Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
i can't keep the action very low on my am pro II jazz or it will buzz, so maybe we have a similar problem..
I contacted Fender to find out what kind of Pine is used in the Fender Roasted pine guitars and Basses.
The pine used is Raditata Pine sourced from New Zealand, can also be found in Mexico and California . Raditata Pine has a Janka hardnes of 710. Alder, has a Janka hardness of 590. African Mahogany, has a Janka Hardness of 830. Hard maple/Sugar maple, has a Janka hardness of 1450. Swamp ash has a Janka hardness of 850.
The pine used is Raditata Pine sourced from New Zealand, can also be found in Mexico and California . Raditata Pine has a Janka hardnes of 710. Alder, has a Janka hardness of 590. African Mahogany, has a Janka Hardness of 830. Hard maple/Sugar maple, has a Janka hardness of 1450. Swamp ash has a Janka hardness of 850.
My American Pro II Roasted pine Jazz Bass was delivered with perfect fret work. All I had to do was adjust the string height. All of my Bass guitars are adjusted to 1.50 mm at 12 fret.
My first American Fender P Bass. I love the way the neck feels and it's not that heavy. I play Metal and I'm going to upgrade the pickups with Seymour Duncans. I was thinking about upgrading the vintage Hi mass with a modern one but I like how the strings go through the body.
Stunning basses, congratulations!
Could you please advise how much your 5er weighs and how it is balanced?
My thoughts on the Pro II series. I have a '21 P-Bass, purchased used on a local CL deal. Black/Maple. 8lb 3oz.
I love the fit and finish of the bass. The new neck heel is a welcome improvement. I really dig the nicely ambered satin neck, although it is noticeably chunkier than either of my last generation Am Standards prior to the Pro I release. Those fit me like a glove and are my favorite of the most recent decade. The tall narrow frets don't bother me. I always liked narrow frets .... like found on a lot of older MIJ Fenders. Just reading from the spec sheet from when the Pro I was released, I would not have been impressed with or welcomed tall frets, but no, they don't really bother me at all.
I can't say anything wrong about the VMOD2 pickups other than the asymmetrical aesthetics threw me off at first. Tonally, and after rolling through quite a few Fender P-Bass pickup offerings on other basses, it's more about string choice and eq than than any kind of night and day revelation expected by a mere pickup swap. At least that's the way it is for me.
I continue to make peace with the beefy neck since I love everything else about the bass.
Pro II Jazz. I don't own one, but a buddy came over the other day with one he had just bought at GC. Olympic White/Maple 9lb 1oz. I'm not normally a white bass guy, not normally a Jazz bass guy. But I must admit.. I fell in love with this bass. The white had a slightly aged, creamy luster, that was simply devine. And just like my Pro II P-Bass, that vintage ambered satin finish on the neck was dreamy. The neck profile was somewhat more comfortable than the P-Bass too, narrower nut aside. ... just a little less beefy on up the whole length. I'm sure, individual examples may vary from piece to piece. The pickups sounded nice.. well balanced, no fault there at all.
I have a '19 Pro I Jazz and I must admit that the pickups are slightly less robust than on the Pro II. Although, as I mentioned in my thoughts about the P-Bass, a lot of other factors affect the tone of an individual instrument... but we all know that.
I wouldn't ditch the Pro I to get a Pro II simply for the new neck heel, but that neck finish has really got me thinking. Nothing at all wrong with the Pro I, but the lack of tint in comparison to the Pro II comes off kind of stark, cold, and uninspiring.
Some what of a head scratcher for me is the lack of available body/fingerboard options. A couple of those new colors are interesting, but c'mon man, can't I have Black/Maple?
One thing I noticed on the 3 Basses mentioned here is that the action on all of these, while very playable, the saddles on both sides have very little downward travel left in them. For folks that demand ultra low action, I don't doubt that a slight shim may be in order. Other than that... good 2 go.
