The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to ''J-Bass'') is the second model of
electric bass
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck
The ...
created by
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor known for designing the Fender Stratocaster. He also founded the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In January 1965, he sold Fender to CBS, and later foun ...
. It is distinct from the
Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instr ...
in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the
fundamental frequency
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the ''fundamental'', is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In music, the fundamental is the musical pitch of a note that is perceived as the lowest partial present. In ...
. The body shape is also different from the Precision Bass, in that the Precision Bass has a symmetrical lower bout on the body, designed after the
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
and
Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
lines of guitars, while the Jazz Bass has an offset lower bout, mimicking the design aesthetic of the
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
and
Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...
guitars.
History
First introduced in 1960 as the Deluxe Model, it borrowed design elements from the
Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...
guitar.
It was renamed the Jazz Bass as Fender felt that its redesigned neck—narrower and more rounded than that of the Precision Bass—would appeal more to
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
musicians.
The Jazz Bass has two
single coil pickup
A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single coil pickups are one of the two most po ...
s with two pole pieces per string. As well as having a slightly different, less symmetrical and more contoured body shape (known in Fender advertising as the "Offset Waist Contour" body), the Jazz Bass neck is noticeably narrower at the nut than that of the
Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...
. While the Precision Bass was originally styled similarly to the
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
guitar, the Jazz Bass' styling was inspired by the
Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...
guitar, with which the Jazz shared its offset body and sculpted edges, which differentiate it from other slab-style bass bodies.
The original intention of the instrument was to appeal to upright bass players. The original Jazz Bass had two stacked knob pots with volume and tone control for each pickup. Original instruments with this stacked configuration are highly valued in the vintage guitar market. In late 1961, it received three control knobs: one volume knob for each pickup and a third to control the overall tone. Despite this new feature, many stacked knob models were made until about 1962. Another feature the initial models had were the "Spring Felt Mutes", which were present on basses from 1960 until 1962. The mutes were designed to dampen the overtones and the sustain; they were screwed in place between the bridge and aft pickup. Those felt mutes were not a tremendous success and were replaced by a cheaper, more simple foam mute glued underneath the bridge cover, as was used by the Precision Bass from 1963 onwards. Over the following years, as the use of mutes gradually declined, both the Precision and Jazz Bass models eventually began to be produced without bridge/tailpiece covers.
A number of cosmetic changes were made to the instrument when
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
purchased the Fender companies in 1965. During 1965/66, the Jazz Bass received bound rosewood
fingerboard
The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...
s with
pearloid
Pearloid is a plastic that is intended to resemble mother of pearl. It is commonly used in making musical instruments, especially for pickguards, electric guitar inlays, and accordions.
Production
Pearloid is produced by swirling together chun ...
dot position inlays (which replaced the older "clay"-style of the early 1960s) and oval-shaped
tuning machine
A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...
s. Block-shaped fingerboard inlays and an optional maple fingerboard were introduced after 1966/67. At first, necks with rosewood fretboards received pearloid blocks/binding, and maple fretboard necks received black. Fender switched to pearloid blocks/binding on all necks in mid-to-late 1973. Fender also switched to the three-bolt neck "micro-tilt adjustable" neck and the "bullet"
truss rod
The truss rod is a component of a guitar or other stringed instrument that stabilizes the lengthwise forward curvature (also called ''relief'') of the neck. Usually, it is a steel bar or rod that runs through the inside of the neck, beneath the fi ...
in mid-to-late 1974, before reverting to the more standard four-bolt neck fixing and dot-shaped fretboard markers in 1983. White pickup covers and a pickguard/control plate were introduced the same year. In 1986, Fender introduced the Japanese-made
Fender Performer Bass
The Fender Performer was an electric bass guitar released in 1985 and discontinued in 1987, assembled in the United States and Japan. A Fender Performer electric guitar was also available.
Description
The Fender Performer Bass was a uniquely s ...
, also with micro-tilt neck, designed by John Page and intended to be an Elite version of the Jazz Bass; however, the radical styling was not popular and production ceased the same year.
