Fender American Series Jazz Bass V (S-1 Switch)

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Product: Fender American Series Jazz Bass V (S-1 Switch)
Price Paid: N/A


Features : 7
A pretty standard array of items/parts that you would expect on an American Jazz Bass with the inclusion of the S-1 switch (more on that later) and Fender/Schaller tuners. Bridge is top-loading & thru-body. Graphite reinforced neck with a radiused fretboard. Alder body & 1-piece maple neck with a rosewosed fingerboard. An interesting thing to note is that you can experiment with the string spacing at the bridge as there are grooves on the saddles; 3 slots for strings B E A, 2 for D G. Works best (but not limited to) with tapered B E A strings. Made in 2007.

Sound : 8
With fresh strings, the tone has plenty of bite & body with regard to the woods used in its construction. The notorious Fender B-string, after some mechanical adjustments, sounds balanced on this bass. Pickups are stock Fender & they seem to deliver a good fundamental. Tone knob sounds doughy at full cut; usable for about a 1/4 turn from maximum. Cuts the mix in a jam session without problem.
The S-1 swtich basically combines the output of the neck & bridge in series giving you a slight boost in volume. I also notice a slight treble cut in this setting. Very usable sound; imagine the roundness of the neck pickup on a bed of growl from the bridge pickup.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 7
The bass needed a setup out of the box as the neck had too much relief in it. Finish was practically flawless. Feels really light at around 5kgs. Found some rattling on the headstock & was quickly rectified through tightening the tuner screws. Stock E string broke at the tapering due to bad winding.

Reliability/Durability : 9
So far in the 3 months of owning this bass, it hasn't let me down in any way. Built like a tank & incredibly lightweight for its stature. The radiused fretboard is comfortable & the neck has a bit of meat on it but still fast to play; no diving when strapped on.

Overall Rating : 9
I bought this bass sight unseen due to a good experience with a borrowed '98 Fender Jazz. There is a substantial tone difference with the '98 sounding much warmer than mine (due to construction or time). & I also prefer passive basses for their simplicity & function (tonal refinements can be adjusted off-board as easily). But I am far from disappointed as this bass handles most genres with ease coupled with solid craftmanship. If you need something similar with active electronics & better hardware, you could check out the American Deluxe series.

Sound Clips:
All clips are recorded with the Line6 Toneport GX without Amp/Effects modeling into Garageband.

Both Pickups in Parallel

Neck Pickup

Bridge Pickup

S-1 Switch Engaged

Slapping with Pickups in Parallel