So I tried Fender Elite jazz basses today...

[Mr_O'B]

There were a couple of things that bugged me with the Elite. I owned one for a year. I've written about them here. And I still wish I had never sold mine, even though I have a Mike Lull Jazz-stye bass now.

First, and as with every Fender I've come across lately, the shielding could be better, or at least, more thorough. I may be more sensitive to noises than others, but there were a couple of gig situations where there should be next to no noise. The N4 Jazz pups did a great job of being quiet, but I added copper foil to the control compartment, underneath the pickups, underneath the pick guard, and in a move that some say is overkill (which I don't doubt), I even added a copper shield tubing to the tunnel where the wires for the bridge pup go. And yes, I soldered all of the edges of the foil together and bonded the foil to a ground point. I would have preferred to use copper-based shielding paint, but I didn't have the time for proper drying of the paint. The Elite was way quieter afterwards. If your Elite is quiet enough for you, then far be it for me to say anything otherwise. I was doing gigs that put me in close proximity to some LED lighting, so I had to beef up the shielding. I've had to do this with every Fender I've owned, which I don't mind. But I gotta say, my Stingray SR5 and my Mike Lull didn't have the same noise issues.

And the truss wheel on the base of the neck is a wonderful idea. But the holes in the wheel are rather shallow, making it difficult to find a perfectly fitting tool to turn the wheel with. I found a Hex (or Allen) key that worked perfectly, I wish I remember what size it was.

Other than that, the fit and finish of the Elites is some of the best I've seen from Fender. Great basses.

PS never a problem with the B string on the Elite.

There were a couple of things that bugged me with the Elite. I owned one for a year. I've written about them here. And I still wish I had never sold mine, even though I have a Mike Lull Jazz-stye bass now.

First, and as with every Fender I've come across lately, the shielding could be better, or at least, more thorough. I may be more sensitive to noises than others, but there were a couple of gig situations where there should be next to no noise. The N4 Jazz pups did a great job of being quiet, but I added copper foil to the control compartment, underneath the pickups, underneath the pick guard, and in a move that some say is overkill (which I don't doubt), I even added a copper shield tubing to the tunnel where the wires for the bridge pup go. And yes, I soldered all of the edges of the foil together and bonded the foil to a ground point. I would have preferred to use copper-based shielding paint, but I didn't have the time for proper drying of the paint. The Elite was way quieter afterwards. If your Elite is quiet enough for you, then far be it for me to say anything otherwise. I was doing gigs that put me in close proximity to some LED lighting, so I had to beef up the shielding. I've had to do this with every Fender I've owned, which I don't mind. But I gotta say, my Stingray SR5 and my Mike Lull didn't have the same noise issues.

And the truss wheel on the base of the neck is a wonderful idea. But the holes in the wheel are rather shallow, making it difficult to find a perfectly fitting tool to turn the wheel with. I found a Hex (or Allen) key that worked perfectly, I wish I remember what size it was.

Other than that, the fit and finish of the Elites is some of the best I've seen from Fender. Great basses.

PS never a problem with the B string on the Elite.

I appreciate your honest assessment of what you had and experienced!

 

[toowrongfoo]

BTW, the shielding thing? That is a very common problem. Not going to waste my time trying to get others to believe but EVERY high-end fender has has the same issue.

Check this out from my strat:

That rats nest is unacceptable for a MIA product.

Meh! Can't the get the photo to upload, I try and troubleshoot.....

 

[Mr_O'B]

BTW, the shielding thing? That is a very common problem. Not going to waste my time trying to get others to believe but EVERY high-end fender has has the same issue.

Check this out from my strat:

View attachment 2858486

That rats nest is unacceptable for a MIA product.

Meh! Can't the get the photo to upload, I try and troubleshoot.....

FWIW, my 1997 Fender American Deluxe j-bass with Suhr electronics was completely shielded by Fender.

 

[joebar]

Is it just me , or is it next to impossible to top load a B string on these bridges?
A non tapered B that is...

 

[Geri O]

Is it just me , or is it next to impossible to top load a B string on these bridges?
A non tapered B that is...

I do know a .135 B string was difficult to get through the bridge at the ball end. But it would pull on through once I started pulling the string up to pitch. I worried a little about damaging the string by doing this, but that never happened.

 

[toowrongfoo]

FWIW, my 1997 Fender American Deluxe j-bass with Suhr electronics was completely shielded by Fender.

But I'll bet cha it didn't work with neon.

I just give my experiences, it's up to others to believe me or not. That strat is the worst rats nest I ever saw in a guitar, that's factory. It has an emerson in it now, quiet and sings like a bird.

 

[Mr_O'B]

But I'll bet cha it didn't work with neon.

I just give my experiences, it's up to others to believe me or not. That strat is the worst rats nest I ever saw in a guitar, that's factory. It has an emerson in it now, quiet and sings like a bird.

"But I'll bet cha it didn't work with neon."
-------------
You're assuming a lot! It seems like you need to buy
non Fender instruments an call it a day!

 

[toowrongfoo]

How rude. Ok, well it's a forum, I'd expect nothing else (except that everyone else hasn't been rude)

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

My Am. Elite PJ (let's call it by its name) is a super bass that I'd recommend to anybody especially to those people stating that Fender always sucks by default ... maybe, in the case of P/PJ basses, Fender is still ahead of its competitors ...

