Hello. I played a Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass this week for the first time and it felt small to me. I normally play a Sadowsky UV70 so I'm sure the Fender body is smaller than that. My question is.... Is the American Deluxe body smaller than a American Standard body? Does anyone own both and can tell me for sure? Thanx, Mark
I do recall that the physical body shapes between the two models are different. You'll find that a neck from one will not work on the other, same with pickguards and neck plates. However, I cannot comment on one being larger than the other.
If you are referring to the mid-late 90's 22 fret neck J's - they are a slightly different shape than a standard J and somewhat smaller. The 22 fret necks do not have a ramp so the body was redesigned to accommodate a longer neck. It was the second generation of Fender doing this, the first being the late 80's-early nineties American Standard "boner" J designed by George Binda. On that bass the body was more different than a standard J but nearly as big with the upper horn lengthened to work with the 22 fret no-ramp neck.