A Little Bit Of Jazz...Or Not (Fender Jazz Bass)

Member Name: axc99c

Product:	Fender Jazz Bass
Date:	02/03/01 (664 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smooth feel and great sounds.

Disadvantages: "Jazz" label may put some people off.

A Jazz bass then. So does that mean you have to play Jazz? Well no, the beauty of this instrument is that with a good amp and through the use of the two pickup volume controls and tone control you can get anything from a "rock" sound or a "soul" sound or actually anything you want.

So you have your sound but how does it play?Now I'm no expert on how a bass "should" play because I haven't played all that many and my technique stinks (my room mates will confirm this!) but this bass is one you can just pick up and it "feels" right. It's comfortable sitting or standing, (although it isn't the lightest bass out there), the neck is smooth and there are no sharp or sticky out bits to get in your way.

Build Quality:

It has been said somewhere else but there are 3 varients of the standard jazz bass.It will either be made in Korea, Mexico or the USA. The Korean one is the cheapest and the USA one the most expensive. I can only comment on the Mexican model because that's the one I have. It feels solid, you can slap it to your hearts content and you know it will still be in one piece at the end. It has a beautiful finish and the body is shaped nicely (mine's the same colour as the one shown on this opinion). There is only one small thing that annoys me a bit though,sometimes when I play some of the strings hard when I first pick it up there is an annoying buzz which sounds as though some screw or something isn't tightened properly. It goes quite quickly however and even if it didn't it wouldn't matter all that much because the amp doesn't play the "buzz" as well.

Overall if you're looking for a really good bass to use to play at a semi-professional level I would put this on your list as one to take a look at. It's not everyone's cup of tea but if you can see past the "Jazz" labelling then you won't be dissapointed.

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