Two other changes that were more important to the tone of the instrument also occurred in the early 1970s. From 1960 until late 1970, the two pickups on the Jazz Bass were spaced apart. The bridge pickup was then moved closer to the bridge, creating a spacing of . Many players believe that this change contributed to a somewhat brighter tone from the bridge pickup. According to Fender itself, this change happened in 1972. However, Fender's own history is clearly incorrect, as there are unquestionably examples of Jazz basses made in late 1970 that use the 4" pickup spacing. Both 3.6" and 4' spacing are found in Jazz basses made in 1971, and there are even a few Jazz basses made in 1972 that use the older 3.6" spacing. Around the same time, Fender began using ash for most of the instrument bodies. Prior to the early 70's, most Jazz basses had bodies made of
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
, except for those that were finished in a clear or ("natural") finish - for those basses, ash was nearly always the wood of choice. In the early 70s, ash bodies became increasingly common, and by 1974 ash bodies were the rule, rather than the exception. Ash is generally thought to produce a somewhat brighter (and correspondingly less warm) tone than alder. By the mid-1970s, the combination of 4" pickup spacing and the use of heavier ash bodies with maple fingerboards combined to produce a notably brighter tone than that produced by Jazz basses from the 60s.
American Standard Jazz Basses produced between 1989 and mid-1994 featured a larger body shape, a 'curved' neck plate set into a chambered pocket for greater sustain and a 22-fret neck, similar to that of a
Precision Bass Plus, with a standard vintage-style top-load bridge, two separate volumes and a master TBX tone circuit.
Usually known as "Boner" Jazz Basses, these early American Standard models (designed by George Blanda, who was Fender's senior
R&D engineer during that period) were discontinued in 1994 and shouldn't be confused with the Fender Jazz Bass Plus, which has the same 22-fret neck design, but utilizes a different (downsized) body styling,
Lace Sensor
The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI (Actodyne General International) since 1985. Lace Sensors are true single coil pickups; however, internally they are different from classic single coils. The chief di ...
pickups,
Schaller "Elite" fine-tuner bridge on the four-string model or Gotoh Hardware high-mass bridge on the 5-string model, and
Phil Kubicki-designed active electronics. Unlike the
Fender Precision Bass Plus The Precision Bass Plus is an electric bass made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and designed by George Blanda in 1989. It was one of the first American-made Fender basses to feature a 22-fret neck, requiring the company to slightly overs ...
, which had an optional maple neck, the Boner Jazz Bass was offered only with a rosewood fingerboard.
The Jazz Plus Bass was available with an alder body and the option of a natural-finish ash body on the four-string model for a $100 upcharge, either a maple or rosewood fretboard on the four-string and pau ferro (an exotic hardwood whose tone is brighter than rosewood yet warmer than ebony) on the five-string. The Jazz Plus debuted in 1989 (the five-string model was released in 1990), but was discontinued in 1994 and replaced by the
USA Deluxe Series Jazz Bass the following year.
![Weather Report (Jaco Pastorius)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Weather_Report_%28Jaco_Pastorius%29.jpg)
A fourth push button control is available on American-made Jazz Basses produced between mid-2003 until 2008. Known as the "S-1 Switch", this feature allows the pickups to operate in standard,
parallel wiring, or alternatively in
series wiring when the switch is depressed. While in series, both pickups function as a single unit with one volume control, giving the Jazz Bass a sound more similar to the Precision Bass.
The two pickups are built to be opposite from each other in both magnetic polarity and electrical phase, so that when heard together,
hum
Hum may refer to:
Science
* Hum (sound), a sound produced with closed lips, or by insects, or other periodic motion
* Mains hum, an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon
* The Hum, an acoustic phenomenon
* Venous hum, a physiological sensation
...
is cancelled—the
humbucking
Mains hum, electric hum, cycle hum, or power line hum is a sound associated with alternating current which is twice the frequency of the mains electricity. The fundamental frequency of this sound is usually double that of fundamental 50/60 Hz, '' ...
effect. The Highway One Jazz Bass is a moderately priced American-made bass introduced in 2003, featuring a Leo Quan BadAss II bridge with grooved saddles, Posiflex graphite neck support rods, 1970s styling, and a Greasebucket tone circuit since 2006.
