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Sorry about that earlier blank reply, small phone vs fat fingers.
Yes, I was referring to export vs non export. I liked the sound of the us market black Aerodyne I played before, but I think the Japan models lack the thump.
Interesting. I’m curious is anyone else has experienced this with export vs non-exports, and if there’s any information on different components and pick ups actually being the cause of any tonal discrepancy. Not that I doubt you necessarily, but would love to see some documentation on all that if it’s available.
Also, might be time for a trip to Guitar Center to do a little export Aerodyne noodling!
But that's the thing...they're all made (or crafted) in Japan.
I suspect the discrepancy may not be a matter of "Export vs. Non-Export", but more a matter of "This-Year vs. That-Year". Fender plays musical chairs with their pickups every handful of years, so it's not too far fetched an idea that Fender-Japan changed up the pickups somewhere along the line too.
To be fair, though, it's not beyond the scope of reason to find out the Exports, which are probably manufactured in much larger quantities than the Non-Exports, get different, less expensive pickups. It'd be comparable to how the MIA's get better pickups than the MIM Standards/Players, despite the fact that all of them are made in North America.
Would be interested to see if anyone noticed similar differences in tone.
The only test equipment I used were my ears. I still bought one though and had it shipped in. Original pickups looked the same as my US models when I did the rewire. The mini pots were very fast but not sloppy and of decent quality with no markings other than A250K followed by the ohm symbol, cap was translucent yellow and marked 473K 50L, all wired up with 26 gauge wire. I prefer the thump and boom it has since the rewire.
@Malak the Mad - I was thinking similarly, that the non-exports would have better components than exports to US, and agree on the year-over-year change. 2003 vs 2007 could certainly have been enough time for the non-exports to have had changes in their hardware, but also depending on what any of us is playing through, string type and gauge, etc...could yield any tonal variances.
@String Monkey - thanks for the info on your original pickups, at some point i’d like to look under the hood of my non-export again to compare, see what’s in there. Beautiful bass and piano BTW, congrats and enjoy!
@String Monkey - thanks for the info on your original pickups, at some point i’d like to look under the hood of my non-export again to compare, see what’s in there. Beautiful bass and piano BTW, congrats and enjoy!
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^^^ This... lots of variables.
My non-export seems to have plenty of thump. It's jazz pick-up does seem to
be the dominant one, but there inlies it's beauty... A tone that is unique to a P/J.
My 05/06 is bone stock with fairly new TI Powerbass strings.
Hi guys. A couple questions about my Aerodyne Jazz bass, export model. I'm getting ready to clean and polish it up. Looking at the frets and to my untrained and half blind eyes, the frets look like they're smoke chrome like the rest of the hardware. Am I right? Are they smoked chrome? I ask because usually when I polish my frets I give them a rub with 1000 grit sandpaper, then again with 2000 grit sandpaper, then I polish them with Nevr Dull. If they're smoked chrome I don't know what to do with them. Second question. I'm missing the tone knob. Does anyone have a spare to sell me? Or can someone point me to where I can buy one? I looked around a bit online with no luck so far. Thanks, Dennis.
By the way-I bought Malak’s Aerodyne. It’s the best one I’ve owned, with photos to follow and a contrast against a bass that gets confused for an Aerodyne a lot.
Alright. Well, I finally got a chance to compare & contrast my Aerodyne & Frank Bello bass.
First, I’d like to say a few things about these basses. They’re both good, and I’m comfortable with either, and I’d go out and play a show with either.
Alright, so let’s break this down.
In one corner (on the right in the photos), we have a ~2002 (?) (non export) Fender Aerodyne Jazz. It specs out as:
-Round, cream bound basswood Jazz body.
-Wired V/V/T
-Standard P/J pickup set.
-1.5” nut, 7.25” fretboard radius with no front fret markers.
-Smoked chrome, “Fender” style hardware.
-Made in Japan
This particular bass has a great semi gloss neck finish, which I like a lot. The export Aerodynes do not. Export Aerodynes also use a black Stratocaster recessed output cable jack. It’s a super solid bass, I’m very content with it.
