Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass
 

Hello again :)

I'll soon be in the market for a new Bass. Some of you might of seen the post i made regarding pickups for slap (Barts or Nordstrand) As i was looking (at that time) at the Ibanez Prestige and Premium line Basses.
However...i have only just started to listen to people like Marcus Miller (thanks to some of the replys i had in my last post)
I love the Marcus Miller tone ,so i am now seriously looking into the Fender American Jazz Bass

This one! (it must be wine red :) )

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/fender-ameri...rosewood/30827

Since reading about this bass though i have a few Concerns about the Pickup Hum. There seems to be a lot of info on the web about the Electronics not being Shielded properly (which i find quite unbelievable) .

Is this still the case with these Basses (question mark) i.e is it all Deluxe Jazz basses that are not Shielded properly or just a few (question mark)
It seems when ever i get close to deciding what i want something ugly rears it's head :(
I'm not keen on the idea of spending £1400 to have to take the Bass apart and fix the Hum Problems ...

So if any one out there can shed some light on the issue i would be very greatful.

Cheers :)

(edit) ...my question mark key doesn't work :)

That axe looks gorgeous! :bassist:

I don't know about you, but I know I'd be willing to do a little maintenance to make it even better. That beauty looks like she's worth the effort. But who knows? Maybe it'll be just fine once it's out of the box?

It sure is lovely,but i'm not too confident with Electrics,but i guess i could ask a friend to help me out with the shielding if there is a problem.
Hmm... Has any one bought one of these that didn't need any shielding(Question mark) i.e nice and quiet even in "active" mode. ( iknow i can expect abit more Hum in Active mode,but the question is...how much Hum will i get)

N3 electronics is good, yet a lil' hum's always there, unless pickups are lame or...
 

... by converse, as good as Sadowsky's

Other than that
Marcus Miller ultramidscooped sound would better sort out of an ash body than an alder one, and more so with a two band only active equalizer (whenever you enhance both bass/treble you once more scoop mids out of the spectrum)

Futhermore, Marcus, fretless Jazzes apart, favors maple with ash, while rosewood with alder is, again, more balanced and not necessarily "scooped"

That's why I'm tellin' you why don't you try MIM active deluxe Jazz bass first (dual Ceramic Custom Noiseless pickups and no on/off switch, yet still with alder/rosewood combo and half US Deluxe price)?

Or even MIM Reggie Hamilton Jazz bass
Three band equalizer with on/off switch
Alder body with rosewood fingerboard
American Series split pickup and Ceramic
Custom Noiseless bridge pickup but,
especially in passive mode, a true funk
machine:)

Finally, Marcus Miller signature with his
trademark tonewood/electronics combo

Cheers,
Wallace

I've got the 2012 American Standard Jazz and there is no issue with hum. When I have played the deluxe models in Dawsons there was no issue either.

My only question is how can you go for this and not choose the Natural/Maple combo? It is gorgeous!!!!

Or for some truly great slap sounds you could go with one of these for about the same price...
http://www.gak.co.uk/en/spector-euro...ignature/48191

I agree the Natural is also very Lovely,but i do love that Transparent Red + i prefer a Darker neck. (you can still see the Grain of the Ash through the transparent Red :))

I'm not just after the "Miller tone" We play anything from Abba-Bob marley to Rage against the machine in the band so i need a Versatile Bass.

If the issue with "Hum" is hit or miss i.e they don't all suffer from Hum i think i will take the risk.

I have thought about these (isn't this the Bass that Warwick stole the "Streamer shape from")

the neck looks pretty wide compered with the jazz Bass...(i might be wrong about that though)

For looks ,i deffo prefer the Jazz bass ( not that i would base my decision on looks) :)

Cheers.

If you want the Marcus Miller tone you need a jazz bass with a pre-amp. i.e., Fender Deluxe Jazz

I play a 2000 American Deluxe Jazz with stock pick ups and there is no issue with hum or other noise.

I personally don't like the MIM Deluxe Jazzes too much. I don't like the Noiseless pickups.

As for the hum or feedback; I don't find it to be any worse than any other single coil J-pickups.

I've had a couple of them, and really liked them - one in particular that I traded towards a Mesa Big Block 750, I still miss - it was a great player, and sounded really good...

To each their own, though...


- georgestrings

I bought this exact bass a year ago. Neck pkup is dead quiet, bridge had not what I'd call hum (like I have heard from some 6-stringers), but a really light high hiss. I can only really hear it with head phones, so maybe I'd address it if I were recording direct. If I plug it into a bass amp, it's pretty much gone - a non-issue for me.