In 2008, the American Series models were replaced by a new American Standard line, which greatly differs from the first-generation American Standard Series basses introduced in 1994. The 2008 American Standard Jazz Bass retained the "American Series" rolled-edge neck with highly detailed nut and fret work, as well as the familiar rounded body shape with the vintage body radius, but deleted the S-1 switching system and incorporated a new high-mass vintage bridge, Hipshot lightweight vintage-style tuning machines, a richer and deeper neck tint, gloss maple or rosewood fingerboard and satin back for smooth playability. It also has a thinner finish undercoat that lets the body breathe and improves resonance. In March 2012, Fender updated the American Standard Jazz Bass (except the five-string version) with Custom Shop 1960s Jazz Bass pickups.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Jazz Bass, first introduced in 1960, Fender released in 2010 the 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Jazz Bass. This bass sports a selected alder body, finished in a Candy Apple Red nitrocellulose lacquer, and incorporates design elements from several periods in the instrument's history, including 1960s-era lacquer finish, headstock logo, chrome bridge and pickup covers, 1970s-era thumb rest and bridge pickup positioning, modern-era high-mass bridge and Posiflex graphite neck support rods.
Design features
![Fender Jazz Bass Headstock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Fender_Jazz_Bass_Headstock.jpg)
The Jazz Bass has a bright sound, with more high end than the Precision Bass. This makes it ideal for
slap playing as well as finger-style players. This bright sound is because of the two pickups at different points in the string's length. The bridge pickup gives a tone with more treble, while the neck pickup will yield a rounder sound. The ability to blend the volume of both pickups allows for a wider variety of tones than the Precision Bass can produce. Pickups are RWRP (reverse wound, reverse polarity) from one another, so all hum will be canceled when both pickups are at full volume.
Having both pickups cranked up at full volume produces the classic scooped, "growling" sound which many players—such as
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
and
Will Lee
William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper' ...
—use for slap bass playing. This sound is the product of certain frequencies from both pickups being out of phase and cancelling each other, leaving a "scoop" on the midrange. This is similar to what happens on some guitars when one blends the sounds from two different pickups, such as the
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...
.
Some "Deluxe" Jazz Bass models feature an active pre-amp (usually with three bands of equalization) in place of a single passive tone control; these basses have three separate equalizer controls: bass and treble responses are controlled by the base and top of a stacked double pot, while midrange is controlled by a second knob. They came with 22 frets, abalone dot position inlays and an 18-volt power supply on some models. Known as the Jazz Bass Deluxe since being introduced as part of a major reworking of Fender's Electric Bass lineup in 1995, they have been renamed the
American Deluxe Jazz Bass.
The American Deluxe Jazz Bass (available in four-string fretted and fretless, five-string fretted and left-hand versions) featured two
samarium-cobalt Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, designed by
Bill Lawrence. Fender used downsized bodies to accommodate the 22-fret neck and reshaped the pickguard with nine screw holes.
American Deluxes produced between 1995 and 1999 were initially available with "single-pole" pickups designed by
John Suhr. These were soon changed to the Bill Turner-designed
dual-coil Ceramic Noiseless units with nickel-plated (gold-plated on certain models) polepieces until the advent of the Bill Lawrence-designed
Samarium Cobalt series in 2004.
Other refinements include a strings-through-body/top-load bridge, ''Posiflex''
graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...
neck support rods, rolled fingerboard edges, highly detailed nut- and fretwork. Five-string versions are presented with a 4+1 tuner arrangement and two Hipshot string trees since 2002. The asymmetrical five-bolt neck plate, along with the smooth contoured heel allow much easier access to the upper registers. Bound fingerboards with pearloid block inlays were added with the introduction of the American Deluxe Jazz Bass FMT & QMT in late 2001, featuring flamed or quilted maple tops and gold-plated hardware. Fender discontinued these models in 2007.
In 2010 the American Deluxe Jazz Bass was updated with a pair of N3 stacked-coil Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, an active/passive toggle switch, CBS styling and a 21-fret bound compound radius maple neck featuring rosewood or maple fingerboards with rectangular block inlays. Other features include Hipshot vintage lightweight tuners, "Strong Arm" string retainer bar for the A and low B strings, and Fender's High Mass Vintage (HMV) bridge. The American Deluxe series was discontinued in 2016.
The American Elite Jazz Bass, introduced in 2016, sports a compound modern C-to-D neck shape, fourth-generation noiseless pickups, a "spoke-wheel" truss rod system for easier neck relief adjustments and a new asymmetrical neck heel. It is offered with a compound radius ebony (since 2017) or maple fingerboard, in 4 and 5-string versions.
