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Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass V 5 string

meercatzbass

meercatzbass

Apr 5, 2012
26
10
#1
Hi Everyone!

I am thinking of buying a brand new Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass V (5 string white model):

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I would appreciate your comments and feedback on this particular model prior to my final purchase decision.

Cheers
 
#5
Thanks all for your quick answers! Highly appreciated. What string gauges would you suggest? Any problems with dead spots on the neck? Does the bass stay in tune well in the upper register, including the lowest string?

I am kinda new with the five string models as I have only been playing with 4 string Musicman stingray until now.
 
#7
I am a fan of the Deluxe basses, and overall I recommend the bass. A couple of things you should keep in mind: A number of owners, including myself, find the basses extremely noisy due to a complete lack of shielding. Others don't report this issue, so maybe Fender has rectified the issue.

Dead spots: All bolt on basses have them. On Fenders, it is usually between the 4-7th fret on the G string. Unless it's dramatic, it shouldn't be an issue.
 
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#8
@ Commreman:

me too... Same bass, finish and string gauge...

Except that I'm just dreaming of it.

There's one in a famous store of ours, and the price is right...

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and the bass is right. It's just that I really don't know which item sacrifice among my humble collection. And that it's been three years now that I dropped every 5er off same collection.

Anyway... MusicManic1979
Go for it... and do it now...
 
#9
guy n. cognito said:
I am a fan of the Deluxe basses, and overall I recommend the bass. A couple of things you should keep in mind: A number of owners, including myself, find the basses extremely noisy due to a complete lack of shielding. Others don't report this issue, so maybe Fender has rectified the issue.

Dead spots: All bolt on basses have them. On Fenders, it is usually between the 4-7th fret on the G string. Unless it's dramatic, it shouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...

The new model has noiseless pick ups so maybe this solves the situation? Furthermore, the electronics in general have been improved and there greater amount of switches etc in the newest model for creating your own desirable sound.
 
#10
I got a Sunburst American Deluxe Jazz V about 2 weeks ago. I ordered it back in December from a local shop. It was worth the wait. The feel of it is amazing. Such a smooth neck with excellent finish and fret work. No buzzing or dead spots. Clear, full tone. I usually use the active circuit and have either the neck pick up only, for a P-bass like tone, or both full up. I run a slight boost to the bass and the mid and treble flat. I am playing through a SWR Mo' Bass and Megaliath 8 x 10 and it sings.

I am liking this bass a lot. I had been playing Peavey Cirrus 5's for the last 10 years and a mid 80's Jackson Concert bass and a late 70's Music Man before those.
 
#11
Wallace320 said:
@ Commreman:

me too... Same bass, finish and string gauge...

Except that I'm just dreaming of it.

There's one in a famous store of ours, and the price is right...

Invalid Link Removed

and the bass is right. It's just that I really don't know which item sacrifice among my humble collection. And that it's been three years now that I dropped every 5er off same collection.

Anyway... MusicManic1979
Go for it... and do it now...
Click to expand...

I got an offer from the store in Finland (my home country) for 1600eur so I think it's a decent deal. Of course the price are about 300-400usd cheaper in states but not traveling there right now. And ordering from US would be equally expensive due to shipping costs and taxes.

I will go and try this bass tomorrow and will report afterwards :)
 
#12
Jackson171 said:
I got a Sunburst American Deluxe Jazz V about 2 weeks ago. I ordered it back in December from a local shop. It was worth the wait. The feel of it is amazing. Such a smooth neck with excellent finish and fret work. No buzzing or dead spots. Clear, full tone. I usually use the active circuit and have either the neck pick up only, for a P-bass like tone, or both full up. I run a slight boost to the bass and the mid and treble flat. I am playing through a SWR Mo' Bass and Megaliath 8 x 10 and it sings.

I am liking this bass a lot. I had been playing Peavey Cirrus 5's for the last 10 years and a mid 80's Jackson Concert bass and a late 70's Music Man before those.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mate for your advice! Appreciated.
 
#13
Musicmanic1979 said:
The new model has noiseless pick ups so maybe this solves the situation? Furthermore, the electronics in general have been improved and there greater amount of switches etc in the newest model for creating your own desirable sound.
Click to expand...

