Aw man, Fender, really?

[JW56789]

Jazz pickup sizes and which was used where varies from bass to bass: You just must measure for each one, you never know if it's two bridge-size widths, the two different sizes, etc. Just be sure to measure the length, width, and the screw centers on the ears, then buy accordingly. Fortunately, it seems to be only two or three sizes, but you can get it wrong . . . . .

 

[HamOnTheCob]

I expected a little better from a Fender-to-Fender mod

This would be like expecting a headlight from a 95 Ford Mustang to fit a 2005 Ford Mustang. It wouldn't be Ford's fault that it doesn't.

 

[craigie]

I'm waiting for someone to order a P5 pickup for the 4-string, or vice versa, and blame Fender.

Not that the OP was blaming Fender, but some of the comments here - yeesh.

I agree with you that it’s an easy fix. Have a black label I did myself with a dremel. I’m one of the guys in the camp though that believes this was a very stupid decision made my some executive to try and increase profit margins slightly. Probably as part of a whole program of “how can we cut costs”.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Just thought I'd take a moment and have a little whinge; student came over this aft with new Custom Shop 60's pickups for his '00 MIM Jazz Bass that he wanted to install. Neck p'up went great. Ready to mount the new bridge p'up, and wouldn't you know it, but the cover (not the actual p'up itself) is probably about a 1/4" too long to fit inside the route! Absolutely bonkers. I'd *perhaps* expect something like this going from a janky Squier to an MIA instrument, but this feels wrong. Shouldn't there be standardized routing specs for the bridge pickup cavity? Not having ever owned a Jazz, and therefore not up on little design idiosyncrasies from year to year, is this something I should have expected? Perhaps this is a well-documented issue that I was just completely unaware of, but if not, it's quite the bugger.

Student had a jam this evening to go to, so I taped the p'up down and wired it up. But he's going to have to get the route extended in order to fit the stupid cover. Luckily it seems his dad has the tools and wherewithal to make it happen, but still.

Just had to share this experience, as the student just headed out. I have a Rick, which is a company legendary for fun design "quirks" of this sort of nature (putting it mildly). But I expected a little better from a Fender-to-Fender mod

I had the same thing happen with my 1996 MIM Jazz. Ended up routing the cavity bigger. It is they way it is... sucks.