Ed_S Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 My only gripe is with the pre-amp. I affectionately know the pre in my 2010 Deluxe P as the 'Fender DFA', because it Does F*** All. The pan isn't a pan (as already covered) and one of the dual stacked pots should have come labeled 'high pitched electrical noise', which you can elect to dial in or out of your overall tone as you see fit. Unless, that is, you're near fluorescent lights, and then it's there irrespective ...so I leave it on passive all the time! Don't get me wrong, the bass itself is absolutely great and the pickups in passive mode are as good as any big name equivalent replacement that I've tried. But eventually it'll be this deluxe's destiny to have a new pickguard made with only holes for volume, tone and either a proper pan or a three-way toggle, and all the active stupidity stripped out and stuck in a box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr zed Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I have a 2009 model 4 string American deluxe jazz and it's fantastic. This pans between the 2 pups and the tones are to die for - typical Fender and a great sound can be found that is appropriate for any mix. No passive function just 18v active but that suits the sound i'm after - a sort of hi-fi version of the classic Fender tones. No issues with unwanted noise whatsoever, the noiseless pups really are! The quality is superb, it's lightweight and has a smaller body than a standard jazz so it doesn't look ridiculous on me (being a bit of a shortarse). The neck just feels right in my (small) hands - again quality all the way. Gripes? Yes, there are 2. The pre-amp isn't as powerful as i'd like. By that I mean that the change in tone when you roll on/off the bass, mid and treble is subtle rather than shall we say overpowering - compare this with my TRB5PII which is 9v and the difference is very perceptable with the TRB being very capable of shaking the ground with the bass is rolled on or slicing your head off with the treble. Having said that, all the tones sit very well in the mix with the jazz whereas I have to be careful with the TRB that I don't overdo it. 2nd gripe is the access/positioning of the 2 x 9v batteries. A little black plastic coverplate on the rear that is removed with 2 screws, then you have to really fiddle around to get the batteries slotted into a very tight space is not good for a bass costing well in excess of £1000 when new. The TRB's battery can be changed in seconds as can the battery in my Stingray. Much more profesional looking than that of the jazz. I've considered fitting a John East preamp to 'improve' things but i've not been able to do an A-B test with another bass with one fitted to see if the difference would be worth it and can find nothing on You Tube or Johns website. Heard good things about them though. Anyone out there made this modification? All in all thgough a terrific bass that I use most of the time now. The TRB gets used maining when I need the low B string and the stingray when i'm after 'that' tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluRay Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Hmmmm....it was the active circuit and the p/j pan control that caught my eye. If its basically just a good passive bass with bits added then now I'm less sure. GAS wobble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 [quote name='Ed_S' timestamp='1321691557' post='1441928'] My only gripe is with the pre-amp. I affectionately know the pre in my 2010 Deluxe P as the 'Fender DFA', because it Does F*** All. The pan isn't a pan (as already covered) and one of the dual stacked pots should have come labeled 'high pitched electrical noise', which you can elect to dial in or out of your overall tone as you see fit. Unless, that is, you're near fluorescent lights, and then it's there irrespective ...so I leave it on passive all the time! Don't get me wrong, the bass itself is absolutely great and the pickups in passive mode are as good as any big name equivalent replacement that I've tried. But eventually it'll be this deluxe's destiny to have a new pickguard made with only holes for volume, tone and either a proper pan or a three-way toggle, and all the active stupidity stripped out and stuck in a box. [/quote] Why not just swap the pre out for an Aguilar / East / Sadowsky etc? Then no need to get work done as the pick-guard, battery compartment and cavity are all there and presumably you wanted an active pre-amp when you first bought it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_S Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1321696377' post='1441984'] Why not just swap the pre out for an Aguilar / East / Sadowsky etc? Then no need to get work done as the pick-guard, battery compartment and cavity are all there and presumably you wanted an active pre-amp when you first bought it? [/quote] Good question.. and sadly I must admit the answer lies mostly in vanity! I wanted the colour (trans wine red), wanted it to be a US Fender P-bass (not a copy or custom build), and wanted it to be new in original colour (not a refin). The active pre-amp and the J pickup at the bridge were bits I thought long and hard about and eventually decided I could either get rid of or ignore. So, because I'm strange, stripping out the active bits and fitting a simpler pick-guard would be cheaper, and actually get it closer to what I originally wanted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 Ah, so the 2010 'pan' on the P bass is effectively a three way switch. But, they put it in a