american standard V vs american deluxe V

[vrussell]

i am looking at getting one of these basses and was wondering what are the advantages and disadvantages of these 2 great basses.(if there is one) and is one really better that the other?

thanks

 

[Braddock]

If you are talking about the Jazz basses then the American Standard is just like the traditional American Standard Jazz 4 string, same sound and tone and everything, just in a 5 string configuration. The American Deluxe V seems to have active pickups, so it definately won't be the same. I guess it boils down to if you want a traditional passive jazz bass sound or if you want an active bass. Hope this helps.

 

[vrussell]

yes i am talking about the jazz. i do like the traditional sound. now i know what to get

Thanks

 

[davidjackson]

I thought the Deluxe Jazz basses had an active passive toggle? In that case you can have the best of both worlds. (If you can afford the extra few hundred £££)

Also I'm not sure if they are active pickups or if it just has active electronics in the pre-amp.

Interesting question though as I am currently working out whether to buy an American Standard Jazz or the Deluxe model. Just not sure whether I need the active electronics.

 

[stichintime]

The American Standard has 20 frets(Dot Markers), passive single coil pickups.

The Amercain Deluxe has 21 frets (Block Markers) , stacked coil N3 Humbucking pickups and 3 Band EQ/Active electronics with passive bypass switching, and a Stealth "B" string retainer.

 

[Braddock]

Yeah you guys are right. Although from my personal experience with Active/Passive toggle, it isn't the best of both worlds, at least not to my ears. I haven't played that particular bass as of yet but all the other toggle basses I have played the passive didn't give me a traditional sound I was looking for. They sounded more like weaker active basses to me as opposed to the characteristics of traditional passives that I like (of course a classic Fender sound though). But the American Deluxe could be different, if it could be a good active bass and also pretty close to the traditional Jazz sound that would be awesome!

 

[Mike M.]

I did a fair amount of looking around and comparing off and on since last summer before I finally bought an AM STD 5 string Jazz bass this past December.

I was going back and forth between the STD and the DLX models and finally decided to keep it as simple as possible, which is why I went with the STD. This is very subjective, but in my VERY humble opinion I thought the pickups in the STD had more "umph" and drive compared to the N3 pickups in the DLX model when in passive mode. Nice tones on hand in the DLX for sure, but again, I preferd the STD's sound and I liked the simplicity and you've got three great tones on hand by playing with the volume knobs.

So I wound up with the AM STD Candy cola red model with the white pickguard and the maple fretboard. The maple fretboard was a first for me and I really like it a lot. Strange, but for some reason of which I can't figure out, all of the models I tried with the maple fretboard played better than the models with the rosewood fretboard. Dimensionally they're all suppose to be the same, but they sure didn't feel like it. The necks with the rosewood fretboards all felt bigger for some reason.

I love this bass. Hope you find the one that works for YOU.