My Fender Jazz Am Deluxe Has to Go - Talk Me Out of It

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by Misterwogan

My dear friend, you are no doubt capable of many wonderful things. "Problem Solving", is however certainly not one of them. Problem Solving, requires a lexicon that you simply do not possess.

I literally lol'd at this. Thanks.



I agree... some "problems' can't be fixed.

[Gougedeye]

You've got a couple of options here. I can tell you from personal experience, I sold my American Deluxe Jazz V in Olympic White and have regretted it since. Another will be here on Monday. For me the platform is just too good to give up on. The fit and finish of mine was absolutely flawless, other than the pre, but I shielded that and it was great from then on. You could shield the one you have. You could switch out the preamp. There are also many pickup options out there. Good luck.

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by Misterwogan

Ok, I'll explain why it is not a factor. The strap length is set for standing only. Therefore it is too loose to affect the positioning of the bass when seated.

And, as you will no doubt remember from reading my post, the chin issue only occurred when seated.

You clearly can't use the strap the way it is seated. So adjust it or sell the bass. Simple.

[Misterwogan]

Originally Posted by Gougedeye

You've got a couple of options here. I can tell you from personal experience, I sold my American Deluxe Jazz V in Olympic White and have regretted it since. Another will be here on Monday. For me the platform is just too good to give up on. The fit and finish of mine was absolutely flawless, other than the pre, but I shielded that and it was great from then on. You could shield the one you have. You could switch out the preamp. There are also many pickup options out there. Good luck.

Thanks, this is significant. If I had a more usable (IMHO) preamp then I might be more inclined to keep.

[DrSpunkwater]

Don't like your bass? Give it to me. Your bass strongly reminds me of the jazz bass that belonged to a friend who passed away a couple of years ago. And if the pre-amp is crap like you say, I'll just ditch it and put in passive electronics or find a new pre-amp if I'm feeling really ambitious.

[Road Bull]

Originally Posted by Misterwogan

I'm fine with the tone, maybe except that the pre-amp is next to useless because it generates so much noise - unlike the pre-amp in my Stingray which does not.

I absolutely love the neck - the width makes it so easy to play.

My big problem is that I've got it into my head that it looks and feels horrible.

The body is too big, so that when sitting down I can too easily touch the horn with my chin (I'm 5ft 9 by the way). This means that the neck is way too high also compared to my SR and P.

Worst of all, when I'm standing - it looks too big on me and I can't get comfortable with it.

What to do?

1 - Just put up with it
2 - Put the neck on my P
3 - Put a Jazz pickup in the P
3 - Sell and regret later

Help!

OK. I seems to me we have two issues.

1.) Noisy bass.
2.) Uncomfortable bass.

For the first:

Your Fender Jazz Deluxe is an Active/Passive Bass. It is fair to say that Fender has not been consistent with the shielding the electronics on this bass that prevent it from making unwanted noise. This CAN be mitigated by properly shielding the electronics cavity in the body of the bass. This has cured the noise for many that came before you with Jazz and Precision Deluxe. The pickups in the Jazz Deluxe are not the same as the regular passive single coils found on Fender American Standards. However, even passive single coils will make noise, (60/50 cycle hum) when one of the tow pickups are soloed. So keep that in mind.

So you can decide to fix or pass, but just remember, passives can make noise as well, albeit possibly less than your Deluxe at the moment.

For the second issue:

This might be the BIGGER issue. Fit and feel are highly subjective. I have both a Fender Jazz and a Fender Precision. I use the same strap for both without adjusting. I am 5-10, so I am no giant. But even here, two people who are 5-10 might very well have different length torsos, and thus have more of an influence on how a bass feels set to the same height. I understand what you are saying about the Jazz body. Be cause it IS asymmetrical, it sometimes feels bigger. I play so that my bass, when using a strap stays in the same position from when I am seated, to when I stand. In other words, my position does not change. When you rest the bass on your leg, the two basses might lay in a different position.

To me, I like Stingrays, but the body feels WAY bigger than either of my Fenders, and with less contour.

At the end of the day, if you are not comfortable, start playing as many basses as you can until you find something that works for YOU. Ask yourself what you like about the Jazz. Do you like the sound? It sounds like you like the neck. If the neck is all you really like, put the neck on a Precision bass and call it a day. If you like the sound of a Jazz bass, ask yourself is that the Active Jazz bass tone, or a Passive Jazz base tone. If it is passive, you might want to at least consider going with an American Standard or some other passive single coil pickup equipped bass. Heck, maybe even see if there are manufactures who put single coil jazz pickups into a Precision Bass body.

Good luck.

[Misterwogan]

Originally Posted by Road Bull

OK. I seems to me we have two issues.

1.) Noisy bass.
2.) Uncomfortable bass.

