Has anyone played or purchased a new Fender AS 2012 with the new pups?

[Musicman20]

If so, any views on how they sound?

Cheers

[Dingus]

The Jazz Bass with the C.S. 60s pickups honestly sounds as good as any Jazz Bass I have ever had my hands on , including much more expensive boutique ones . The pre 2012 Am. Standards weren't too shabby either , but these sound a bit more well ... better due to the upgraded pickups . It goes without saying , if you have a pre-2012 you can easily just buy a set of the C.S. pickups and have them put into your existing bass and you will in effect have the 2012 spec . Haven't heard the P but I expect it will be just as good .

Edited November 25, 2012 by Dingus

[Musicman20]

I have a J and P from the 08 series (2011 and 2009) and both are rosewood.

I was thinking of getting a 2012 with a maple board if the pups were decent

[Dingus]

The two I have first -hand experience of both had maple boards and both were consistantly as good as each other , although one was significantly heavier than the other . They have got all the classic Jazz Bass sounds in spades , and I honestly think these current Am. Standards are still a bit of a bargain even at the new prices , especially considering the quality case ect ..

Edited November 26, 2012 by Dingus

[Fuzzbass2000]

Are the custom shop pickups something different from these?

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Original-Precision-Pickup-Black/dp/B0002KZB0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353923534&sr=8-1&keywords=precision+bass+custom+shop+pickup"]Link to amazon[/url]

Which at one point I'm pretty sure were called the '60s pickup?

Edited November 26, 2012 by Fuzzbass2000

[Musicman20]

Not sure what they are. Apparently they are custom shop spec pickups.

To be fair, my current two sound fantastic and I have no intention of changing them!

Edited November 26, 2012 by Musicman20

[Musicman20]

[url="http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/custom-shop-60s-jazz-bass-pickups"]http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/custom-shop-60s-jazz-bass-pickups[/url]

[Lozz196]

I haven`t, but seeing how good my 2011 Precision is, I`d be very interested to hear a 2012 issue.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Fuzzbass2000' timestamp='1353923531' post='1879647']
Are the custom shop pickups something different from these?

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Original-Precision-Pickup-Black/dp/B0002KZB0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353923534&sr=8-1&keywords=precision+bass+custom+shop+pickup"]Link to amazon[/url]

Which at one point I'm pretty sure were called the '60s pickup?
[/quote]

I thought this was the pickup on the pre -2012 basses , but I am not so sure I was right in that assumption after looking at the Fender website and the lack of any information on any of their Precision pickups . The pre -2012 pickups sounded perfectly good to me , but those 60s CS Jazz Bass pickups are some of the best sounding on the market and really do give a nice edge to the sound . That said , you can so easily upgrade any Fender with new pickups from the myriad on the market that existing owners need not cast a wishful eye on the new 2012 crop . I used to have an early 70s Fender PJ with an ash body that I put with Seymour Duncans in and it sounded immense . A friend of mine who is a well established pro player borrowed it to do a session for an album and refused to give it back . I ended up having to sell it to him and he is still using it twenty years later . One of the great things about Fenders is that they are so easily upgradable , but the post 08 Am Standards are so good to start off with that once you put some first rate pickups in them like you would get on a boutique bass , there really isn't anything else you would change .

Edited November 26, 2012 by Dingus

[KiOgon]

I'm very tempted by the American Std 2012 Fretless Jazz but don't really want another 3TS or Black. Why such a limited choice in fretless Fender?

[jackers]

I have a 2012 USA P-bass and it sounds fantastic. The CS pick-ups give one of the nicest P-bass tones I have ever heard, I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it just sounds better to my ears than the 08 P it replaced.

I went into a music shop to do some comparing, and ended up not wanting to play any other basses once the 2012 P was in my hands

[bartelby]

Haven't played one but the charcoal frost and the jade ones, with maple baords, are very nice looking.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1353933010' post='1879808']
I'm very tempted by the American Std 2012 Fretless Jazz but don't really want another 3TS or Black. Why such a limited choice in fretless Fender?
[/quote]

Ah I see! Just realised you said fretless.

I've looked into it and some retailers are able to do them for about £1k for non-burst and dv247 give you a 4 year warranty!!!

I was about to plunge into another Bongo order but I think the one I have due any day is enough as I have loads of fantastic Musicman basses.

I played my Jazz (2011) last night and loved it. Don't get me wrong it's taken me a long time to bond with the Jazz neck but that back pickup sounds SO good.

I was looking at boutique Fender copies but why bother when the Fenders are so good?!

As mentioned in another thread, keep it stock and use the Aguilar TH pedal and you have the best if both worlds.