I love the fit and finish of the bass. The new neck heel is a welcome improvement. I really dig the nicely ambered satin neck, although it is noticeably chunkier than either of my last generation Am Standards prior to the Pro I release. Those fit me like a glove and are my favorite of the most recent decade. The tall narrow frets don't bother me. I always liked narrow frets .... like found on a lot of older MIJ Fenders. Just reading from the spec sheet from when the Pro I was released, I would not have been impressed with or welcomed tall frets, but no, they don't really bother me at all.
I can't say anything wrong about the VMOD2 pickups other than the asymmetrical aesthetics threw me off at first. Tonally, and after rolling through quite a few Fender P-Bass pickup offerings on other basses, it's more about string choice and eq than than any kind of night and day revelation expected by a mere pickup swap. At least that's the way it is for me.
I continue to make peace with the beefy neck since I love everything else about the bass.
Pro II Jazz. I don't own one, but a buddy came over the other day with one he had just bought at GC. Olympic White/Maple 9lb 1oz. I'm not normally a white bass guy, not normally a Jazz bass guy. But I must admit.. I fell in love with this bass. The white had a slightly aged, creamy luster, that was simply devine. And just like my Pro II P-Bass, that vintage ambered satin finish on the neck was dreamy. The neck profile was somewhat more comfortable than the P-Bass too, narrower nut aside. ... just a little less beefy on up the whole length. I'm sure, individual examples may vary from piece to piece. The pickups sounded nice.. well balanced, no fault there at all.
I have a '19 Pro I Jazz and I must admit that the pickups are slightly less robust than on the Pro II. Although, as I mentioned in my thoughts about the P-Bass, a lot of other factors affect the tone of an individual instrument... but we all know that.
I wouldn't ditch the Pro I to get a Pro II simply for the new neck heel, but that neck finish has really got me thinking. Nothing at all wrong with the Pro I, but the lack of tint in comparison to the Pro II comes off kind of stark, cold, and uninspiring.
Some what of a head scratcher for me is the lack of available body/fingerboard options. A couple of those new colors are interesting, but c'mon man, can't I have Black/Maple?
One thing I noticed on the 3 Basses mentioned here is that the action on all of these, while very playable, the saddles on both sides have very little downward travel left in them. For folks that demand ultra low action, I don't doubt that a slight shim may be in order. Other than that... good 2 go.
Last edited:
As for string action, the bridge of my am pro ii jazz has enough travel range to down strings enough to make action very low. Usually it is not enough when a neck relieve is very deep. Try to decrease it by tightening the truss rod.
Indeed. Now that you mention it, while looking over my friends Jazz, I noted that it looked like a little relief could be taken out. The relief on my 2 are just right for me, and the action is plenty low without the saddles actually bottomed, though pretty close.
How does the low B string sound? Do you feel the wider excursion of the low-frequency string makes the mid-position Precision pickup less effective?
In other words, do you wish there was also another pickup at the bridge (P or J type), to support the low B string?
My 5-string is a Jazz. The B sounds good. Actually both of my 5-strings are Jazz Vs as I find two pickups support the B string in a way I like.
Brilliant to hear. This is what has me interested in them due to the often heavy weight of full-size body Jazz 5s! I've only seen one pine jazz in the wild though so far (a 4 string - very light!), there don't seem to be many of them out there. I'm hoping to pick up a secondhand one at some point, but I might be waiting a long time!
I'm thinking of changing the pickguard. What do you think of a black pickguard?
Last week I bought a used but mint condition 2022 Fender American Professional II Jazz bass. Swapped in a new set of TI Jazz flats and the bass sounds and plays great. VERY happy! I also own an Am Pro I Precision and have been exceptionally pleased with its quality and playability and sound. The Jazz bass has exceeded expectations. One thing of interest: all my playing these days is for recording projects and I expected to replace the single coil pickups with humbuckers due to 60 cycle hum. There is no hum, no matter where the volume attenuators are set. I've done some recording and can't hear ANY hum. What's up with that? Geeze, the only other thing I need to "change" on this bass is the pickguard!
OK, new pickguard is installed. Now I can FINALLY sleep good at night!