For the first:

Your Fender Jazz Deluxe is an Active/Passive Bass. It is fair to say that Fender has not been consistent with the shielding the electronics on this bass that prevent it from making unwanted noise. This CAN be mitigated by properly shielding the electronics cavity in the body of the bass. This has cured the noise for many that came before you with Jazz and Precision Deluxe. The pickups in the Jazz Deluxe are not the same as the regular passive single coils found on Fender American Standards. However, even passive single coils will make noise, (60/50 cycle hum) when one of the tow pickups are soloed. So keep that in mind.

So you can decide to fix or pass, but just remember, passives can make noise as well, albeit possibly less than your Deluxe at the moment.

For the second issue:

This might be the BIGGER issue. Fit and feel are highly subjective. I have both a Fender Jazz and a Fender Precision. I use the same strap for both without adjusting. I am 5-10, so I am no giant. But even here, two people who are 5-10 might very well have different length torsos, and thus have more of an influence on how a bass feels set to the same height. I understand what you are saying about the Jazz body. Be cause it IS asymmetrical, it sometimes feels bigger. I play so that my bass, when using a strap stays in the same position from when I am seated, to when I stand. In other words, my position does not change. When you rest the bass on your leg, the two basses might lay in a different position.

To me, I like Stingrays, but the body feels WAY bigger than either of my Fenders, and with less contour.

At the end of the day, if you are not comfortable, start playing as many basses as you can until you find something that works for YOU. Ask yourself what you like about the Jazz. Do you like the sound? It sounds like you like the neck. If the neck is all you really like, put the neck on a Precision bass and call it a day. If you like the sound of a Jazz bass, ask yourself is that the Active Jazz bass tone, or a Passive Jazz base tone. If it is passive, you might want to at least consider going with an American Standard or some other passive single coil pickup equipped bass. Heck, maybe even see if there are manufactures who put single coil jazz pickups into a Precision Bass body.

Good luck.

Wow - now this is what I call constructive input.

Noise: my issue is not with hum. It is with the quality of the output from boosting the bass channel. I only have my Stingray for comparison, and with that - so long as I keep the EQ fairly balanced, there is no degradation of the output - unlike the J. So, it seems that the active J is not for me.

You have rightly anticipated where I think I need to go - and that is having a J pickup installed onto my P, because the J obviously has a significant tone and I would not like to be without it.

Thanks so much for your contribution.

[Solarmist]

Sell it, and get some thing else - there are plenty of J basses out there.

One question: Aren't Fender J bodies supposed to be smaller than P bodies?

[Road Bull]

Originally Posted by Misterwogan

Wow - now this is what I call constructive input.

Noise: my issue is not with hum. It is with the quality of the output from boosting the bass channel. I only have my Stingray for comparison, and with that - so long as I keep the EQ fairly balanced, there is no degradation of the output - unlike the J. So, it seems that the active J is not for me.

You have rightly anticipated where I think I need to go - and that is having a J pickup installed onto my P, because the J obviously has a significant tone and I would not like to be without it.

Thanks so much for your contribution.

No problem brother.

As for installing a Jazz pickup on your Precision, I would begin with a healthy amount of TB research. While this is not an uncommon mod, you should know that after it is done, will not sound quite like a Jazz bass. I have a passive Fender P/J and I like it for the unique tones I can get out of it. Some people don't dig it though. And others who have made the mod have some mixed feelings about it post mod. (you should PM "RaginRog" ) He has gone back and forth with similar issues, and might be very helpful in what you are trying to accomplish.

A lesser issue might be that by making the jazz mod to your P, the resale value of your P might fall precipitously. It may not matter to you, or matter to you now, but it is worth mentioning.

And then there is jazz bass pickup selection. Without the aid of an active pre-amp, balancing the signal between the hotter Precision pickup and an inherently weaker Jazz pickup becomes more important. Essentially you want to get a hotter Jazz pickup that does not get lost in the mix competing with the Precision pickup.

Keep us posted.

[Misterwogan]

Originally Posted by Road Bull

No problem brother.

As for installing a Jazz pickup on your Precision, I would begin with a healthy amount of TB research. While this is not an uncommon mod, you should know that after it is done, will not sound quite like a Jazz bass. I have a passive Fender P/J and I like it for the unique tones I can get out of it. Some people don't dig it though. And others who have made the mod have some mixed feelings about it post mod. (you should PM "RaginRog" ) He has gone back and forth with similar issues, and might be very helpful in what you are trying to accomplish.

A lesser issue might be that by making the jazz mod to your P, the resale value of your P might fall precipitously. It may not matter to you, or matter to you now, but it is worth mentioning.

And then there is jazz bass pickup selection. Without the aid of an active pre-amp, balancing the signal between the hotter Precision pickup and an inherently weaker Jazz pickup becomes more important. Essentially you want to get a hotter Jazz pickup that does not get lost in the mix competing with the Precision pickup.