I love the bass, the 3 band EQ is a perfect fit for me. With a pick I dial the mids down a bit, with fingers I add a bit of mid. Perfect bite and growl. Having the passive mode is a nice back-up, and offers traditional tones. Battery life has been great, I have the original batteries still in there, but I play 2 other basses as well so this isn't always out. I always unplug when setting it down.

The finish was a little less translucent than some photos might lead you to believe. Maybe the were some different batches of red out there. You can see the grain if your looking close.

Overall, its got great mojo for me and will never be sold.

OP: your original post actually has two main questions in it; and they are quite somewhat different questions.

The first is about the Fender Deluxe Jazz.

The second is essentially how to copy Marcus Miller's tone.

On your second question, I would strongly advise to go ahead and listen carefully to what Marcus is doing, but cut your own path. Marcus uses gear, including bass, which is specifically tailored for his thing. Not that it is lame for other styles; but, you will probably want to do some other things. He favors fairly heavy ash bodied J's with active preamps. He also has a whole dedicated signal chain. No doubt his sound is compelling; but it is also somewhat specific.

Slap is an important technique. You can get great slap sounds with a variety of basses. I happen to feel that a 9 pound +/- bass produces a nice compromise of resonant properties for many styles. Lighter is better for pizz. Heavier is better for slap. 9 just seems to strike a good balance to me; and that is not related to just play weight but the tones you will get out of the bass.

The Fender Deluxe just happens to be one good choice. Even better, the recently released Sadowsky onboard preamps are not terribly pricey; and produce fantastic tonal pallets, including slap. I can highly recommend that setup.

I recently obtained a Shoreline Gold '97 Jazz Deluxe with the Single slug John Suhr pups. After installation of the Sadowsky preamp, the thing is a downright killer. Highly recommend for consideration.

I have a MIM deluxe jazz bass and I totally agree with all of this. It really doesn't do a perfect Marcus Miller sound. Too mellow due to rosewood and alder.

Also mine is a 2002 which was before the latest improvements. it looks and plays like a million, but I always hated the pickup tone (noiseless). And then I switched to SCN pickups and that bass just came alive! I don't know what kind of pickups they are currently stuffing in these basses. Fender seems to change their minds a lot about that.

Also while the noise level was always low, it was never zero. It was shielded with conductive paint. So I got out the copper foil and did a copper shielding and the last tiny bit of hum disappeared. My experience is you never quite can be sure how good the shielding is going to be on a Fender bass. Usually it's OK, often it's great, but some times it's there but not working at all. Why this is, I don't know.

thanks for all the replys. seeing as i go to bed thinking of the Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass i just think i gotta own one :) I'm going to start saving my pennies and bite the bullet. How do you think this will sound going through a Genz Benz Streamliner 600 and 2x12 Focus Cabs (question mark) We only do small pub-club gigs so i'm thinking this setup should do pretty nicely. (not bought the Streamliner yet but thats the amp i plan on buying)
Can't wait! :D

I picked up a 2011 American Deluxe Jazz a few months ago. It's dead silent and came out of the box with the nicest setup I've ever seen on a Fender production model. The quality of fit, finish and sound blew my expectations out of the water. It's really something else.

I have a 2009 Fender Jazz Deluxe V MIM. It was extremely noisy. It had no shielding in it at all, not even shielding paint. I shielded it with copper shielding tape and it is dead quiet with any pickup configuration now. I wouldn't worry about it with an American made version.

I have just Borrowed a Fender American STD Jazz bass and dag namit i love the feel of this thing. So different to my (German Made) Streamer STD which i also love.
I'll be gigging with the Jazz tmro night!
So atleast i know i'll love the feel of the "Deluxe Jazz Bass" aswell.
In your Humble opinions is the Deluxe Bass worth the Extra £$£$ over the STD(Question mark)....i do like the idea of having the Active mode on the Deluxe for more Modern tones aswell,but i am very impressed with the STD.

I had my heart set on that Transparent Fender Deluxe above, but if he sells this Bass for £600 or so then i'll be left with a hard decision.

If your goin' for a 5er, better an American (active) Deluxe: electronic doin it for B
 

Whereas, if you stick to 4er, nothin' beats a USA Standard Jazz.

That's the bass

The sound of 50+ years of great analog/digital recordings, the one studio engineers always look for, your ears crave for, your
head's after and your heart pounds alike

That's the Standard!

You'll be happy

And £. 600.00's just fair

Cheers,
Wallace