The Mexican Deluxe Active Jazz Bass combines many of the features of the American Deluxe models with a traditional Standard Jazz Bass body, vintage-style hardware, a contoured neck heel and a 12"-radius 20-fret rosewood or maple fingerboard. It comes in 4 and 5-string versions and sports a three-band active circuit powered by two dual-coil ceramic Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups and an 18V power supply with an active/passive switch (as of 2016).
The Custom Classic model was made at the
Fender Custom Shop
The Fender Custom Shop is a division of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, housed within their headquarters complex in Corona, Riverside County, California. The Fender Custom Shop produces special-order guitars for customers through a Custo ...
. This Custom Shop Jazz Bass was a cross between the American Vintage and the
American Deluxe series. Features include an oversized select alder or premium ash body, a modern 34"-scale C-shape maple neck with an unbound rosewood,
pau ferro
''Libidibia ferrea'', formerly ''Caesalpinia ferrea'', and commonly known as pau ferro, Jucá, Brazilian ironwood, morado, or leopard tree, is a tree found in Brazil and Bolivia.
Wood
Most species of ''Caesalpinia'' s.l. have poorly defined g ...
or maple fingerboard featuring triangular pearloid block inlays and 21 medium-jumbo frets. Available in four- and five-string versions, all Custom Classic Jazz Basses came with a pair of custom-wound dual-coil
Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups, a three-band active preamp, five-bolt neck plate, 18V power supply and a Deluxe string-through-body/top-load bridge with milled nickel-plated brass saddles. Models manufactured prior to 2003 (formerly known as ''American Classics'') were identical to the mid-1990s American Deluxe basses in appearance, excepting the 22-fret bound maple neck featuring a rosewood fretboard and white block inlays. Fender discontinued the five-string version in 2009. The Custom Classic four-string Jazz Bass has been renamed Custom Active Jazz Bass as of 2010, featuring Fender's high-mass vintage (HMV) bridge and a 1960s Jazz Bass "U" shape neck.
The Standard Jazz Bass model is sanded, painted and assembled in Ensenada, Baja California along with the other Standard Series guitars (replaced by the Player models in 2018). On December 5, 2008, the Standard J-Bass has given CBS era-style decals, a three-ply parchment pickguard and a tinted maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard (also available in a
fretless
A fretless guitar is a guitar with a fingerboard without frets, typically a standard instrument that has had the frets removed, though some custom-built and commercial fretless guitars are occasionally made.
The classic fretless guitar was fir ...
version with a rosewood fingerboard and 20 inlaid white fretline markers). Other features included two staggered bi-pole single-coil pickups and a return to the black bakelite control knobs. Models produced before 2003 came for a period with black Stratocaster control knobs. The five-string version (introduced in 1992), available with pao ferro or rosewood fingerboard and a five-in-line tuner configuration with Gotoh Mini machineheads (c. 2006), has been updated with a tinted maple neck featuring a dark rosewood fingerboard and a 4+1 tuner configuration with Fender/Ping tuning machines as of 2009. In 2017 Fender switched to pao ferro fingerboards before discontinuing the Standard series in 2018.
All five-string Jazz basses came with
pau ferro
''Libidibia ferrea'', formerly ''Caesalpinia ferrea'', and commonly known as pau ferro, Jucá, Brazilian ironwood, morado, or leopard tree, is a tree found in Brazil and Bolivia.
Wood
Most species of ''Caesalpinia'' s.l. have poorly defined g ...
fretboard since 1990 (some
US Deluxe models were also available with a plain
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
neck option).
Fender offers its 5-string basses with
rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues.
True rosewoods
All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...
or
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
fretboard as of 2006 after discontinuing the
pau ferro
''Libidibia ferrea'', formerly ''Caesalpinia ferrea'', and commonly known as pau ferro, Jucá, Brazilian ironwood, morado, or leopard tree, is a tree found in Brazil and Bolivia.
Wood
Most species of ''Caesalpinia'' s.l. have poorly defined g ...
fingerboard option in late 2005. In 2008, Fender introduced the fretted and fretless
Steve Bailey
Steve Bailey is an American bassist. He is the chair of the bass department at Berklee College of Music.
Career
Bailey began playing bass guitar at age 12 and started playing fretless bass after he ran over his fretted Stuart Spector with his ...
signature models, its first six-string Jazz Basses to feature a 9.5" to 14" compound-radius
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...
fingerboard.
The long list of bassists well-known for using the Jazz Bass most notably include
Robert Sledge
Robert Sledge (born March 9, 1968) is an American musician, best known for his work with Ben Folds Five.
