Fender mis-names bass IMO

[jamro217]

I thought a Jazz bass was any bass you played jazz on.

Why is this even an issue?

I get it. Like a "Lead Guitar" or a "Rhythm Guitar". That's too confusing. I was in a band with two guitarists who played both styles in a variety of songs throughout the night. Each player used only one guitar for each gig, too. At what point did the Gibson Les Paul become a "Lead Guitar" and the Fender Stratocaster become a "Rhythm Guitar" and vice versa?

 

[jamro217]

But to Leo Fender, it was. Bear in mind, the bass was named for the crowd it was supposed to appeal to - jazz double bassists making the transition to electric.

So why wasn't the Jazzmaster guitar called the "Surfmaster"? More Beach Boys music was played on Jazzmasters than jazz was.

 

[jamro217]

Brilliant!

Fender is genius. They take four ingredients, a P body, a Jazz body, Split coils and single coils and create 87 different basses. Doesn't seem possible. Kind of like Taco Bell.

Not to mention they manufacture their basses in many countries and use that as a barometer of sorts. Now throw in some signature models, a custom shop and the relic department. Could this be any more difficult?

 

[FretNoMore]

Doesn't need to be difficult ... just call it a "bass" and play it.

 

[blindrabbit]

Except for the ones that have four.

Or the ones that have two...

 

[jamro217]

Or the ones that have two...

Oh, yeah. Forgot about those.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Is this a Gretsch?

 

[blindrabbit]

General rule for all threads.

With a very few exceptions they're not serious instruments.

 

[Savage_Dreams]

Then why the decades long single coil configurations? If you put the J pups on another shape body it still is then a jazz bass. I think the body shape has nothing to do with the pursuit of the "jazz tone", but just to add a "difference to the whole package. So body shape to me is not the answer.

so if you take the pickups out of ANY flying V model and put them in a strat is that strat now a flying V? kind of hard to say the body shapes isnt what the name is based on.

 

[40Hz]

General rule for all threads.

With a very few exceptions they're not serious instruments.

Ah! Probably because they don't come with a box most times. And certainly not "best for metal." So that's two strikes right there alone.

 

[AsturHero]

And THIS is what happens to a Blacktop Precision when I own it! It gets a new paint job (because the original had been badly done in) and a j-width neck. I don't know what you call it, but I call it Big Orange.

View attachment 1005780

I hate you!!!!!! ;-)

now i know, that my next P Bass Parts DIY-Caster will be in Orange with a Black Pickguard...grrrrr........

 

[Feral Feline]

Some more sweet-asterisks Jazz basses from the mind-melt of the Motherest Funker himself, and some are Jazzier than others!

 

[Hopkins]

I am kind of conflicted on this. On one hand, a F150 is still an F150 regardless of what engine is in it, so body shape does make a Jazz a Jazz. But on the other hand two Jazz pickups in their respective locations is what gives them their sound.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...But on the other hand two Jazz pickups in their respective locations is what gives them their sound.

But, which sound? I see threads all the time about Fender Jazz Basses where the discussion of which pickups, which bridge position, etc, is "best" for that Jazz Bass sound.

 

[FretNoMore]

My jazz basses don't sound like Jazz basses, they sound like J-Retro preamp equipped basses.

 

[bobyoung53]

I understand what you're saying, I bought my American Hotrod Precision bass a few years ago, it has a P pickup at the neck (middle if you want to get picky) and a J pickup at the bridge. They also had a Hotrod Jazz bass at the same time with the same pickup configuration except it had a J body and neck. I did not consider that to be a Jazz bass, wasn't sure what to call it to tell you the truth, but if I see a Fender with a split pickup in it in the usual position to me it's a Precision.

 

[twinjet]

aaaaand the Les Paul was to be a Jazz guitar.
aaaandnd the Stratocaster was intended to be a country guitar.
Look at all the pickup morphs they have been through..

Just play the dang things, right ?

and quit argerrin'! Like you said!

 

[Korladis]

Then why the decades long single coil configurations? If you put the J pups on another shape body it still is then a jazz bass. I think the body shape has nothing to do with the pursuit of the "jazz tone", but just to add a "difference to the whole package. So body shape to me is not the answer.

Is any bass with single coils a Jazz Bass, then?

 

[Jeff Scott]

Is any bass with single coils a Jazz Bass, then?

No, the pickups have to be shaped just like a traditional Jazz Bass pickup.

 

[P. Aaron]

I get where both sides are coming from but I consider a bass with two single coil pickups to be a Jazz-type Bass, regardless of the body shape. And I consider a Fender Jazz Bass body (or anything that's obviously inspired by that design) with a split-coil pickup to be a Jazz Bass.

Or, is it 'configured' like a Jazz Bass? W/o the JB body shape & neck.