On the left, we have a 2005 Fender Frank Bello bass, built from ~2004-~2010 or so. They didn’t sell, or make a bunch of these, but they are a very good instrument. It specs out as:
-Slab Alder Jazz body, black with white binding & a forearm contour
-Wired V/V
-Seymour Duncan SPB-3/Fender Samarium Cobalt Jazz bridge pickup.
-1.625” nut, 9.5” fretboard radius with pearl front fret markers. The neck profile on this one is very deep front to back.
-Chrome, string through Leo Quan BA 3 bridge & chrome Schaller lightweight tuners
-Made in Mexico.
In 2010 I was ogling both of these basses. I think the Aerodyne was like $750 and the Bello was $900 or so. So, it was a 20% price hop to get to that bass. However, given the stuff used to build it, I can understand why. The Bello bass is definitely specified to play hard rock & thrash metal well. The controls are more limited, and the pickups are more of a one trick pony, but it’s pretty much indestructable, and everything about it is generally more solid & handles abuse better. Sure, it has a goofy “Angry Man” graphic, but it’s really a great bass.
I’d also like to note-Duff McKagan does not play an Aerodyne. He & McBob (both super nice guys, by the way) refer to it as an Aerodyne, it looks that way, mostly, and Fender’s split with Frank Bello was less than amicable, and as a Fender guy, it plays nicer to call it an Aerodyne.
When I saw VR live on the Libertad tour, his bass he used on Slither, and a couple other drop D tuned songs was a slab black jazz body, with two knobs, and one of his profile necks. If you’ve noticed, every bass he takes on tour has the same neck profile & finish. I probably would like that too if I was doing multiple hours a night on a tour that runs multiple years.
Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
First, I’d like to say a few things about these basses. They’re both good, and I’m comfortable with either, and I’d go out and play a show with either.
Alright, so let’s break this down.
In one corner (on the right in the photos), we have a ~2002 (?) (non export) Fender Aerodyne Jazz. It specs out as:
-Round, cream bound basswood Jazz body.
-Wired V/V/T
-Standard P/J pickup set.
-1.5” nut, 7.25” fretboard radius with no front fret markers.
-Smoked chrome, “Fender” style hardware.
-Made in Japan
This particular bass has a great semi gloss neck finish, which I like a lot. The export Aerodynes do not. Export Aerodynes also use a black Stratocaster recessed output cable jack. It’s a super solid bass, I’m very content with it.
On the left, we have a 2005 Fender Frank Bello bass, built from ~2004-~2010 or so. They didn’t sell, or make a bunch of these, but they are a very good instrument. It specs out as:
-Slab Alder Jazz body, black with white binding & a forearm contour
-Wired V/V
-Seymour Duncan SPB-3/Fender Samarium Cobalt Jazz bridge pickup.
-1.625” nut, 9.5” fretboard radius with pearl front fret markers. The neck profile on this one is very deep front to back.
-Chrome, string through Leo Quan BA 3 bridge & chrome Schaller lightweight tuners
-Made in Mexico.
In 2010 I was ogling both of these basses. I think the Aerodyne was like $750 and the Bello was $900 or so. So, it was a 20% price hop to get to that bass. However, given the stuff used to build it, I can understand why. The Bello bass is definitely specified to play hard rock & thrash metal well. The controls are more limited, and the pickups are more of a one trick pony, but it’s pretty much indestructable, and everything about it is generally more solid & handles abuse better. Sure, it has a goofy “Angry Man” graphic, but it’s really a great bass.
I’d also like to note-Duff McKagan does not play an Aerodyne. He & McBob (both super nice guys, by the way) refer to it as an Aerodyne, it looks that way, mostly, and Fender’s split with Frank Bello was less than amicable, and as a Fender guy, it plays nicer to call it an Aerodyne.
When I saw VR live on the Libertad tour, his bass he used on Slither, and a couple other drop D tuned songs was a slab black jazz body, with two knobs, and one of his profile necks. If you’ve noticed, every bass he takes on tour has the same neck profile & finish. I probably would like that too if I was doing multiple hours a night on a tour that runs multiple years.
Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
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Great review! Lots of research and first-hand accounts, which goes a very long way in my book.
If you don't mind, though, I'd like to offer up a couple of extra notes and friendly, non-jerky-jerk corrections.- What you have there is a Non-Export Aerodyne Deluxe, designated "AJB-D" by Fender-Japan.
- From the beginning, the Export Editions had the Strat jack. If it's a Deluxe 'Dyne with a flush-mounted jack, it's a Non-Export Edition.
- The Aerodyne was unveiled at Winter NAMM 2003 and hit the shelves the following year. Based upon that particular one's serial number (I should know, I sold it to Cat
), it is probably an '04 or '05.
- - - - - 
As for Duff McKagan, I saw somewhere that he's not a gear-head when it comes to "guitar tech", but he does know what he likes…sonically and ergonomically.
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Great review! Lots of research and first-hand accounts, which goes a very long way in my book.
What can I say? I guess I'm an "Aerodyne Nerd"!
- What you have there is a Non-Export Aerodyne Deluxe, designated "AJB-D" by Fender-Japan.
- From the beginning, the Export Editions had the Strat jack. If it's a Deluxe 'Dyne with a flush-mounted jack, it's a Non-Export Edition.
- The Aerodyne was unveiled at Winter NAMM 2003 and hit the shelves the following year. Based upon that particular one's serial number (I should know, I sold it to Cat
As for Duff McKagan, I saw somewhere that he's not a gear-head when it comes to "guitar tech", but he does know what he likes…sonically and ergonomically.
Duff & McBob probably know the least about the equipment they play on of a lot of professional musicians. Which is awesome, because the dude plays some really good sounding stuff.
And I need to learn to read Kanda-Shokai serial numbers. It does start with a Q... And Fender says Q is 2002-2004. It is a low number though. And Fender Japan (Kanda-Shokai) has done a lot of stuff before it was exported and made it to NAMM.
Wow! So your newly acquired 'Dyne might've seen the light of day as early as 2003? Cool!
Still, it's the random nature of which serial number was attached to this-or-that instrument that makes accurate product dating for Fender-Japan products murky, at best. From what I've gathered, it's really just as simple as this…
"Here's your big box of serial numbers. Keep using them until it's empty, then you'll get the next box."
I've called Fender once or twice to get a timeline on an instrument's serial number, but never for a Fender-Japan product. It's possible they may have some accurate data, but given the apparent gaps between FMIC and Kanda-Shokai, it's anybody's guess.
Perhaps next week I'll give them a call and see what I can find out about my first-ever Aerodyne. I believe it's a 2007 model, built near the end of the "Crafted In Japan" era, but it'll be interesting to see what results a quick phone call will yield.
Hi all, this is my Aerodyne that I acquired in May of this year. It is a 'Crafted in Japan' model with a 'Q' serial number. I took a chance on it due to its weight. I have played Fender Jazz basses for over 40 years and due to having osteoporosis and other back problems I was looking for something lighter. I was very surprised at how light it was, around 7 pounds. It is strung with D'Addario pro steels 40/100 and is very playable. It has a slimmer neck profile than my Jazz Basses and is very fast.
I have adjusted the action and pups but find it loses some of its tone in the higher scales. Maybe worth changing the strings out? or the pups? Anyway, it is a keeper.
I have adjusted the action and pups but find it loses some of its tone in the higher scales. Maybe worth changing the strings out? or the pups? Anyway, it is a keeper.
May I join? You may have read about the mistreated 2105 MIJ model I found in a pawn shop. It looked just awful but we are getting back to good!
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Did read, and I agree with the others--great score, and nice cleanup!
@Stinsok, you are member #162 in the Fender Aerodyne Club.
Which reminds me--a few of you have posted pictures or notes about new-to-you Aerodynes; let me know if you'd like a Club number!
(Not everyone does, some forum members just pop in to this thread for the discussion. So I'm only issuing them when requested.)
(Not everyone does, some forum members just pop in to this thread for the discussion. So I'm only issuing them when requested.)