Biography
Robert Sledge began playing bass guitar at the age of eleven. His brother was playing guitar at his house so he also learned how ...
,
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...
,
John Klingberg
John Andersson Klingberg (born 14 August 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 131st overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars. He is the you ...
,
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
,
Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
,
Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...
,
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...
,
Tom Hamilton,
Jason McCaslin
Jason "Cone" McCaslin (born 3 September 1980) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, serving as the bassist and backing vocalist of the band Sum 41.
Early life
McCaslin began playing bass at the age of 14, as a member ...
,
David Desrosiers
Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1999. The band's lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhythm guitar ...
,
Pete Wentz
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lea ...
,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
Noel Redding
David Noel Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress.
Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...
,
Paul McGuigan,
Sting,
Steve Fossen
Steve Fossen is an American bassist and a founding member of the band Heart. ,
Andy Kulberg
Andy Kulberg (April 30, 1944 – January 28, 2002) was an American musician notable for his bass playing with the groups Blues Project and Seatrain.
He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Amherst, New York. In 1965, he became a ...
,
Joe Schermie
Joseph Edward Schermetzler (February 12, 1946 – March 26, 2002), known as Joe Schermie, was an American musician, best known as the bass player for the 1970s American rock-pop group Three Dog Night.
Biography
Schermie was born in Madison, ...
,
John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...
,
Greg Lake,
Kim Gordon
Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
,
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes. He was the longest-serving original memb ...
,
Stu Cook
Stuart Alden Cook (born April 25, 1945) is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work in the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Career
Cook, along with Doug Cliff ...
,
Rick Danko
Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
During ...
,
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
,
Bruce Johnston
Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bru ...
,
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
and
Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Cla ...
.
Models
* Standard Jazz Bass
* Standard Jazz Bass Fretless
* Standard
Jazz Bass V
The Jazz Bass V is the five string ( extended-range) version of the Fender Jazz Bass.
It comes in several different versions, with active or passive pickups.
Standard Jazz Bass V
The Fender Standard Jazz Bass V has single coil pickups, and p ...
* American Performer Jazz Bass
* American Professional II Jazz Bass
* American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless
* American Professional II Jazz Bass Left-Handed
* American Professional II Jazz Bass V
* Deluxe Active Jazz Bass
* Deluxe Active Jazz Bass V
* American Original 60's Jazz Bass
*American Original 70's Jazz Bass
*American Ultra Jazz Bass
*American Ultra Jazz Bass V
* Vintera '60s Jazz Bass
* Vintera '70s Jazz Bass
* Road Worn '60s Jazz Bass
* Player Jazz Bass
* A line of Fender Squier models
Discontinued models
* American Deluxe Jazz Bass
* American Deluxe Jazz Bass V
* American Deluxe Jazz Bass Fretless
* American Deluxe Jazz Bass Left-Handed
* American Vintage '62 Jazz Bass
* American Vintage '64 Jazz Bass
* American Vintage '75 Jazz Bass
*American Vintage '74 Jazz Bass
* American Special Jazz Bass
* American Jazz Bass Plus
* American Jazz Bass Plus V
* Highway One Jazz Bass
* Jazz Bass 24
* Jazz Bass 24 V
* Power Jazz Bass Special – same specs as the Jazz Bass Special except for the addition of a reversed split P-Bass pickup, active electronics and a 22-fret neck.
* Jazz Bass Special – featured black hardware, P/J pickup configuration with 3-way switching, two volume and one TBX tone control (reissued as the
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...
Precision Bass in 2007).
* American Standard Jazz Bass
* American Standard Jazz Bass Fretless
* American Standard Jazz Bass Left-Handed
* American Standard Jazz Bass V
* American Elite Jazz Bass
* American Elite Jazz Bass V
*Blacktop Jazz Bass
* Modern Player Jazz Bass
* Modern Player Jazz Bass V
* American Professional Jazz Bass
Signature models
![FGF museum 10](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/FGF_museum_10._Geddy_Lee_bass_model.jpg)
Fender has designed signature Jazz Bass models for notable players including:
*
Roscoe Beck
Charles Roscoe Beck is an American bassist with a reputation as "a solid bottom-liner". Beck has played with artists like Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Leonard Cohen, and The Dixie Chicks. He is also a successful record producer with two Grammy ...
