Fender 60th Anniversary Jazz Bass

[roswell1965]

It ain’t a ‘60 or a ‘61 without the proper string mutes - if not installed then at least included in the case as an option as was done with previous reissues from this era. Must’ve been “prohibitive from a price point perspective” LMAO. Amusing to watch this company still ham-handedly fumbling the ball…

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

Those 60th Anniversaries don't like SS roundwound strings lol. I've got Round Core GHS Boomers on mine (NPS), it also is great with flats. I use Chromes on my Js w flats and they're awesome.

Yeah, flats would be nice, but I am playing everything on this bass just now! I'll put flats on my P. I'm wondering if Fender built these basses and pick ups around NP strings? I'll try a few different NPs and see what works... never tried GHS before.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

Tangentially, I bought a 60th Anniversary Precision Bass a few months ago. It’s my first P-Bass and the quality in my opinion is comparable to my Custom Shop Jazz Bass.

I am on the lookout for one of those 60th Anniversary P basses, I hear they are nice. I have never had a Fender Custom Shop, but I can't imagine a CS being that much better than this 60th Anniversary Jazz.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

It ain’t a ‘60 or a ‘61 without the proper string mutes - if not installed then at least included in the case as an option as was done with previous reissues from this era. Must’ve been “prohibitive from a price point perspective” LMAO. Amusing to watch this company still ham-handedly fumbling the ball…

This isn't a '61 reissue, it combines a few different aspects of a Jazz Bass. I believe the wiring is a little different from the original '61 - no capacitor to isolate the two pickups, so the tone for each pickup effects the other. I am not into string mutes anyway, I use my palm, so it's all good! Fender didn't fumble the ball with this one.

 

[Frovan]

This isn't a '61 reissue, it combines a few different aspects of a Jazz Bass. I believe the wiring is a little different from the original '61 - no capacitor to isolate the two pickups, so the tone for each pickup effects the other. I am not into string mutes anyway, I use my palm, so it's all good! Fender didn't fumble the ball with this one.

No it has 2 tone caps like the standard stack knob wiring.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

No it has 2 tone caps like the standard stack knob wiring.

My mistake, I meant resistors to isolate the two pots so that there is separation of tone controls - (which may have only been on '60s Js?) Yes there is a different cap on each tone pot, here is the schematic.

 

[Frovan]

My mistake, I meant resistors to isolate the two pots so that there is separation of tone controls - (which may have only been on '60s Js?) Yes there is a different cap on each tone pot, here is the schematic.

There is tho. Both tone pots are independent. They do not affect each other.

 

[Jinobass1]

Gonna be honest here...as awesome and iconic the bass is, the whole "Xth anniversary" thing is a huge money grab.

It literally looks and probably plays like any AVRI/American Original Fender bass that has been constantly on the market for the last two decades.

Yes, this one has stack knobs to not make it so obvious, but still...

I guess there's no way Fender can win, their whole marketing and design strategy is based around nostalgia and rehashing the same product by giving it a different name. It just doesn't appeal to me.

There's so much cool and innovative stuff being done nowadays that I just don't see how someone can spend 2.2k on what is essentially a J-Bass like many others. You can get a Mexican Vintera for 1300$ less and it's pretty much the same. Hell, you can even get a Squier and mod it for 500$ to get a replica of that.

Just my 2 cents, obviously I respect everyone's choice and taste and in the end everyone spends their money the way they want to.

Thought of same thing till I played one…w/o plugging in it feels like ‘63-‘66 ish.
But I don’t know what it is ….but it sounds and feel amazing. Like the real authentic vintage fender. Then you plug it in and it’s better than dull AVRI ‘62 (gotta change the pick ups) or one of my favorite AVRI’64 or …just different… little more mids and less lows ,pickups are wound different and pickup gauge is 60’s size and all.
I tested against ‘64 AVRI since it has more punch than AVRI ‘62 and I played it back to back. And da U neck is nice ,a little chunkier then ‘62 but just a tad & I like it!
And believe me,it ain’t nothing like like cheap MIM Mexico or cheap MIJ Japan ……….because that’s how they sound and feel to me. If u have MIM or MIJ first thing U gotta do is swap da pickups !!
To sound like real vintage Fender,…..that’s what you gotta do!
Alnico magnets with right gauge and hand wound be the best!
But Concentric pots doesn’t sound all that ….in my opinion,that’s why Jaco changed Concentric to VVT, So I might have to do that to get more Tone out of this one.
But u can feel it’s built to last & craftsmanship is Top of the line,
& w/Nitro Lacquer Finish with correct Radius 7 &1/4” believe me it’s ain’t nothing like cheap Flea Bass(shell pink 60’s) or MIM And I would never compare back to back w/ my real 60’s Vintage Basses it just wouldn’t be fair….but that’s my 2 cents from experienced fender owner.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

There is tho. Both tone pots are independent. They do not affect each other.

Unless you have a USA 60th Anniversary Jazz, which is wired different to mine, you are mistaken. I'm not an expert in electronics, but I don't see any resistors in this circuit. When the volume is up or open for more than one of the pickups, each tone control will affect both pickups. That is one of the quirks of stack knob Jazz Basses, and why some people prefer to simply have a VVT.

 

[Jinobass1]

Gonna be honest here...as awesome and iconic the bass is, the whole "Xth anniversary" thing is a huge money grab.

It literally looks and probably plays like any AVRI/American Original Fender bass that has been constantly on the market for the last two decades.

Yes, this one has stack knobs to not make it so obvious, but still...

