HeadlessBassist

Comparing it to the American Elite was never going to be a fair comparison, as the Elite is the very best of the Fender American Deluxe lineage with an 18V preamp onboard and one of the best Jazz neck profiles around. But I have compared it to a prototype Nitro Okoume Jazz with roasted maple neck/fingerboard that Silky999 built, which has Fender Pure Vintage 66 pickups in it, and it's not far behind. Obviously the cheap Fazley pickups aren't going to be as rich sounding as the Fender ones, but it has a nice Jazz bass scooped sound and it's very nice to play. Not particularly heavy either, being as the body is ash.

Well, it's now all set up and the only thing I have to complain about is the strings. They're supposedly D'addario sets, but they were pretty lifeless and the E was a dud with a nasty overtone. No problem! I bought a couple of Warwick Red Label 35-95 sets in the Black Friday sales for £8 each, so I've put those on it, and it sings. The pickups (whatever they are) produce a deep and toneful bottom end, and a clear, but in no way nasty top end. It's a low and fast funk machine now. This will make someone a fine bass. Total spend, £71.

As good as their word. It came this afternoon while I was doing a NYE Cello Duo Gig with an ex-pupil, so I'm just home... Okay, first I need to introduce The Judge from the Fazley Outlaw Series, aka "Kermit The Bass". So the hand oiled finish is about the worst shade of green you could possibly imagine, more like Ford Signal Green that you used to get on Escort Mk2s. But hey, it's only £63. About that £63... Look at the neck pocket fit and finish. I have £2k Fenders that aren't as well finished as this bass. I've a good mind to phone Bax and ask them if I owe them any more money?! Fit and finish is amazing for the money, even at the near £300 they should normally be. The roasted maple fingerboard is finished very well too. Frets are all properly seated with no sharp edges whatsoever, and the fingerboard edges are totally smooth, if not actually rolled. The ash body is a little lacking in grain, but hey, £63. Setup is almost bang on as well. It'll just need a slight tweak of the truss rod tomorrow. I haven't plugged it in yet, but so far I can't see any penny pinching as such. Even the tuners are the same quality as a Sire. Watch this space...

Judging by the colour and type of case (as well as the lollipop tuners), it's an American Vintage II, isn't it? The smell of Nitro Cellulose varnish when you open the case is lovely on these. My American Original Jazz is seven years old now, and still has the smell every time I open the case. 🤪

Hopefully mine will arrive tomorrow - depends on how efficient Royal Mail are... 🤔

Bass Bags / String Centre in Ripley, Derbyshire are very good - highly recommended and owned by a friend of mine.

Yes, the open pore hand stained oil finish may have an impact, similar to how the Nitro Cellulose finish basses always sound more open and alive, as it were.

Only in America... I do hope no one is so utterly stupid to fall for this. $50,000 would buy you nearly two new Alembics! I bet the neck dive is terrible, too.

@Silky999 You're becoming the single piece body artiste, my friend! That is seriously lovely...

Ah yes, the Dave Swift owned one. Very nice basses, they were. I had the Jazz version with the FSR hand oil stained finish. They were based on the American Standard 2012, but had the 2008 pickups, which were better sounding. I shouldn't have sold mine earlier this year. It had a hugely focused modern punch, quite unlike most other Jazzes.

Yes, the very same. If there's a faded Sherwood Green American Professional Classic still hanging on the wall, it's already been sold to me I'll have a look at those on the site. Might have to go down there in the next few days...

No, no, it has nothing at all to do with the fact that my American Professional Classic Precision has been delayed by some damned inconvenience called Christmas and there being no one at the Gallery who is capable of taking it to a Post Office or Courier and actually send it to me, or something similar. Obviously the Gallery folks don't have arms. No, no, no... What's that you say? GAS you say? Naaah, none of that here... But in all seriousness, I just want to see how much bass you can get for £63. Excellent tip-off, Michael

That's a fantastic clutch of T-40s and T-20s you have there! I hope you have a suitably re-enforced body brace for playing them live! Thankfully, I tend to be pretty pragmatic when buying/selling basses. I usually sell what isn't earning me money as a bass player, so thankfully manage to avoid huge amounts of instruments that way. There was one regret, the best five string Status S2-Classic I ever played, which I traded in for one of the Music Man Classic Sabres at the time. Huge regrets over that one. I've never seen it up for sale again in about 13 years, either.

Did you treat it to a 'Wigan Salad' (Pie, Chips, Peas and Gravy) while you were there..?

If mine is as heavy as a Boat Anchor, I'll be sure to send it to you, but with a special note to the courier saying to put it down carefully - may create Sink Holes!

I've been using the Melvin Davies preamp pedal since Summer for our duo sets when I don't use a combo. Creates a great sound overall, although you do need to be careful with the treble and bass controls when using an active bass. I haven't done any of the computer connection stuff as yet. It all sounds very complicated to me! But as a basic preamp at a relatively low price, it's hard to beat.

A Chinese made Roasted Jazz neck alone would cost you more than that. To be able to get a hand stained natural Ash jazz for that is just giving them away. It's the old adage of 'stack em high, sell em cheap'. Even if the pickups are hot garbage, you can replace them with some nice Fender Pure Vintage 66s for just over £100, thusly more than doubling the value of the bass, he said. I've just ordered one too - it'll be another affordable bass to sell to a pupil when needed. I just noticed the RRP is usually £245!

If you look at the specs, it's a cheap laminate ply bass. Strings will probably be utterly terrible and watch out for the tail wire explosively failing. Those are the good parts it'll be missing. Guaranteed. Fazley are the same people that sell brand new higher-tier Precision-style basses for about £140 brand new. (With roasted neck and gig bag!) https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/electric-bass-guitars/fazley-outlaw-series-peacemaker-plus-red-electric-bass-guitar-with-gig-bag

I did pro pantomime for four years at the Sheffield Lyceum. Sometimes you’re in the main pit in front of the stage and others you’re often in a room behind the pit operating via tv monitor. Usually, only the MD/pianist can see the monitor, but the whole band is hearing the proceedings on headphones, as well as the band mix and any backing tracks to add other parts. They’re tough runs - we used to do somewhere around 56 shows, sometimes three shows a day when the school kids would arrive by the coach load on early December mornings.

For best results, dredge your vintage tonewood from the bottom of a lake, same as they do for those highly expensive drum kits. As for that screw in the G string saddle, I’m selling them for £40,000 each. Right, who wants some Magic Beans then..?

Typically, now I've ordered my American Professional Classic Precision from the Bass Gallery, I spot these - Listen to the demo on the last frame in the list of pictures... Don't know what strings he's putting on these, but his timber choices and how he makes/winds the pickups sound sublime. https://reverb.com/uk/item/92759611-alnus-bass-precision-bass-2025-aged-dakota-red

It forces a rush of compressed air into the tone wood molecules and makes them vibrate more quickly. As a result the bass resonates faster, making the sound sweeter, generates a more purposeful tone, and thusly the player becomes faster, with improved technique and accuracy, and becomes more God-like. 🤣 You did ask. Happy Christmas one and all!

That's a nice looking Bass for sure. I'm curious JD, you sound like you place the aesthetics of a Bass very highly, whereas I mainly go for the feel, playability and sound of the bass in question. I stopped by the Gallery during my Precision research and chose the green American Professional Classic, because that particular instrument felt and sounded great to me. I'm not really bothered about colours

Yes, but which one? The early 2000s ones with the S1 parallel/series switching were a bit flaky, the 2008 was a seriously good instrument. The 2012 was pretty good too, with a very modern punch to the sound.