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Whats your view on the Fender Standard Jazz V?

#3
I picked up a used 2010 model for a really good price. The overall quality kind of blew my mind. The feel of the neck and the tightness of the B string is much better than any of the previous fender V's I've played. It's the only one of the 2010's I've had my hands on so I can't say anything about the consistency of quality for this particular model, but the general consensus on the MIM's is that quality is hit or miss, and varys instrument to instrument. I rolled the dice, and bought one online without being able to physically play it, and was lucky enough to get one of the good ones. Really the only thing I didn't like about it was the stock pickups. They are ridiculously noisey, and pretty thin sounding. I picked up a used set of seymour duncans for 80 bucks and it made a huge improvement. I couldn't be happier with it. Hope this helps
 
#4
every MIM jbass that i have played was great. i think the stories about hit or miss quality are exaggerated. most so-called lemons are proably in need of a pro set-up. YMMV

anyway,... my standard jazz V is outstanding for playability. the build is tight with the weak link being, as stated, the stock pups. gl.
 
#5
I heard of a lot of them needing to be shimmed at the neck joint, but that might apply to lots of basses in general anyway.

I love mine. :bassist:

The newer ones with the 4+1 tuner headstock have rosewood fretboards while the older ones with the 5 in-line headstock have pau ferro. The older models have more color options, too.
 
#6
I bought one three years ago and at first was underwhelmed, mostly due to my own lack of experience on a 5 string. But the stock pups never sounded good regardless. As I became comfortable with it and decided to keep it, I replaced the pups with Duncan quarter pounds and started using light DR MM Fat Beams .40-.120 and it sounds great. The only other strings I would use are Thomastik-Infeld flats. I will make one more modification that I've already made to my 4 string of replacing the bridge with a Babicz, which I highly recommend to anyone considering a high mass bridge before going straight to a Quan BA II or III. Overall, for the money, I'd buy a standard V and make these changes before I bought an American if I had to do it again. I know a lot of bass players who also own this bass and the ratio of good ones to bad ones seems like a rumor told long ago that never fizzled but also has never seemed true, which is very annoying as it had me questioning whether to finally get one and I'm very happy I did.
 
#7
I bought a scrath and dent 60th Anniversary MIM Jazz V from MF a few years back. Never played a fiver before and wanted to try one without dumping major $$ on one. My main gig basses are my RIC and my MIA Jazz 4.

I just love the Midnight WIne color on the Jazz V. I agree with others, the pickups didn't impress me and I had quarter pounders put on it and it's very aggresive sounding to me. I like the Pao Ferro fretboard. I've tried other fivers occassionally but none blew me away to the point where I wouldn't keep mine. I did change the pickguard to a black abalone one.
At first, i thought about changing the bridge because I use to own a MIM Jazz 4 that had a terrible bridge where the saddles would lower while playing it. I slapped a BA II on that bass. However, I noticed that it seemed on my Jazz V the bridge was a little higher quality than the one on my Jazz 4. I have used the V at gigs and NEVER have had any problems with the saddles. It is not a High mass bridge but surprisingly hefty none the less.
Truthfully, I'm not as adept on V as I am on 4. (IMO) So, I don't play it often at shows but when I do, it sings pretty well. If I ever made the jump to V fulltime, I would use this bass. This past summer, played a 2 night casino show with it, a BBDI and a tuner. It sounded killer and didn't miss a beat.

I recommend them. Dang, I should get an endorsement fee...LOL
 
#8
My current 5-banger is an '05 Fender Standard Jazz Bass V. It's Midnight Wine with a white pearl pickguard. I thought it's B-string lacked a little clarity and definition, so I fitted it with an Audere JZ3-VB-3B preamp and use a .130 B-string. It's my 5er of choice because it's got a nice fat neck and the string spacing is close to my 4-string basses. It makes the transition between my 4s easier for me. Someday, I'll put some nicer keywinds on it, but it's a solid bass guitar.

I also had a '00 Fender Standard Jazz Bass V Deluxe in Candy Apple Red. This bass had stock Suhr pickups and preamp, which were nice and aggressive...but I found that I liked the transparency of the Audere preamp a bit better.

I recently traded my Marshall cabinets for a beautiful '97 Fender American Standard Jazz Bass V Deluxe in Shoreline Gold. It was superior to both of my Standards. I would have loved to keep it, but with my cabs gone, I really needed the money for my Ampeg fridge. If I had the extra money at the time, I would have swapped in the Audere, sold the '05 MIM and the MIA would be my current bass.
 

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