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Fender QMT American Deluxe Jazz - 4

L

LaBassGuy

Aug 26, 2008
826
72
#1
I just bought this bass. And I've read a lot about how the now discontinued FMT/QMT models were the best Fenders.

Any thoughts on this one? I have yet to spend a lot of time with it but looks great. Very light. Thin, smaller body. How do these SCN pups compare with the current N3 pups?
 

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#3
I had one and really, really regret selling it. Beautiful bass, killer neck and just played great. I had dropped a Sadowsky preamp in mine and it sounded awesome. If I did not have a Sadowsky bass made for me, for sure would have still have it today!
 
#4
I owned one EXACTLY like that (except mine was tobacco sunburst). Beautiful bass. The fit and finish were second to none. PUPS were absolutely quiet. The bass looked and played like a million bucks.

The only reason mine didn't work out was MY fault. The 18volt active just didn't work for me (I FINALLY came to the realization that I am a passive sort of guy). I eventually sold mine to one of the Engineers at the studio. He loves it and gigs with it regularly.
 
#6
ClassicJazz said:
I had one and really, really regret selling it. Beautiful bass, killer neck and just played great. I had dropped a Sadowsky preamp in mine and it sounded awesome. If I did not have a Sadowsky bass made for me, for sure would have still have it today!
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Did you leave the existing pups in there, just changed the pre?

The pups sound really great--big, fat sounding, a lot of thump to them. They are modern, clean sounding with enough hints of single coil grind. I'm tempted to leave them alone.
 
#8
Congratulations on your purchase. They are indeed awesome basses. Best playing Fender I have tried although I know I will receive countless arguments on that statement from others. Really, I sold my Victor Bailey Jazz because this one does the trick for me. Enjoy and Play the heck out of it. peace.
 
#9
Beautiful bass...Fender's answer to Sadowsky. I owned a 5 string version in "Bing Cherry" that I ended up returning simply because I couldn't get the action low enough without shimming the neck and the depth of the maple figuring on the bass I ordered was pretty disappointing. Not always much "Q" in QMT, I guess.

But I've seen and heard others that really were impressive looking and sounding. Had my bass been a bit more accomodating with setup and a maple top that was worth the extra $$, I definitely would have hung onto it. Yours is smashing.

Lonnybass
 
#10
Lonnybass said:
Beautiful bass...Fender's answer to Sadowsky. I owned a 5 string version in "Bing Cherry" that I ended up returning simply because I couldn't get the action low enough without shimming the neck and the depth of the maple figuring on the bass I ordered was pretty disappointing. Not always much "Q" in QMT, I guess.

But I've seen and heard others that really were impressive looking and sounding. Had my bass been a bit more accomodating with setup and a maple top that was worth the extra $$, I definitely would have hung onto it. Yours is smashing.

Lonnybass
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Q in this QMT bass is certainly there. Very nice looking instrument. Now that I think about it, every jazz bass I've owned either had an ash body, maple fretboard, and or 70s spacing, etc. Here, alder+rosewood+60s spacing leads to a really big, fat tone.

I don't think I will touch the electronics here.
 
#11
I have the 5-string version of that. While mine has the quilt top, it's an FMT - all of them were "Figured Maple Top" when they first came out. Fender later changed the quilts to QMT to avoid confusion. Mine is a real player - I played it at my gig last Saturday night. Nice neck, great tone. I have a bunch of booteek basses and, while each has its own characteristic tone, none of them sound "better" than the FMT V.

FMTbodytb.jpg
 
#12
Munjibunga said:
I have the 5-string version of that. While mine has the quilt top, it's an FMT - all of them were "Figured Maple Top" when they first came out. Fender later changed the quilts to QMT to avoid confusion. Mine is a real player - I played it at my gig last Saturday night. Nice neck, great tone. I have a bunch of booteek basses and, while each has its own characteristic tone, none of them sound "better" than the FMT V.

FMTbodytb.jpg
Click to expand...

My GOD that's beautiful!!!!!
 
#18
boamedt said:
The ultimate fender bass. I was watching one the 'bay u went over 1k at the end of the auction. Good price. It's got all the awesome features, blocked, bound, rosewood fb, and a quilt top, what could be better?
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Yup, the neck on my 4 string is pretty slim, as is the body. Resulting in a light bass. But what tone is just fat and huge.
 
#19
LaBassGuy said:
I wonder how this bass compares to the Victor Bailey-4 string.

How different are the necks and tone?

Care to opine?
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Very similar on both counts. I played a VB V at GC and tried to buy it, but they wouldn't come to my price point (they later sold the bass at a blow-at sale for exactly what I offered).

My thought at the time was that it was the same bass as the FMT with a koa top. Very versatile.
 
#20
LaBassGuy said:
I wonder how this bass compares to the Victor Bailey-4 string.

How different are the necks and tone?

Care to opine?
Click to expand...

I've owned both at the same time. Both very similar in feel. Same body size and neck profile. Sound wise the VB I had was fretless, so it was hard to compare the tone, plus I had a Sadowsky preamp in the FMT.
 

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