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NBD! Fender Aerodyne Jazz

JakobT

JakobT

Jan 9, 2014
6,353
16,021
Oslo, Norway
#1
My latest purchase arrived today - a Fender Aerodyne Jazz.

It’s a thing of beauty, and light as a feather. I’ve never been particularily concerned with weight before, but it does make a noticable difference, to the point where I actually notice a slight tendency to neck dive. Since I use 4" suede-backed straps, I wouldn’t really call it a problem. Fit and finish is superb, and the bass was well set up from the factory - I only had to tune it, and I was up and running.

I’ve gathered that some don’t like the pickups, but they sounded pretty good to me, so I’m not going to change them anytime soon. The only thing that puzzled me a bit was the fretboard, which is listed in the specs as stained rosewood, but which looks like plain old unstained rosewood to me. No biggie, as I’ve heard that the stain fades over time, and the unstained rosewood does look very nice. I’d been a bit concerned over the lack of fretmarkers, but it turns out to be a non-issue.

All in all, very pleased so far. :hyper::bassist:

9B0530E4-D964-44FF-A65C-715715CF6052.jpeg
 
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#3
First of all, congrats! I've been eyeing that one for a while. You answered my question about the pickups, but now I'm worried that there is no arm contour in the body. Does it or does it not have an arm contour? I have an Ibanez BTB745 that would be my perfect bass if the body didn't chafe my wrist while I played. So yeah that's a deal breaker I guess, but otherwise your bass looks awesome.
 
#4
Lowendchamp said:
First of all, congrats! I've been eyeing that one for a while. You answered my question about the pickups, but now I'm worried that there is no arm contour in the body. Does it or does it not have an arm contour? I have an Ibanez BTB745 that would be my perfect bass if the body didn't chafe my wrist while I played. So yeah that's a deal breaker I guess, but otherwise your bass looks awesome.
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Thanks!

In answer to your question, there isn’t an arm contour as such, but since the body is curved that doesn’t matter much, IMHO. The binding is nicely rounded off as well, so I find it very comfortable.
 
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#6
DougieB said:
I have its twin here in Scotland and I love it! Even though it says the neck is a Jazz bass, I find it thinner and faster than my other two Jazz Basses. The sound I think is great and they are a thing of beauty. I wear a narrower strap and have had no problems with neck dive, enjoy dude!
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Thanks - after having played it for an hour or so I also found the neck very fast and playable, and the sound is excellent, I must say - nice and deep with good definition and just a bit of growl. :)
 
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#11
JakobT said:
My latest purchase arrived today - a Fender Aerodyne Jazz.

It’s a thing of beauty, and light as a feather. I’ve never been particularily concerned with weight before, but it does make a noticable difference, to the point where I actually notice a slight tendency to neck dive. Since I use 4" suede-backed straps, I wouldn’t really call it a problem. Fit and finish is superb, and the bass was well set up from the factory - I only had to tune it, and I was up and running.

I’ve gathered that some don’t like the pickups, but they sounded pretty good to me, so I’m not going to change them anytime soon. The only thing that puzzled me a bit was the fretboard, which is listed in the specs as stained rosewood, but which looks like plain old unstained rosewood to me. No biggie, as I’ve heard that the stain fades over time, and the unstained rosewood does look very nice. I’d been a bit concerned over the lack of fretmarkers, but it turns out to be a non-issue.

All in all, very pleased so far. :hyper::bassist:

View attachment 4396608
Click to expand...
Congratulations that’s a beautiful bass,
 
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#12
Congratulations on your new Aerodyne!

I love mine, I was playing it last night for a couple of hours. I love the neck. It’s a beautiful bass and very playable right out of the box.

I’ve modded mine a little but it has been a real player from day one. I liked the stock P pickup, but I had a hard time with noise when I cranked the J pickup. The Geezer upgrade took care of that. It’s getting lots of action with the metal band I’m in right now. I also swapped in a Hipshot drop tuner. (On the advice of @Malak the Mad I went with chrome and no one can tell that the finish is slightly different.) On the other end of the strings, I put in a Hipshot Kickass bridge, which looks great but didn’t change anything about the tone. It already had sustain for days, as I’m sure you’ve discovered.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine! Mine will always be in my arsenal. You’d have to look awfully hard to find a better bang for the buck. The build and quality are top notch.
 
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#13
Lowendchamp said:
First of all, congrats! I've been eyeing that one for a while. You answered my question about the pickups, but now I'm worried that there is no arm contour in the body. Does it or does it not have an arm contour? I have an Ibanez BTB745 that would be my perfect bass if the body didn't chafe my wrist while I played. So yeah that's a deal breaker I guess, but otherwise your bass looks awesome.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen complaints about the more squared-off bound edges being uncomfortable for some players, but I think that has everything to do with arm/bass angle. It’s really comfortable to play for me and for most of the folks who comment on that aspect. There’s a bit of a belly cut and I don’t really have much of a belly, so maybe that’s why it feels so fine in my hands.

I was concerned enough about those comments that I didn’t want to pull the trigger before playing one. I searched for a couple of years before I got my hands on one. And when I got the chance to play it, I just rolled my eyes at those comments and bought it immediately. It’s as comfortable and fast as my Fodera.
 
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#17
JakobT said:
My latest purchase arrived today - a Fender Aerodyne Jazz.

It’s a thing of beauty, and light as a feather. I’ve never been particularily concerned with weight before, but it does make a noticable difference, to the point where I actually notice a slight tendency to neck dive. Since I use 4" suede-backed straps, I wouldn’t really call it a problem. Fit and finish is superb, and the bass was well set up from the factory - I only had to tune it, and I was up and running.

I’ve gathered that some don’t like the pickups, but they sounded pretty good to me, so I’m not going to change them anytime soon. The only thing that puzzled me a bit was the fretboard, which is listed in the specs as stained rosewood, but which looks like plain old unstained rosewood to me. No biggie, as I’ve heard that the stain fades over time, and the unstained rosewood does look very nice. I’d been a bit concerned over the lack of fretmarkers, but it turns out to be a non-issue.

All in all, very pleased so far. :hyper::bassist:

View attachment 4396608
Click to expand...
Awesome! I love those things. I'd put a blocked maple P neck on it though.
 
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