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97 american deluxe jazz

#3
impactwrench said:
has single pole jazz pickups. im told they are by Suhr? anything extra super duper special about them?
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The pre is also designed by Suhr making it sound different than the newer dlx MIA jazzes. from what iv'e read the 97's have a regular size headstock which gives the bass "neckdive", this was corrected in 98 with a smaller headstock. Also 97 dlx basses had "capped" bodies on their translucent finishes, if you look at dlx basses made on or before 97 you will notice they have a solid color border around the edge of the bass to hide the capped border. 98 dlx basses did away with this!
 
#4
pyrohr said:
Also 97 dlx basses had "capped" bodies on their translucent finishes, if you look at dlx basses made on or before 97 you will notice they have a solid color border around the edge of the bass to hide the capped border. 98 dlx basses did away with this!
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From what I've read about the development process of the "new" Fender Basses introduced in 1995, the Ash/Alder/Ash "caps" wasn't any type of trick or method to deceive the customer, as it was mentioned in the reviews at the time as well as the spec sheets. I think Fender was attempting to a) be able to give a nice grain to their basses, even the ones that were Alder-based, and b) mix the best of Ash and Alder tonally. I do know that those colors were picked for use before the prototyping and woos selection was over, and that they simply were a favorite of the designers and Fender artists who helped in the prototyping process.

A friend of mine was one of the artists who "sat in" on the process and helped Fender with his opinion of what worked on the "new" basses and what didn't - I'll drop him an e-mail and see if he can add anything.
 
#5
Ian Perge said:
From what I've read about the development process of the "new" Fender Basses introduced in 1995, the Ash/Alder/Ash "caps" wasn't any type of trick or method to deceive the customer, as it was mentioned in the reviews at the time as well as the spec sheets. I think Fender was attempting to a) be able to give a nice grain to their basses, even the ones that were Alder-based, and b) mix the best of Ash and Alder tonally. I do know that those colors were picked for use before the prototyping and woos selection was over, and that they simply were a favorite of the designers and Fender artists who helped in the prototyping process.

A friend of mine was one of the artists who "sat in" on the process and helped Fender with his opinion of what worked on the "new" basses and what didn't - I'll drop him an e-mail and see if he can add anything.
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I never said that I thought that capped basses was a bad thing but just that was what they did at that time. The op asked for info on that particular bass and I gave him some! good, bad or indifferent. Heck I own a FMT V that's alder, rosewood with a maple top as well as a CS SB FMT custom classic jazz so the 95-97 jazz is not the only bass Fender put a cap on!
 
#6
During that early period (pre 98), they also had white dots instead of pearloid. Five strings version came with in line Gotoh tuners.

Ash capped basses were a standard feature back then and they also offered some colors not available today.

I personally prefer Suhr electronics. After 1998 Fender changed them to their proprietary 18V preamp and didn`t improve the sound.

Nothing wrong with the Noiseless / SCN pickups, but the preamp is the weak point of those basses, of course IMHO.
 
#7
pyrohr said:
I never said that I thought that capped basses was a bad thing but just that was what they did at that time.
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Well, you did say that the finish was made to go solid at the edge of the body and "hiding" any view of the multiple woods, somewhat implying that the Ash/Alder/Ash was something Fender was something to hide. Perhaps I was reading a bit too deeply into your post, so my apologizes. *All* of my main players have tops to their bodies (Flamed Maple on Ash on my Mike Lulls, Flamed Maple/Zebrawood on Alder on my Spectors) so I'm in the same boat as well, and I actually prefer the cruise that way: I find 2-3 different woods chosen carefully can compliment each other and the strength in one support a weakness in the other, and vice versa. :D

fory, from playing a friend's '96/'97 I'm in agreement that the Suhr pickups and preamp was the best in Fender's production line of basses. IMO the Noiseless pups were a significant downturn, and it wasn't until the combination of the SCN pups along with the 18V preamp that they had a pickup/preamp combination that didn't automatically need aftermarket :help: .
 

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