Nope. The hum that was generated from these basses was due to a lack of shielding, which is not eliminated by humbucking pickups. The bass I had was one with the current pickups and electronics, so they clearly do not solve the issue.

If you love the bass and it has shielding hum, it can easily be rectified by coating the cavities with shielding paint, then grounding the cavities.
 
#14
guy n. cognito said:
Nope. The hum that was generated from these basses was due to a lack of shielding, which is not eliminated by humbucking pickups. The bass I had was one with the current pickups and electronics, so they clearly do not solve the issue.

If you love the bass and it has shielding hum, it can easily be rectified by coating the cavities with shielding paint, then grounding the cavities.
Click to expand...

Thanks. As I am not very technical guy, how to check this possible problem at the shop and are there good instructions to be given for the guitar techs to solve this issue? How does the hum sound anyways on this case ( and how does coating cavities and shielding paint and the grounding the cavities in practice happen)? Any YouTube clips eg on that? I am not familiar with these technical stuffs. :) really appreciate your help.
 
#15
Musicmanic1979 said:
Thanks. As I am not very technical guy, how to check this possible problem at the shop and are there good instructions to be given for the guitar techs to solve this issue? How does the hum sound anyways on this case ( and how does coating cavities and shielding paint and the grounding the cavities in practice happen)? Any YouTube clips eg on that? I am not familiar with these technical stuffs. :) really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

Shielding hum can be heard when you ARENT touching the strings. Just turn up the amp then remove your hands from the bass completely. If it starts to hum, then stops when you touch any metal on the bass, you have a shielding hum issue.
 
#16
The Am. Deluxe has SINGLE coil pickups. They are "noiseless", but no single coil is going to be dead quiet. My practice area is about as bad a place to play a bass as you can get. I sit in front of three shelves of electronics. Monitors, computers, hard drives, cable boxes, battery backup systems, etc. They are all on the same circuit as my bass amp. If a bass is going to make noise, it's going to do it there.

The only bass of my three that doesn't make SOME form of noise is my Peavey. For some reason, it's dead quiet. The Fender, with it's single coils, is more noisy than my Lakland, but not by a large amount. Once you start playing, you can't hear it.
 
#17
Have not had that kind of issue with my Musicman in the same kind of surroundings so most likely I will recognize such a hum very shortly.

Are there good instructions on the web how to perform such a shielding process if needed?
 
#18
chadhargis said:
The Am. Deluxe has SINGLE coil pickups. They are "noiseless", but no single coil is going to be dead quiet. My practice area is about as bad a place to play a bass as you can get. I sit in front of three shelves of electronics. Monitors, computers, hard drives, cable boxes, battery backup systems, etc. They are all on the same circuit as my bass amp. If a bass is going to make noise, it's going to do it there.

The only bass of my three that doesn't make SOME form of noise is my Peavey. For some reason, it's dead quiet. The Fender, with it's single coils, is more noisy than my Lakland, but not by a large amount. Once you start playing, you can't hear it.
Click to expand...

theyre not single coils. theyre stacked humbuckers.
 
#19
I've been down this road before. The pickups are stacked coils, humcancelling. I've shielded the control cavity, it did not completely eliminate the noise. The next owner of my bass (I sold it yes) shielded the pickup cavity and reported an improvement in the noise situation.

My two cents: Great bass. I prefer passive basses unless they have high quality preamps that have circuitry that is fully shielded from RF and etc noise. The Fender pre-amp itself is not shielded nor is the control cavity.

I think this has been beat to death in other threads.

Fender are you listening?
 
#20
Very odd. If they are humbuckers, then why does Fender say they are single coil? Here is a snip from Fender's website regarding the N3 Noiseless Jazz bass pickups (the ones in my American Deluxe Jazz):

General
Model Name: N3 Noiseless Jazz Bass® Pickups
Series: Fender
Color / Part #:

Black
099-3117-000

Black
099-3117-001

Black
099-3117-002

Miscellaneous
Additional Comments: DC Resistance: 9.2K (Bridge) or 8.0K (Neck); AlNiCo 5 (Bridge) or 3 (Neck) Magnets; Single-Coil Pickups with Black Pickup Covers
 

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