlling the volume of each pickup and one the overall tone. Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/AxZWvhGE7CM?rel=0. 1969: Larger and bolder logo decal replaces traditional headstock logo; headstock strap button removed; paddle tuning keys discontinued; maple fingerboard option with black binding and black block inlays introduced. You didn’t just get one sound with a Jazz Bass—you got an entire palette of pleasing bass sounds, something new in the still-young electric bass experience. The other major design departure of the Jazz Bass, and the biggest in terms of its feel, was its neck, which was noticeably more narrow at the nut—a slim 1 7/16” compared to the Precision’s hefty 1 3/4”—and thinner front-to-back. Another feature the initial models had were the "Spring Felt Mutes", which were present on basses from 1960 until 1962. The even spookier psychedelic blues parts woven by Jones into Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused” and by U.K. session great Herbie Flowers into David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”? It still looks so modern. Next to the P Bass there was no doubt that the 1960 Jazz Bass really was a deluxe instrument. The reasoning was clear enough—it was simply time for a new Fender bass. As with the Jazzmaster, the Jazz Bass was released and promptly ignored by jazz musicians—at first. All five-string Jazz basses came with pau ferro fretboard since 1990 (some US Deluxe models were also available with a plain maple neck option). The most visible and audible evidence of this was that it had two pickups instead of one, giving it a tonal versatility not found in the Precision. Pickups are RWRP (reverse wound, reverse polarity) from one another, so all hum will be canceled when both pickups are at full volume. The Fender Player 4-String Jazz Bass sent for the review has more of a traditional body style, which is constructed of Alder wood with a gloss polyester finish. Some "Deluxe" Jazz Bass models feature an active pre-amp (usually with three bands of equalization) in place of a single passive tone control, these basses have three separate equalizer controls: bass and treble responses are controlled by the base and top of a stacked double pot, while midrange is controlled by a second knob. It was renamed the Jazz Bass as Fender felt that its redesigned neck—narrower and more rounded than that of the Precision Bass—would appeal more to jazz musicians. The Jazz Plus debuted in 1989 (the five-string model was released in 1990), discontinued in 1994 and replaced by the USA Deluxe Series Jazz Bass the following year. When you hear the breathtaking bass breaks by John Entwistle on the Who’s immortal “My Generation,” by John Paul Jones in Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times” and by Geddy Lee in Rush’s “YYZ,” you’re hearing a Jazz Bass. Leo Fender himself said so. When you’re listening to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Sly & the Family Stone, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Led Zeppelin, the Police, Rush, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and U2, you are very often listening to a Jazz Bass. Certainly a different sound, but also a quite different look. First introduced in 1960 as the Deluxe Model, it borrowed design elements from the Jazzmaster guitar . The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic. Its secret weapon, however, was its bridge pickup, which produced a guttural midrange growl and a clear, trebly high end new at the time to the Fender bass sound. With its dual single-coil pickups and smooth playing feel, the Player Jazz Bass is an inspiring instrument with classic, elevated style and authentic Fender bass … Even great bassists who aren’t widely known as Fender players have used the Jazz Bass at one time or another—Paul McCartney is known to have played a left-handed model on The Beatles (the “White Album”), and Yes-man Chris Squire includes one in his arsenal. That model, the Fender Jazz Bass guitar, was introduced in 1960. Fender started revising and improving the Jazz Bass almost immediately. By the end of the 1950s though it was time to expand the Fender bass category and Leo Fender and his staff turned their attention to a new “deluxe” bass guitar design in 1959. In the wake of the development of Fender’s two titans of bass, the Precision and the Jazz, an entire bass industry arose and flourished. Models produced before 2003 came for a period with black Stratocaster control knobs. Player Jazz Bass 4 results Filter Filter Filters. Other features include two staggered bi-pole single-coil pickups and a return to the black bakelite control knobs. Fender offers its 5-string basses with rosewood or maple fretboard as of 2006 after discontinuing the pau ferro fingerboard option in late 2005. The five-string version (introduced in 1992), available with pau ferro or rosewood fingerboard and a five-in-line tuner configuration with Gotoh Mini machineheads (c. 2006), has been updated with a tinted maple neck featuring a dark rosewood fingerboard and a 4+1 tuner configuration with Fender/Ping tuning machines as of 2009. This was particularly true of the Jazz Bass whose iconic "7" logo Bottom cover (whose main purpose was to prevent the player's hand from disturbing the alignment of the old style mutes) also prevented the player from able to pluck anywhere between the treble pickup and bridge saddles. The ability to blend the volume of both pickups allows for a wider variety of tones than the Precision Bass can produce. Because of this, many bass players who want to be more "forward" in the mix (including smaller bands such as power trios) prefer the Jazz Bass… Series Player (4) Orientation Right-Hand (3) Left-Hand (1) Color Woods Fingerboard Material Body Material Neck Shape A Mexican-made Standard Series J-Bass from 2009 with a black finish and a tinted maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Since the original Jazz Bass guitars had volume and tone controls for both pickups (in a short-lived dual stacked-knob configuration), the tonal personalities of both pickups could be blended many different ways. 1961: Addition of two more patent numbers to the two originally found below the headstock logo. Fender used downsized bodies to accommodate the 22-fret neck and reshaped the pickguard with nine screw holes. Within a year of its release, it was offered in 14 custom colors, several with matching painted headstocks and most with three-ply white nitrocellulose pickguards. Can it really be 50? A number of cosmetic changes were made to the instrument when CBS purchased the Fender companies in 1965.