• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

NBD - Got another Jazz

Clark W

Clark W

This Space For Rent!
Supporting Member
Aug 26, 2018
4,662
11,792
#1
Back in December I got the blue flamed maple jazz that GC had on sale for $649. And now they have a green one on sale for $649.

Originally I was going to take a 2019 Player Precision with a FCS '62 P pup, Hipshot drop tuner, and gold brushed aluminum pickguard in to GC and trade it in. But I plugged it up today and said nope, it's staying put. It's been a great bass, I just don't pick it up very often due to other basses.

Anyway...
So I went on to GC, they had one of the greenies. A little fret spout, nothing major, probably will go away now that the bass is no longer in the store at meat locker temps. It was pretty cold in there. I'll give it a week and see. But just my mentioning it got me a free, slightly used Gator hardshell case.
IMG_20220416_193238.jpg

So how does it compare to it's blue twin that I already own? It sounds a little brighter, but the blue one I got in December has gotten a lot of playing time and still has the stock rounds on it. Other than that, both basses with everything dimed, sound identical.

The setup, like the blue one, was really good. The blue one is just a hair lower, but both basses have shocked me coming from my local GC. I haven't touched the setup on the blue one, and doesn't look like I'll be touching it on the green one either.

Here's the confusing part though about these basses.
The blue one was made in 2021 and has a 75th Anniversary stamp on the headstock.
blue_75th.jpg

The green one was made in 2022, so no 75th stamp. Instead it has a Fender Special Edition decal.
fsr_sticker.jpg

I've run both serial numbers through Fender's serial search, and registered both with Fender as well. But when you register the serial numbers and it shows the info on the basses, they actually have different model numbers. I guess they're considered different basses, not the same bass or model available in two colors. Here's a comparison pic of the two.
twins.jpg

Pics of the new bass by itself including a pickup of it's string height
body.jpg full.jpg action.jpg

A Photoshopped image of the pickguard I have coming for the bass
pickguard.jpg

And it sitting next to the bass that didn't get traded in on it today.
fender_elec_x4.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Sub-hoo-fer, crobasster, MonetBass and 38 others
#3
jd56hawk said:
Looks too good to be in the same family as the Player basses!
Click to expand...
They are stunning. What's amazing about all 3 of my MIMs are what a joy they are to play compared to my American. To me they're just as good. My American the body is more contoured, a little thinner, therefore lighter. The fretboard on the American isn't covered in a clear urethane like the Players either. The American definitely has the better bridge and tuners. But in the grand scheme of things, I don't notice it when playing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jxff and jd56hawk
#5
  • Like
Reactions: Wicked G and jd56hawk
#8
jamro217 said:
Yay!!! What a beautiful collection of basses.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Totally unplanned :laugh:

My first bass, decades ago, was a crappy FSO, after it I never had a desire to own a Fender. I've had Ibanez, Cort, Peavey, Carvin active basses, Epiphone and Peavey passive basses. But never a Fender until 2019, when I got a Fender California Series Kingman V2 JTB acoustic, which I still have and play often. The Jazz neck on it is spec'd the same as an electric Jazz in all but scale. I didn't get it because it was a Fender. I got it because I got to compare it to 4 or 5 other acoustic basses while playing along with an acoustic guitarist / vocalist. I kept going back to the Fender. I was blown away by it. It shattered almost every bad notion I had about ABGs.

Because of that bass I had to have a Fender electric and I don't know what happened after that.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: elillywv and jamro217
#9
Jeff K said:
Personally, I'd be reluctant to replace that stock black pickguard on the green one. What a beauty!!
Click to expand...
Thank you!
It's easy enough to swap them back, if I swap them at all. Have to wait for the guard to get here first to see.

And I still got the stock black for the blue one too. this is what it looks like with it on the blue.
RS.jpg
 
Last edited:
#14
Clark W said:
They are stunning. What's amazing about all 3 of my MIMs are what a joy they are to play compared to my American.

--- snip ---

Here's the confusing part though about these basses.
The blue one was made in 2021 and has a 75th Anniversary stamp on the headstock.


The green one was made in 2022, so no 75th stamp. Instead it has a Fender Special Edition decal.


I've run both serial numbers through Fender's serial search, and registered both with Fender as well. But when you register the serial numbers and it shows the info on the basses, they actually have different model numbers. I guess they're considered different basses, not the same bass or model available in two colors.
Click to expand...

I have a MIM Plus Top Strat in blue, with a very similar look to your blue Jazz. It also is a great player, others who have tried it had no idea it wasn't an American Strat until they looked closer. Both my Strat and the PJ I'll mention below have very thin, low gloss neck finishes like current American versions, not heavy polyester.

About the model numbers... My Plus Top Strat definitely was, and your blue Jazz possibly are GC exclusives, done as a special run, hence the differing model numbers. Years ago, GC had a custom run of Telecasters where the switch plate was installed in the opposite direction as all of the other Teles in the world.

Special runs for a vendor are not exclusively a GC thing. I have a 2020 ash bodied active Fender PJ in transparent blue, all 12 pounds of it, that was a specific limited edition for Sweetwater. Other retailers, like Sam Ash and Chicago Music Exchange may also offer similar examples.

Congrats on the beautiful new bass. I'm with the others who think the color in your actual photos looks far better than the GC web photos.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: elillywv and Clark W
#16
elillywv said:
While I do have the Blue(s)... I am Green with envy! They are both gorgeous! Congrats, Clark!
Click to expand...
Thanks @elillywv
I remember when we both got the blue one and how stunning they looked. The green is definitely a touch hotter in that aspect I think. But the blue is gorgeous too. Now I have to keep my fingers crossed that Fender doesn't come up with any more colors for this bass. :roflmao:
 
#17
Rib 13 said:
Pretty bass. Congrats!....sorry, I cant get into the pickguard with that bass' finish -- looks like a shirt and pants out of Sheldon Cooper's wardrobe :D
Click to expand...
Can't always go by a Photoshopped rendition. Colors are different, the GC pic I used is definitely not Emerald. Really no way to tell until the guard gets here.

I have thought about going to WD and getting two smoked mirror guards. Or I could go with the same black pearl that is on my PJ.

After last night I'm definitely leaning towards going back to black on the blue and leave the green alone, or finding a guard that can be used on both like they do with black now.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back