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Fender J bass
- Thread starter jmooda
- Start date
"Large" is relative to your body size, "heavy" is relative to your body size, your ability to wear a bass for a few sets, and the actual weight of the bass. Some are heavier than others. You will not know until you try one.
The wood used would have changed, and some woods are heavier than others. Not sure about the size thing.
The Jazz Geddy uses is a normal Jazz. The size is no different. A standard Jazz is a standard Jazz.
For the most part all Jazz basses have the same body. I would avoid the Geddy Lee Jazz bass. I owned one for about 2 weeks and sold it asap. The neck on the bass is terrible, way to thin. I highly recommend a 2008-present American Standard Jazz bass. If new is too expensive keep a look out on craigslist and guitar centers online used listings and you can find one for cheap. I have had mine for 6 years and I still can't find a bass I like better for under $2,000.
a lot of people like the thin Geddy neck, so might this guy. the standard jazz is great also.
Most Fenders use standard sized Jazz bodies. The previous generation American Deluxe (approx. 2000-2009) had downsized bodies, as do some clones from other manufacturers. Fender may have made others with downsized bodies too, but I'm not aware of them.
Unless you're in love with the Fender name, take a look at the Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones sig bass. It has a slightly smaller Jazz-like body with deeper cutaways and a somewhat chunkier neck.
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Is it "terrible" or just too thin for you personally? Fender sells tons of these for a reason.
I personally love the GL neck. My '73 Jazz neck is even thinner. Also, I don't find the American Standard Jazz to be much thicker than the GL and I have owned a bunch of American Standards.
To answer the OP's question, almost all Fender Jazz bodies are the same dimensions. Exceptions would be the Aerodyne (thin basswood body with carved top) and the late '80's "boner" Jazz which has an elongated upper horn. There are others, I am sure.
Weight can vary considerably, more so in the late '70's-'80's where a jazz could be 8lbs or over 12lbs in some cases.
The Aerodyne's neck is also a bit different from the more common Jazz necks. The fretboard has a more vintage 7.25" (184.1 mm) radius, instead of the current 9.5" (241 mm) radius. Plus I think there's a small difference in the overall neck shape, unless there's no real difference between "Modern 'C'" and "'C' Shaped".
I think the Geddy Lee is a normal sized jazz body.
Mike Lull, Sadowsky, and Lakland are three builders that use a slightly downsized jazz body on some of their models. I don't know if any other builders do.
That's what I see. That J that Geddy Lee plays has a smaller body than other J's I've seen. When I see him play other J basses they all look bigger. The one they make the signature out of is the size I'm looking for. From what I could find out its supposedly a '72.
