Thoughts on Roadworn Fenders

[ShoeManiac]

I've actually seen a number of Nash's offered in burgundy mist.

 

[SwitchGear]

I am still amazed when I pick up my RW J how the feel, tone and the light weight combine to make such a desireable mojo. What a great j bass.

 

[timobee4]

Tell you what I think of my RW. Once I've owned an original 69 jazz bass (that was stolen) and it was by far the best player and best sounding bass even though I also had a 62 and another 8-10 jb from US reissues to HW1 to MIJ Fenders etc. Never desired a Mexican jazz bass until I came across this RW sunburst few days ago. Bought is because I liked the look and playability. Installed Lindy Fralins and a .5 capacitor and did a gig with it tonight. It felt exactly like my old 69 jb. In my opinion RW Fralin bite instead of the melo stock pup (sits in my frettless now) What a ripper bass!!!!!

 

[ShoeManiac]

Agreed on the stock pickups. They don't have a lot of that Jazz bass growl. I put Lollars in my RW Jazz, and it's one of the best mods I've ever done to any of my instruments. Fralins would have been a close runner up, though. Glad to hear those are working for you, timobee4.

 

[Attym]

Has anyone added to the road worn to sort of continue what Fender did (not by just playing it for years).

Sand the wear spots down more, or other techniques so it doesn't look so uniform? My only real issue is the large wear spot in the black. It doesn't look real. Maybe it will after my arm wears it down for a while.

 

[bass71]

Had a RW Jazz for a while. It was probably the nicest most playable bass guitar I have ever pickedup/played, period. In fact it was so good I decided to check it over very closely and here's what I found

a, Body thickness and headstock thickness is much thinner than the MIA Jazz.
b, It was extremely light and had a resonance which I can only guess comes from the woods being forcibly air dried in a kiln.

In all it was a punchy beautiful thing apart from two things. I don't like relics and I could not get a low enough action..maybe the neck was warped I couldnt really tell.

But in essence it had the makings of something very special indeed.

 

[Bassist30]

There are very few complaints about the Road Worn. It seems whatever fender did to make a vintage bass look and feel great was a success. The price it seems to be well worth the money.

 

[ahc]

This may sound silly, but my RW Jazz is the closest thing I've ever played to my 64 Jazz. And that's gooood!. Granted, there's a whole lotta basses I haven't played in my 53 years of playing. So many basses. So little time.

 

[bobba66]

When I was young I played enough to road-wear my own instruments. I miss those days.....

 

[MR PC]

Right now my Nate Mendel P-bass is being raped at a jam session by a hagrid-like figure. Do I care? No, it's already battered. If it had a fancy fragile finish I'd probably have pooped my pants by now.

One of the best posts I've read in quite awhile! And a good, practical argument for the relicing process. BTW, I've played some RW Jazz basses over the years and enjoyed them. Just picked up a well played 2010 burst model that is perfecto in just about all things Jazz Bass.

 

[MR PC]

Has anyone added to the road worn to sort of continue what Fender did (not by just playing it for years).

Sand the wear spots down more, or other techniques so it doesn't look so uniform? My only real issue is the large wear spot in the black. It doesn't look real. Maybe it will after my arm wears it down for a while.

Maybe play a few gigs with a large belt buckle.. I remember I had a beautiful Black '72 P fretless..played at a jewelry trade show, a vendor asked us to model some Native American pieces onstage. The belt buckle I wore had a huge jagged turquoise chunk...OOPS! Also, heavy, loose, floppy metal bracelets, those will bang all sorts of spots into the body.