Fender Elite Prices

[irjason]

I bit and pre-ordered one from Sweetwater. They have a few in stock but not Olympic White. I was going to drive to Lexington to check them out this weekend at a place that's selling them on Reverb. Today I talked to Sweetwater to see if they had any and my sales guy got me much better price than I see on Reverb. Sounds like it will be a couple of weeks before it ships though.

I was set to get a Deluxe, but when I saw these were going to have the truss wheel, and that pretty much did it for me. It's everything I've wanted on a Jazz except I'll have to add the Tort myself

 

[larrygs]

Any play some yet? I'd like a true Fender Jazz V for some reason, but I haven't been impressed with any Am. Dlx that I've played. I like the specs of these, particularly the compound radius. EDIT: just realized that the discontinued Am. Dlx. already had a compound radius fretboard and I still didn't find the basses to play all that great. Maybe just set up issues in the stores, but now I'm much less excited for the Elites.

Try the Elite, much better pickups, neck and preamp.

 

[cardinal]

Try the Elite, much better pickups, neck and preamp.

Thanks! I did and bought one. There was an Am Dlx right next to it, and I thought the Elite was significantly nicer IMHO.

 

[larrygs]

Thanks! I did and bought one. There was an Am Dlx right next to it, and I thought the Elite was significantly nicer IMHO.

Excellent! I like how the Elite plays, can't afford one at the moment, but will see at the end of the year

Good thing I never bought a Deluxe, since I was already looking for the parts to mod it due to the sucky N3s and the preamp.

Larry

 

[woody357]

sweet.

Z
I have a Sire V7 5er, and I have a Am elite jazz 5. The sire is a very nice bass for the money IMHO it could sell for more, but there is a difference in quality. The Sire really use cheap hard wear trust me I know. This was my go to bass for a year I also have MusicMan Bingo. I love the sound and that made me want the real thing. The preamp on the sire and the pu are hot, and that's cool where as the elite is more subtle but the fender stays clean. IMHO the Fender is worth the money. I know some say I could get a sadowsky but that's not a fender it is fender like. I have not had the elite long about a week and I like it a lot. I still have not had a pro setup yet but with just my ajustments it's nice. FYI I'm not stuck with it if I didn't like it I have a month to send it back. Who else offers that?

 

[emblymouse]

"Elite bass for the Elite player". eeew. More lame marketing from Fender.

 

[MixBass]

I had several hours to kill while waiting for the Apple Store today. Fortunately there was a guitar center a few blocks away where I spent a few of them. Really not much there to be thrilled by, mostly low end basses. But....there was an American elite 5 j on the wall which I finally got to. I'm seriously considering going back to buy it. I don't know if it is better than most of its kind but it could easily hang with basses that would cost more than double the price. The playability is fantastic and I'm very picky, I don't like to work that hard. Sound seems in the ballpark if you like the Fender thing, with a bit of juice to get in the Marcus zone if desired. Until today I hadn't considered a Fender 5 very desirable. They are contenders now in my view.

 

[perik]

$0.02....

OTOH, for a production bass, the USA Fender Deluxe Dimension offers a boatload of features for about the same price. I see real value there....half tempted to shell out the dough for a new one before they're discontinued for lack of sales. I'd be willing to violate my "always buy used" rule....the Dimension is that good, and used ones are kinda scarce.

YMMV

I keep hearing (here on TB) that the Dimension will be discontinued - is there any truth to that? Anyways, here in Europe, there are some truly sweet deals on the Am Dlx Dimension - i got a brand new IV HH for considerably less than what an Am Std would set me back. Also: the new Elite Dimensions are popping up at really way higher prices than the Am Dlx, and as far as I've been able to find out, only the case is the difference :-o So if youre looking for an active Dimension, now is the time

 

[socialleper]

The price of nearly any US bass always feels too high because of the cost of labor. Our standard of living is higher than Asian countries where they get paid pennies on the dollar of what a US worker gets. That's life. Fine. What I don't get is how little extra value Fender puts into a bass that is nearly double the price of some very good models. Consumers like to feel like they are getting more for their dollar. The "upgrades" don't feel like they validate the higher cost. Especially for a company with economies of scale on their side.