control knob, and it has almost tricked me! To be honest, all I want is a really nice P/J with volume, tone, and a proper pan. The active isn't essential to me although if its good I'd obviously quite like it. I think I'll be sticking with a normal American Standard P until they have another with a PJ + pan. The amount of sweetspots inbetween is crazy...I don't know why they opted to not have a pan! The 2010 Jazz and Jazz 5 Deluxe also look fantastic. My gripe? Well, again, weird version of the classic VVT. Doesn't it have V+Pan+Tone? Is the Pan a three way again? Nice looking basses though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 [quote name='Ed_S' timestamp='1321698227' post='1442011'] Good question.. and sadly I must admit the answer lies mostly in vanity! I wanted the colour (trans wine red), wanted it to be a US Fender P-bass (not a copy or custom build), and wanted it to be new in original colour (not a refin). The active pre-amp and the J pickup at the bridge were bits I thought long and hard about and eventually decided I could either get rid of or ignore. So, because I'm strange, stripping out the active bits and fitting a simpler pick-guard would be cheaper, and actually get it closer to what I originally wanted [/quote] Trans wine red? Sounds gorgeous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girya32 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 a question for those that know, if you look here [url="http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?prodNo=019407"]http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?prodNo=019407[/url] the american deluxe precision has a normal jazz bridge pickup, but I have seen a 2nd hand one with a "jazzbucker", ie, 2 rows of pole pieces on the pickup - did they change at some point, or is it another model or aftermarket pickup ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panamonte Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) [quote name='girya32' timestamp='1326369347' post='1496077'] a question for those that know, if you look here [url="http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?prodNo=019407"]http://www.fender.co...p?prodNo=019407[/url] the american deluxe precision has a normal jazz bridge pickup, but I have seen a 2nd hand one with a "jazzbucker", ie, 2 rows of pole pieces on the pickup - did they change at some point, or is it another model or aftermarket pickup ? [/quote] The double J pickup was standard on the pre-2010 Am Dlx P, but was replaced with the 'normal' looking N3 J pickup in 2010. Edited January 12, 2012 by Panamonte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBRebelMC Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) I have recently acquired a 2010 Jazz v deluxe (the one that was in Bass Direct- linked earlier in this thread) and I love it. The preamp is quite subtle and allows for easy tweaking of EQ without dramatically colouring the sound - I like this approach as I've always used the preamp to fine tune EQ from the bass after having established the overall tonal shape using the amp. It is also quiet with no mains buzz - I've been put off Jazz basses in the past because of the noise but the N3 pickups do seem to be genuinely noiseless. The pan pot as mentioned in earlier posts isn't really a progressive pan, it is possible to blend the pickups one to the other but the blending is only within a very small percentage of the the pot rotation either side of the centre indent (both pickups together) and almost immediately becomes bridge pickup, both pickups or neck pickup. I suspect this is because it is a passive blend rather than active in order to preserve the option when in passive mode, although why they don't just use the twin volume pot layout of the standard Jazz rather than a master volume and blend I don't know. In all I am delighted with the sound and particularly the look of the instrument, the 70's neck and logo do it for me big time! Edit - added pics [attachment=97251:DSCF1303.jpg][attachment=97252:DSCF1305.jpg][attachment=97253:DSCF1306.jpg] Edited January 13, 2012 by MartyBRebelMC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 [quote name='MartyBRebelMC' timestamp='1326408436' post='1496994'] I have recently acquired a 2010 Jazz v deluxe (the one that was in Bass Direct- linked earlier in this thread) and I love it. The preamp is quite subtle and allows for easy tweaking of EQ without dramatically colouring the sound - I like this approach as I've always used the preamp to fine tune EQ from the bass after having established the overall tonal shape using the amp. It is also quiet with no mains buzz - I've been put off Jazz basses in the past because of the noise but the N3 pickups do seem to be genuinely noiseless. The pan pot as mentioned in earlier posts isn't really a progressive pan, it is possible to blend the pickups one to the other but the blending is only within a very small percentage of the the pot rotation either side of the centre indent (both pickups together) and almost immediately becomes bridge pickup, both pickups or neck pickup. I suspect this is because it is a passive blend rather than active in order to preserve the option when in passive mode, although why they don't just use the twin volume pot layout of the standard Jazz rather than a master volume and blend I don't know. In all I am delighted with the sound and particularly the look of the instrument, the 70's neck and logo do it for me big time! [/quote] Sounds great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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