I guess there's no way Fender can win, their whole marketing and design strategy is based around nostalgia and rehashing the same product by giving it a different name. It just doesn't appeal to me.

There's so much cool and innovative stuff being done nowadays that I just don't see how someone can spend 2.2k on what is essentially a J-Bass like many others. You can get a Mexican Vintera for 1300$ less and it's pretty much the same. Hell, you can even get a Squier and mod it for 500$ to get a replica of that.

Just my 2 cents, obviously I respect everyone's choice and taste and in the end everyone spends their money the way they want to.

It ain’t nothing like Vintera or Squire ….those are toys…. Not a real bass, a replica to make it look like one but they almost never sounds like one

 

[Jinobass1]

This isn't a '61 reissue, it combines a few different aspects of a Jazz Bass. I believe the wiring is a little different from the original '61 - no capacitor to isolate the two pickups, so the tone for each pickup effects the other. I am not into string mutes anyway, I use my palm, so it's all good! Fender didn't fumble the ball with this one.

U’r Right, it’s mixture of 60’s era Fender Jazz,Bound dotted U neck are ‘64-‘66 ,Concentric Pots ‘60-62…matching Headstock 61’
But did u know Tone wise 1 cap sounds better than 2? It’s brighter and and more volume

 

[Frovan]

Unless you have a USA 60th Anniversary Jazz, which is wired different to mine, you are mistaken. I'm not an expert in electronics, but I don't see any resistors in this circuit. When the volume is up or open for more than one of the pickups, each tone control will affect both pickups. That is one of the quirks of stack knob Jazz Basses, and why some people prefer to simply have a VVT.

That's what I have, the US one.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

But did u know 1 cap sounds better than 2?

I have heard some people say they like that, I'd like to hear it. I am sitting here A B ing the two pickups, which have different caps on each. I prefer the tonal range on the neck pickup, but that may be more to do with the position of the pickup than the pot... I guess Fender used different caps based on the pickups and their positions?

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

That's what I have, the US one.

Here is a way to test how each tone control affects each pickup without playing the strings, that way you can hear a little clearer. Turn up your bass and amp or studio monitors or headphones (you will hear more clearly on good speakers), mute the strings with your hand, and then scratch the pole pieces of the pickups lightly with a small screwdriver tip (or something metal), as you turn each tone control with both volumes wide open. While scratching each pickup in turn, you will hear how the two tone controls interact with each other and affect both pickups.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

That's what I have, the US one.

There is lots of good info on stack knob Jazz basses in the forums here, check out this thread: pros and cons of stacked jazz knobs?

 

[Frovan]

Yeah each tone knob affects the overall tone when both pickups are on, but they don't interact with each other. That's the whole point of stack knobs. To be able to add or take away treble from each individual pickup. If say you're soloing the neck pickup, the bridge pickups tone knob isn't affecting the neck pickup, for example.

 

[fred2720]

Yes, it's like a new 'parts bass' - early J stacked knobs, no copper strip, '66 bound & dot neck, pre CBS tuners and hs decal (contour section still attached to Fender Jazz Bass decal), PV '62 pu's? So is the bridge pu '60s or '70s location? Otherwise, looks nice, probably sounds good.

You look for much the same features as I to. I think it was 2001 when MARS music came out with its line of several Fender guitars & basses in Ice Blue Metallic w/matching headstocks. My first Fender also was an Ice Blue Metallic '65 Jazz Bass w/Matching headstock...so I ended with 3 of the MARS ones, and still have one left (I kept the one with the most playing wear). That edition was perfect for me because it did NOT have the exposed copper ground strip BUT it had the matching IBM headstock and the "hootenanny" strap button on the back of the stock of my '65. One correction, I note from a photo above (posted after your original post) that there is a copper ground strip. However, like other '62 reissues, the grounding strip is about twice as wide as the one on my original 1962. I really like how Fender installed the pickup covers & tug bar on this reissue. The original American Vintage Series that Fender launched in '82 did not install them, but included them as case candy. If they did the exposed grounding strip, they should also have predrilled the 4 mute holes and included the mute pads in the case

 

[fred2720]

You look for much the same features as I to. I think it was 2001 when MARS music came out with its line of several Fender guitars & basses in Ice Blue Metallic w/matching headstocks. My first Fender also was an Ice Blue Metallic '65 Jazz Bass w/Matching headstock...so I ended with 3 of the MARS ones, and still have one left (I kept the one with the most playing wear). That edition was perfect for me because it did NOT have the exposed copper ground strip BUT it had the matching IBM headstock (but the decal had the "custom contour" text attached to the logo section) and the "hootenanny" strap button on the back of the stock of my '65. One correction, I note from a photo above (posted after your original post) that there is a copper ground strip. However, like other '62 reissues, the grounding strip is about twice as wide as the one on my original 1962. I really like how Fender installed the pickup covers & tug bar on this reissue. The original American Vintage Series that Fender launched in '82 did not install them, but included them as case candy. If they did the exposed grounding strip, they should also have predrilled the 4 mute holes and included the mute pads in the case

 

[Grinderman]

Should be Olympic white. Also why is neck bound?

That's been my opinion on this model all along, especially the neck binding. I don't like neck binding on Fenders, anyway.

 

[Grinderman]

There is tho. Both tone pots are independent. They do not affect each other.

Only if the output/volume on the neck and bridge rolled down to about 90%.

Also, if the neck or the bridge is soloed the tone does noting; you get what you get, regardless of what you set either tone knob to.