Fender Jazz only with 20 frets; why?

[RyanKW]

You know, there's other brands out there with more frets.

The majority of players don't go up there and Fender knows this. It's okay to leave some of the market out there for other companies. If you have a product that's working and selling well why on earth would you change it?

That's because the majority of bass players are, you know, bass players.

 

[Green Lantern]

What are you doing that high up there???

Stuff like this is so fun to play. Melodic soloing.


And don't forget the pretty and talented Tal.

 

[brianrost]

Classic bass with classic design.
However some instruments older than the JB, like the Dano Longhorn have 24 frets.

If you check out some Dano bass designs, some basses have 24 frets and others have only 15. It had to do with cosmetics and cost control, not any inherent reason that either 15 or 24 was the optimal number.

I own two Silvertones, a single cut (U1 style) guitar and a single cut bass. The bass has 24 frets because the bridge is placed in the same location as the guitar, probably to cut costs...same body and electronics for both, just the neck and bridge (notched for 6 or 4 strings, otherwise identical) are different.

On their doublenecks to keep the distance from the bottom of the body to the headstock the same for both necks, they moved the bass bridge as far south as it could go and the neck has only 15 frets. Then they used the same neck on the shorthorn basses.

The Longhorn story is similar to the doubleneck, notice that the "Guitarlin" guitar necks have 31 frets! The idea was the highest frets allowed the guitar to be used in place of a mandolin. Place a guitar and bass side by side and the length from the body bottom to the headstock is the same and the bridges are in different locations.

Any T40 fans out there? I've seen Peavey adds showing a 21st fret on a T40 but mine and every other T40 I ever saw had only 20.

There is no rhyme or reason to this stuff.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

That's bull.

Go look at Musicman and G&L. The Fender brand has nothing to do with what Leo thought was right.

Ah ah ah ... Silly indeed ... Fender basses remain a mainstay workhorse ... period.

 

[rtslinger]

My guess would be even though a acoustic guitar back then had 22 frets only 19 or 20 were actually usable so maybe that was taken in consideration when the designs were being done the cut away just made it easier to get to them back then. Appealing to the upright jazz bassist who was looking for more volume in the mix and the secondary market of guitarist who would like to learn bass and had difficulty getting used to the fat neck large frets offer in the P bass. Remember back then that was your choice.

 

[bobdabilder]

because it's cheaper to have less material in the neck.

 

[Batmensch]

I can count the times I've ever played at the 20th fret on zero hands. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I don't care about how many frets a bass has.

Same here. I rarely play much above the 12th fret, 20 frets is more than adequate for me, and I imagine I'm not the only one. To claim that it's an antiquated design is not true.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I would suspect that the music of the day wasn't in the key of E wasn't as predominant as it is today and the Eb more useful than a 21st fret E.

 

[MojoPenguin]

It's useful to have more than 20, but not a dealbreaker.

 

[buldog5151bass]

because it's cheaper to have less material in the neck.

I don't think cost is the issue. As others have pointed out, Fender used to make basses with 24 frets. If they sold, I am sure they would still be marketing them.

 

[Stewie]

I have a heck of a time hitting the notes in tune above the octave on my upright. Probably most of the rock n rollers in the early fifties never even got that high up. Twenty frets was plenty. Fender became the standard and most simply followed suit.

I think it's great that you can get more frets if you want them, but I'll stick with the traditional Fender body shapes.

 

[navijaz]

Just realized I said I had a boner.drool

Yup. You actually said you had a boner but then after stripping the body found out it wouldn't work with your neck. You then sold your body to another guy with a boner. A little too much detail, eh?

 

[micguy]

Not long before Fender started making basses, they tried making Telecasters/broadcasters without truss rods in the neck, and...it didn't go well - necks started twisting from the tension of the strings. A few years later, they start making bass guitars, and...the longer the neck, the less stable it is, and they migh very well have been worried about that. My guess is they put the least amount of frets on it that they thought they could get away with, in order to avoid more neck problems, especially given the increased tension of bass strings. Just speculation, but I'd be surprised if they didn't think of that as at least one consideration. From the introduction of the Precision to the Jazz, in that time period, people were not doing solo bass guitar, so I'd guess they didn't get a lot of negative feedback about more frets, and figured that enough frets for a P bass was enough for a Jazz.

 

[AndreasR]

What are you doing that high up there???

Playing Pearl Jam.

Ah ah ah ... Silly indeed ... Fender basses remain a mainstay workhorse ... period.

Ugh. Still not saying that there's anything wrong with a Fender. Play what you like. But the whole "Leo built this" "Jaco played that" nonsense on this forum irks me. Saying that a Fender bass is not perfect for all music is not a sin *gasp*. Leo Fender himself clearly didn't think so.

 

[Tommyc]

Why do cars have 4 wheels? Why does a coffee mug have one handle? Why do forks have four (or three) tines)? Because they were first popularized in that version, and kept selling. When razors started being made with multiple blades, people stopped buying single blade razors, even though four blades won't give you a better shave.

When Fender made 24 fret basses, they didn't sell as well. Why are people blaming them for selling what sells? You want to solo above there, buy a different bass.

Now all I need to find is a billy goat with two.

 

[lz4005]

I've never actually heard a recording of one of these (or that I'm aware of). With the pup so far away from the bridge, this thing has got to sound fairly tubby, even with steel rounds on.

That was one of the big reasons it was a commercial failure.

Not the best demo, but the only one I could find on youtube in the intended tuning and without massive mic distortion.

 

[azureblue]

same argument as why five string, why six . too much navel gazing.

 

[navijaz]

Not long before Fender started making basses, they tried making Telecasters/broadcasters without truss rods in the neck, and...it didn't go well - necks started twisting from the tension of the strings. A few years later, they start making bass guitars, and...the longer the neck, the less stable it is, and they migh very well have been worried about that. My guess is they put the least amount of frets on it that they thought they could get away with, in order to avoid more neck problems, especially given the increased tension of bass strings. Just speculation, but I'd be surprised if they didn't think of that as at least one consideration. From the introduction of the Precision to the Jazz, in that time period, people were not doing solo bass guitar, so I'd guess they didn't get a lot of negative feedback about more frets, and figured that enough frets for a P bass was enough for a Jazz.

Quite a convincing point, considering that classic Teles and Strats also have only 21 frets. Although in their case it also has to do with the neck PUs which sit in the 24th fret position. More than 22 frets and you'd have to sacrifice that.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Now all I need to find is a billy goat with two.

Just as you can buy basses with 24 frets, but not by the biggest manufacturer. That car doesn't exactly say Toyota on it...

 

[I am Soma]

so whatsup with rick quality control amiright?