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Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist for the rock band Blink-182, being the only constant member and the only one to appear on every album. ...
*
Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...
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Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...
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Victor Bailey
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Adam Clayton
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Cla ...
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Noel Redding
David Noel Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress.
Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...
[''The Bass Book: A Complete Illustrated History of Bass Guitars''](_blank)
p. 153
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Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
*
Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...
*
Frank Bello
Frank Bello (born July 9, 1965) is an American musician who plays bass for the thrash metal band Anthrax.
Early life
Bello is the nephew of Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. He had a younger brother Anthony, who was murdered in the Bronx, New Yo ...
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Steve Bailey
Steve Bailey is an American bassist. He is the chair of the bass department at Berklee College of Music.
Career
Bailey began playing bass guitar at age 12 and started playing fretless bass after he ran over his fretted Stuart Spector with his ...
24-fret Jazz Bass
In July 2005,
Fender introduced its first 24-fret bass since the
Fender Performer Bass
The Fender Performer was an electric bass guitar released in 1985 and discontinued in 1987, assembled in the United States and Japan. A Fender Performer electric guitar was also available.
Description
The Fender Performer Bass was a uniquely s ...
, the Fender Jazz Bass 24. The Jazz Bass 24 featured a sleek
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
body, a 34"-scale length, modern "C" shaped maple neck with a two-octave rosewood fingerboard, abalone dot inlays, 24 medium-jumbo frets, Hipshot-licensed tuners, Fender/Gotoh High Mass top-loading bridge, two custom-wound
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in America. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan foun ...
SJB-3 Quarter Pound pickups, a passive/active push/pull volume knob and a 3-band active EQ with a "slap" mid-scoop switch. It was available in the Fender price list as part of the Deluxe Series line, with Cherry Sunburst (discontinued as of 2007) and Tobacco Sunburst finishes over a quilted maple top and chrome-plated hardware. The 5-string version was introduced in 2007.
In 2008, Fender offered both the four- and five-string versions of the 24-fret Jazz Bass in a stealthy Flat Black finish (with matching headstocks and hardware). These two-octave Jazz Basses were gone from the Fender pricelist as of 2009.
The Steve Bailey Model 6 string Jazz Bass 2009-2011 also had 24 frets and was tuned BEADGC
Fender Jazz Bass 24 were made in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
.
Fender Jaguar Bass
In 2005, Fender introduced the
Fender Jaguar Bass
The Fender Jaguar Bass is an electric bass guitar currently manufactured in Mexico by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
Design
In appearance, the Jaguar Bass is largely faithful to the original Fender Jaguar, with exception of the ...
, as of 2008 available in Hot Rod Red, Olympic White, Sunburst and Black finishes, with a three-ply white or tortoise pickguard. This is a variation on the traditional Jazz Bass design—differences being that it has only one master volume and tone, but additional on/off switches for pickup selection, series/parallel switching, and a two-band active preamp with bypass switch.
The Jaguar bass retains the slim Jazz neck, bi-pole pickups,
Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...
/Jaguar body design and the trademark Jazz Bass growl.
As of 2008, the Jaguar Bass comes in Olympic White and three-colour Sunburst finishes, together with a four-ply brown tortoise shell pickguard. These colours were previously available only for the Japanese domestic market.
In 2012, Fender also introduced the Reverse Jaguar Bass in its line of Pawn Shop Series guitars. This special issue features a reversed body stock orientation, and also reverses the humbucking pickups for a unique tone.
Fender also offers several models of the Jaguar Bass in the Squier line (and an American Standard version since 2014), most with a Precision/Jazz "P-J" pickup configuration.
See also
*
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment, however it is best known for its ...
*
Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...
*
Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass
The Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass is an electric bass guitar created by Fender and was first introduced at the NAMM Show in 2003.
In 2022, Fender discontinued the Aerodyne after nearly 20 years of production.
The Aerodyne Jazz Bass is usually equi ...
*
List of signature model bass guitars
A bass guitar or simply bass is a plucked string instrument in the guitar family of stringed instruments. They can be electric bass or acoustic bass. In many genres, it has largely replaced the double bass. As with its electric guitar and aco ...
References
Sources
*
* Peter Bertges. ''The Fender Reference''. Bomots, Saarbrücken. 2007. .
External links
Fender Jazz Bass products page
{{Fender basses
Jazz Bass
Musical instruments invented in the 1960s
The Beatles' musical instruments