Keep us posted.

This is really helpful, thanks.

I didn't intend that the P and J pickups would be blendable, I was thinking of a switch plus single volume and tone.

As far as it not sounding like a Jazz bass, well I don't think that I'm sufficiently familiar with what that is to be disappointed. I see it as another different tonal option for the Precision.

Of course, another solution would be to sell both the P and the J and buy a Am Deluxe Precision. No there's a thought...

[Road Bull]

Originally Posted by Misterwogan

This is really helpful, thanks.

I didn't intend that the P and J pickups would be blendable, I was thinking of a switch plus single volume and tone.

As far as it not sounding like a Jazz bass, well I don't think that I'm sufficiently familiar with what that is to be disappointed. I see it as another different tonal option for the Precision.

Of course, another solution would be to sell both the P and the J and buy a Am Deluxe Precision. No there's a thought...

That would be an easy option as well. Just remember that the Precision Deluxe has similar electronics. If you have the option to try before you buy, you might be able to figure out if you have a keeper. Also be aware that sometimes the electronics are affected by things like lighting to some degree. And while it might not make noise in one location, it might make it in another.

Having said all that, The Fender Precision Deluxe is a sweet instrument from the ones that I have had a chance to play around with. You might just be more of a Precision guy than a Jazz guy.

[P. Aaron]

Having a relatively new Precision (2010) and liking it, I'd say keep the Precision. Of course, that's 'cause I can't get past that tone.

The Jazz is as nice a looking bass. Do you have the option of an exchange? Or, are you locked in at this point?

Could try swapping out the PU's, a hassle & an added expense. Also a mystery if you aren't sure what to change them with. Most PU makers offer 'noiseless' replacements.

Just throwin' that out there. The Precision & the Jazz Bass make a lovely pair. Love those High Mass Vintage bridges.

[Misterwogan]

Originally Posted by Road Bull

That would be an easy option as well. Just remember that the Precision Deluxe has similar electronics. If you have the option to try before you buy, you might be able to figure out if you have a keeper. Also be aware that sometimes the electronics are affected by things like lighting to some degree. And while it might not make noise in one location, it might make it in another.

Having said all that, The Fender Precision Deluxe is a sweet instrument from the ones that I have had a chance to play around with. You might just be more of a Precision guy than a Jazz guy.

Oh yes, it definitely try before buy.

Look, I only started playing bass last October after 35 years on guitar so I'm still in the early stages of deciding what sort of bass guy I am.

There are some certainties - I must have the P sound. This week I had been playing some Journey songs from the early 80s, "Who's Crying Now" for example. The P utterly nailed this, the Ray was good - but the J was not so good.

I appreciate that I need bottom and top, and for now - the P and Ray (along with my Gibson SG) cover all of this. But - without a J, I feel that something may be missing.

[RaginRog]

That preamp is the reason I returned both American Deluxes I bought within days of their purchases.

[Misterwogan]

Originally Posted by RaginRog

That preamp is the reason I returned both American Deluxes I bought within days of their purchases.

Oh Dear. So I am not imagining things?

[JoeWPgh]

Shame about your pre. Mine is dead quiet and sounds good enough. But I'm at a complete loss to get my head around this upper horn/chin issue you're having. The upper horns are largely the same in terms of size and distance from the neck. The lower waist cutaways are about the same too, with the difference being the one on the jazz is offset toward butt of the bass.

[Road Bull]

Originally Posted by RaginRog

That preamp is the reason I returned both American Deluxes I bought within days of their purchases.

Glad you stopped by. I remember reading a number of your posts concerning the Fender Deluxe models. I also thought that you added a J pickup to one of your Precisions. Do you think that a proper shielding of the electronics would do the trick if one decided they wanted to keep it?

I know this worked for some, but not all. I don't own any active basses so I am not the best to answer. I have a P, a J, and a P/J, all passive. It seems to me that active electronics are not Fender's forte.

[alexlocurto]

I'm not even close to 5'9", and I can deal with Jazz basses....

[Misterwogan]

Originally Posted by alexlocurto

I'm not even close to 5'9", and I can deal with Jazz basses....

Ah, so now it all becomes clear. You're a man, and I'm a girl.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by Gougedeye

You could shield the one you have. You could switch out the preamp. There are also many pickup options out there. Good luck.

Absolutely. With so many high-quality, premium aftermarket pickups & preamps on the market these days, dislike for the stock electronics should be just about the last reason why you would ever want to flip an otherwise fine Precision Bass or Jazz Bass.

As for a good noiseless alternative to the stock Fender noiseless N3 Jazz pickups, the Bill Lawrence/Wilde J-45s are reputed to be excellent. Just a thought...

MM