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Fender 2008 American Standard Jazz Stock Setup Q.

C

Catfishheads

Jul 30, 2008
37
0
Cleveland Ohio USA
#1
After reading some great reviews on this board, I decided to order one. It arrived last week from one of the big online music retailers.

Out of the case, the action was way high. About 6mm at the 17th fret. I spent an hour today doing a setup. Tweaked the truss a hair to flatten the board. Then dropped the saddles a lot. Recalibrated intonation and now it plays nice for me.

I am a fingerstyle and pick player, no slap/pop. I am curious if this is the standard setup on these basses. It seemed so high to me. If I had played this in a music store, I would not have been impressed. And yet, I hear about other players loving these in the stores. Did I get a weird one? Maybe a return that someone messed with? It adjusted fine. Or is it perhaps that most folks like the higher action?

Regarding the instrument, it's very nice. Good fit and finish, big heavy bridge, nice tuners. It's got a great growling sound when I dig in. Really, this is a great bass for a grand. Just curious about the out-of-the-box experience....
 
#3
Factory set up is..................... well factory. weather /moisture can effect a bass greatly. I tweek my truss rods 3-4 times a year. That is one of the problems with ordering for a big online realtailer. You can't have them set it up. Take your bass to a luthier you trust and tell him how you like you action etc. BTW I bought a '08 MIA Jazz and love it very nice bass. The first thing I did was set it up.
img_0728.jpg
 
#4
I first played a few Am Std 5's at the NAMM show, and they
all played great. Since then, almost everyone I've played at
my local GC has been almost unplayable. I also think Fender
ships the five string basses with too heavy a gauge string set.
If I have an interest in a GC bass, I always bring a truss rod
adjustment wrench and saddle wrench, just to make sure the
rod works and get a familiar feel from the string height.
 
#5
I got mine from MF and the setup was a little low with a fair amount of fret buzz, the neck needed to be tweaked a little - needed more bow. I like the stock strings, they are Fender Super Bass 8250 taperwound rounds. I didn't expect the action to be to my liking, so it wasn't that big a deal to me.
 
#6
I just got my American Standard Jazz last night, shipped from a major retailer.. Identical to yours in fact. The setup is excellent. Moderately low action, perfect intonation ect... Very impressive actually. :)

I have tried out some Fenders at the major music stores that have had nice setups and a few have been unplayable like you described. I guess it's hit or miss. But, I have noticed in general, the setups strait from the factory on the new American standard basses are significantly better than past Fenders.
 
#8
I have the 2008 too,I think its a great instrument. I set mine up with very little relief on the neck and then 3/32 on the E string , 5/64 on the A and D then 1/16 on the G string at the 12th fret while fretting the first. no buzzes and sounds awesome. Hope this helps ?
 

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