 

[Vic]

fwiw, my elite j 5 is not the quietest bass i own, but it's also very definitely not the noisiest. i can't say i've had much of a problem around neons, tho in my experience, dimmers are far worse than neons. bottom line, at least in my case, the elite is a trusted bring.

 

[toowrongfoo]

Crap, I'm not really digging taking this back but just noticed IT'S not well shielded either.

Honestly, how can this be? Even with the significant discount it's still over 1700 bucks. What is with these guys?

I hate returning stuff. I wanted this bass. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

 

[toowrongfoo]

fwiw, my elite j 5 is not the quietest bass i own, but it's also very definitely not the noisiest. i can't say i've had much of a problem around neons, tho in my experience, dimmers are far worse than neons. bottom line, at least in my case, the elite is a trusted bring.

Interesting. What I remember was having to take mine to a guy and him putting a bunch more shielding in, which REALLY helped. But oddly enough, I felt the tone suffered. Meh, maybe I'm just weird.

 

[hands5]

I agree with this post. I've also owned many Fenders, and HAVE been wow'd by a few of them. Others were at least decent basses. My personal experience with them is that they're good basses generally. With many of them, you get exactly what you pay for. If you like to mod instruments, then you get a blank canvas in which you can create all kinds of different sounds!

Some people think that after a certain price point, an instrument should automatically have wow factor. I don't think this is true at all! I've played MTD, Sadowsky, Lakland, Lull, and Fodera. Honestly, many of those instruments didn't do anything for me. Some of them redifined what I wanted an instrument to sound/feel like. All of them were made with great craftsmanship.

I really really wanted a serious 70's style jazz bass. Initially I had my heart set on a Sadowsky. I was in NYC, met Mr. Sadowsky (a seriously nice guy who does awesome work with an incredibly accommodating team), and played a few of their showroom instruments. I just wasn't feeling them, but I really enjoyed my time there. I knew that technically they were much better basses than the Fender I ended up a couple months later (an AVRI 75 Jazz Bass), but they just didn't connect with me.

I feel like basses are kind of like suits. Sometimes you'll find one right off the rack that just seems to do it. Other times, you have to have them tailored to work just right for you after buying a basic one. Then, if you're able to, you may buy something that was made just for you! They can all work functionally, but obviously they have differences.

Fender style basses are some of the most subjective of basses you can buy due to all the differences in the model years, electronics, aftermarket parts, and fit/finish options present. I personally love them because I WANT to change them. The biggest flaw I found with Fender's series at this price point is that their stock electronics are super lacking, and the body shape kind of had weird dimensions that didn't work ergonomically for me. I could have changed the electronics myself, but I didn't care for the body. Funny enough, I did end up finding a used Custom Shop Custom Classic Jazz Bass, which is a really similar instrument, and got it for about $150 less than the Elite! It's taken 4 months, but it's finally nearing exactly what I want(I've changed the pickups, the preamp, refinished the neck, and am getting the body refinished this spring)! Sometimes you have to spend time with any instrument for it to really make you feel at home, and provide some wow in your life.

Sorry for writing so much, but I guess I just don't have the expectations that an off the shelf instrument will do everything I want it to. If I'm going to spend years on it though, I at least want it to be the solid foundation in which I can make something that's totally mine, and sometimes there is a cost that comes with that. I feel they're trying really hard, and they're taking appointments from many of the big name luthiers into consideration with this series.

That's funny..they're taking appointments from many of the big name luthiers... Yet these so called big name luthiers ( and some small companies) have copied their design of the two most iconic basses... The P bass and The Jazz Bass.

 

[hands5]

I have an 2012 American Deluxe Jazz from 2012, and I love it. Don’t know why they didn’t just leave well alone.

They probably change the tonal aspects of it because The Deluxe is a great sounding bass but IMO it doesn't have that "Dirty type Fender Jazz bass sound were is the "Elite " does .... I have both and they're both different in tonality and playability.. nonetheless they're both fine instruments

 

[hands5]

Unlike other active/passive basses, the Elite will not play in passive mode when the batteries go dead so be careful.
Last thing you want is the batteries going out on a gig without a back up instrument.

I've played my Elite in passive mode for almost 3 weeks because I've been too lazy to change out the batteries ..

 

[hands5]

Agreed on almost all points.

I just want a damn jazz bass with a flat fret board. For me personally, I don't see the need for any curvature at all.

Then Sadowsky would be the ticket bro

 

[hands5]

View attachment 2845316

My 2015 Deluxe looks exactly like this .lol, however it doesn't effect the sound of the bass at all and I seriously doubt anyone in the clubs that I've been playing at recently would notice or much less give a damn about the grain matching of the instrument... I could be wrong

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Then Sadowsky would be the ticket bro

Yes, of course, just be ready to take other two grands out of your pocket just to get a flatter fretboard ... ahahah

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

My 2015 Deluxe looks exactly like this .lol, however it doesn't effect the sound of the bass at all and I seriously doubt anyone in the clubs that I've been playing at recently would notice or much less give a damn about the grain matching of the instrument... I could be wrong

Come on, everybody knows the more even is the wood grain structure the more even the bass tone will be across the strings ....

 

[Bassist30]

The elite in price is to close to the basic models made by sadowsky. That might be a better deal. But I don't know if it is better than the Fender Pro. I have the P version of the pro's and it is light and sounds really nice... To me anyway. But yet I heard some great things from people who own a elite. I tried one and I myself didn't get what I wanted out of it. So it goes to show everyone has their own voice when it comes to basses.