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Fender 60's Classic Jazzbass MIM
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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86% of reviewers
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$550.00
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8.1
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Description:
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Production started in 2001, made in Mexico.
Colors: Black, Sunburst and Olympic white.
20 frets, rosewood fingerboard, vintage 'reverse' tuners, exact 60's logo on headstock, Sn. on the back of headstock, Fender 'vintage' pickups.
PU-finish, 'ribbed' vintage bridgesaddles, neck adj. on body-side.
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Author
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Paco
Registered User
Registered: September 2005
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 12
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Review Date: Thu September 29, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Best sound, veeeery goodlooking, best price/quality
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Cons:
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Flimsy bridge
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This is absolutely the best (new) Jazzbass I ever owned!
And I had quite a few.... This bass has a 60\'s feel, sound AND looks... IMO, the \'Highway 1\' series Jazzbass (MIA) don\'t even comes close... And its price is almost equal. It sounds better, looks better, with its perfect highgloss finished body and neck (PU) it shines like a diamond, maybe even \'too much\'... The only thing that I disliked about this bass was the bridge.... with the \'Ribbed\' vintage bridgesaddles, and it looked like the plate was a little bit \'\'overbend\'\'. I replaced it with a Badass II and now I don\'t even wanna trade it in for a (new) MIA standard! (which is an add. 300,- new) I have played a lot of Jazzbasses in my life, trust me, this is a thumbs up! (two thumbs up...)!
I rated a 9 because of the bridge only.
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Fender Jazz Bass Club #769
Warmoth Owners Club #57
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ClassicJazz
Bottom Feeders Unite!!
Registered: September 2005
Location: Delray Beach, Florida
Posts: 2407
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Review Date: Fri November 18, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $630.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great Sound, Great Feel and Great Vintage Looks
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Cons:
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Have not found any!
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I have had this bass now for two months and I can\'t say how thrilled I am with it. Everytime I pick it up, it is just so much fun to play!
Body Construction: Top notch! This is no doubt (IMHO) the best Fender to come out of Mexico. There was not one flaw on this bass. The Alder body is not made like the Standard MIM Jazzes. There are not routes under the pickguard between the neck pickup and the control cavity. So you can take off the pickguard if you want that \"Jaco\" look.
The Neck: Wow! The maple neck is based of the \'62 jazz. A bit thicker then the standard jazz. Mine has a wonderful looking dark rosewood fingerboard. The neck does not have the skunk strip on the back. The headstock features \'60s Fender label. The neck is finished with a yellow tint to give it a vintage look.
Electronics: It is a Jazz bass! The pickups which I understand are the same as the Highway 1 jazz have a great vintage tone. Punch galore! Either playing slap or finger style, it sounds great through my SWR system. The control pots are pretty smooth. Unlike the \'62 reissue, this bass does not the exposed ground strap between the bridge and the bridge pickup.
Hardware: Unlike the other review here, I found no problems with the bridge. It is a typical vintage style Fender bridge. So far I see no reason to change it. The tuners are the vintage style reverse type. They give a great look to the bass.
Wrap-up: Over-all I am very pleased with this bass. I am really having a fun time with it, which is what matters! I have tried many new Fenders, both MIA and MIM. None felt as good as the Classic 60\'s Jazz. I give it three thumbs up (I\'ll have to borrow a thumb from someone)!
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Damn Glad To Meet You! 
'72 Fender Jazz
'88 Sadowsky NYC Standard 4 "SWR"
MySpace Page
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Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
Registered: January 2006
Location: Denton TX, Kailua HI, New York
Posts: 7611
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Review Date: Wed March 15, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $632.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Pretty good representation of an older Jazz Bass.
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Cons:
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Some minor neck relief, action, and fret issues.
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I had a '69 Jazz from 1970 to 1977, when I sold it to help pay for graduate school. So, when I bought this 60's Classic model new in 2001, it felt very familiar, and it sounds very much like the older instrument, right down to a nice growl, smooth bottom, and the dead spot on the G at the 6th fret.
In fact, this '60s Classic Jazz neck relief is more stable than my '69's neck was. However, I have had some problems with fret buzz on the A and D strings in spots between the 6th and 12th frets. I play finger style, but don't dig in very hard. I am a music teacher and have played for many (30) years, have several basses, and also play double bass regularly. I am pretty picky about quiet action and good tone.
I am experienced with neck adjustments, and action/intonation setups, so I tamed the fret buzz, but it left the action a little high and the relief greater than I thought right. I like a medium high action for better sustain and a wide dynamic range.
I thought I could see some fret uneveness, so I took it to my luthier for some fret work, which helped me get the action and relief back closer to ideal. I feel the limiting factor in the action was a fret noise I would describe as a "Klack." This was caused by a single initial collision between the nearest free fret and the string, right when the string is first sounded--not a "string choke." Normal enough for a Jazz, maybe, however, it happened mostly on the A, between the same old 6th and 12th frets. I've gotten rid of it with a slightly higher action and increase in relief. The end result is good, but I am still a little puzzled.
I also heard from the respected (pro) soundman at one of my gigs (where I have to go into an Radial DI with no pre-amp!) that he didn't like the tone of the Jazz "as much as your Lakland with the Barts--too much ambiguity." Well, yeah, the Jazz IS passive, and even though I put two fine Lindy Fralin split coils on it, it is just not as flexible going straight to a DI as is the active Lakland.
One the positive side, I get great growl and burpy low mid-tones from this bass, and love playing it. I've use it for Jazz, Rock, and Country gigs. What more could you want?
If you get one, it just might need a little more than average tinkering to bring out it's best. Despite the adjustment issues mentioned above, the neck is NOT bad. If feels and looks great. The stock vintage-style tuners, pickups, and bridge are all good quality. The neck is finished in a nice aged hue, with old style decal (they put MIM on the back of the headstock) and a rosewood fingerboard. The neck also has no skunk strip and a truss adjustment at the heel end like the original Jazz. The body is Alder, not Basswood like many MIMs, and the 3 color sunburst finish is lovely.
I recommend some vintage-style split coils to give access to the soloed bridge pickup sounds in a situation where you must have no noise. These basses are a very good deal.
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Sadowsky RV4 P/J
Valenti Fretless 5 #19
1850 Tirolean Upright
55 & 71 P-basses
Lakland 55-01D
08 Fiesta Red RW Jazz
Crest CA6/ART tube channel
Mesa M9
Epifani UL1 410 & 210, NYC 210
www.jamescarr.net
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FENDERBOY!
Registered User
Registered: March 2008
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Sat March 29, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $550.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great feel, Great sound, GREAT PRICE!
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Cons:
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Some little mexican man did not put my pickguard on proparly (bad craftsmanship)
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This bass is very good. Fender have released a road worn version of this recently and are selling it for twice the price , my recommendation if you want a road worn - is to buy a classic series and kick it about a bit and save the money, I have researched the road worn in detail and played one. they are exactly the same as a classic series they are even MIM!
I have had this bass for a year now and it has not let me down. very reliable, no need for a backup - although i use one anyway lol  
I rated this bass at a 9 as it has great sound and a great feel although the reverse style machine heads are weird and stiff and the american vintage bridge that comes with it is very flimsy and i dont like it
But overall it is a MIM jazz bass with all the quality of a MIA
the bridge pickup is larger than the neck which is very unusual for a MIM bass
i also did not enjoy the strings that came with it but thats just me lol
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jellymax
Registered User
Registered: November 2006
Location: SF
Posts: 828
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Review Date: Fri October 24, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $539.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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value value tone tone
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Cons:
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resale value likely to dissapoint
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i have a stingray 5 & a mim jazz 5 that i like, but this is my
'go to' bass. why? the tone is exactly what i want. man i wish
my jazz 5 sounded this good. buttery & warm yes, but it also has a certain upper mid growl that is just right. definitely the
flagship of the mim models. build quality is great. the
vintage single coils are the best part perhaps. i had to keep adjusting my truss rod tighter for the first 2 years, but
i live in somewhat damp weather part of the year. after switching
to light guage strings, i have been fine since, & the tone is
even richer & more buttery!
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James L Mattox
NorCal Bass players club
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artisan1967
Registered User
Registered: September 2008
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Wed November 12, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 3
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Pros:
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looks utra retro/cool
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Cons:
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extreme neck problems
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saw these on the internet but no shops anywhere near me had one in stock,so my local shop ordered one from Fender europe for me.
when it arrived it looked awesome,beautifully made but the setup was horrible-very high action & i fair bow to the neck.this didn't overly worry me as i've always set up my basses my self & i'd be changing the strings anyways.
i put a set of Ernie Ball group iv flats (used the lightest gauge set) & adjusted the truss rod,then adjusted the truss rod several more times but couldn't fix the bow in the neck.so i took it to the local guitar tech who gave it a look over & decided it was a bad neck.there was no was the truss could take out the bow,also the frets on the upper end of the neck were severely uneven.with the action set nice 'n' low it was impossible to play any notes above the 14th fret as the lower frets were higher & would just kill the note of.
not good.
my shop sent it back to Fender who said they'd replace the neck but refused to exchange the whole bass.
two months later my bass was still sitting untouched at Fender europe.
i told my dealer that i would not accept the bass back & wanted another bass--Fender refused.
now my dealer is a personal friend and so i didn't want to make his life difficult by demanding a refund & leaving him with a bas he didn't want.
but he,his name is Phil btw,being a good mate has ordered me a replacement '51 P bass as i''m kinda off Jazz basses for now.
so all in all if you buy one of these don't buy until you try,there are many beautiful examples out there but there are some right dogs too & Fender's customer service is terrible to say the least.
sorry for rambling.
Art'
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gadabout
Registered User
Registered: January 2011
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Review Date: Sun January 2, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $399.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great feel, sound, and looks
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Cons:
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None
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I am not a real bass player, I'm really a guitarist but I've always admired the bass as an instrument and have always had one around for recording or just fooling around. My previous bass was a regular MIM Jazz Bass. It was OK and felt pretty good, but I was never in love with it. One day I decided I would rather have bought a bass that felt and looked more like the classic Fenders that I grew up with, not the cheapened down version that my MIM was. But I felt the cost of such an instrument was way more than I was willing to pay, so I just kept my bass and let it be. But one day I happened to walk in to a local GC and saw this nice bass used Jazz Bass sitting there. I picked it up and held it and I was in love. It was exactly what I was looking for.
I plugged it into an amp and played for a few minutes. It played and sounded great. The salesman wandered by and asked if I was interested in the bass. I said I was. He said that if I wanted it, I'd have to wait 21 days to take it home. It had just recently been brought in and they have to wait this minimum time to ensure that it's not a stolen instrument. I said that was OK. I put a deposit on it and came back three weeks later with my old bass as a trade in. Since I'd kept it in good shape, I got a decent deal on it and went home very happy. I got exactly the bass I wanted with very little additional cash outlay.
The bass, although used, was in absolutely mint condition. I cannot imagine the workmanship being any better than what is on this bass. I cannot imagine a Fender bass feeling any more vintage-correct than this bass does. I love it when a plan comes together.
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