Fender Flea Jazz Bass RW

[isteen]

I think I am falling in love with this bass.

Okay, this roadworn thing is getting out of hand, but the 61 jazz with 64 pick ups - I want one.

Anyone tried to play it?

 

[Linus27]

I've played one and it does indeed sound very very good. I tried it against a Fender 70s Mexican Reissue Jazz and a Fender American Professional Jazz and all three basses sounded amazing but different. I think my money would of gone to either the Flea Jazz or the 70s Mexican Jazz as they seemed the nicer basses and probably had the edge tonally. The Flea really does feel old, dirty and beaten up which I loved and probably had the edge over the Mexican 70s Jazz. The neck was lovely and it played really well. However the Mexican 70s Jazz looks stunning with the blocks and binding, had an even nicer neck and the sunburst is so deep and colourful. Plus it's about £300 cheaper.

In the end I bought a mint condition secondhand Fender Jazz 75 AVRI but I do have gas for a Flea Jazz and a 70s Mexican Jazz still as they both really got under my skin. You cant go wrong g with the Flea Jazz if you like the look.

[White Cloud]

I own one and having owned scores of jazz basses from Fender and the other usual suspects it is admitedly probably my favourite 'Feelwise' 

... however, it is rough in places. The pickup rout on the bridge pickup is sloppy and oversized (about 4mm too wide on the underside), the neck pocket vould be a tad tighter and the plugged in sound is definitely on the dark side (which I never anticipated from a bass endorsed by Flea!)

Overall, a flawed, but very good copy (in spirit) of a 60s jazz. 

[paddy109]

I absolutely love mine - but haven’t owned masses of other basses to compare it to. 

Its a colour that I wouldn’t have considered previously but I couldn’t stop looking at one on the ‘for sale’ thread. 

The reviews are good and they appear to hold their value.

[Musicman20]

I would say it is my favourite Jazz bass I've owned or player. I have a USA Jazz sitting in it's case barely being used because the look/feel/sound of the Flea Bass is so raw and interesting.

Mine is certainly that Jazz tone I always wanted. It's aggressive but it can easily be tamed. I also find it is pretty damn bright, contrary to the other owner above...

The finish is absolutely lovely. I am a sucker for shell pink and the relic job is great.

They have gone up around £150 since I got mine, but they are still worth it. A really really good spec. Don't be put off by the fact its Mexican. 

[big rob]

I have one and i love it, i'm not normally a Jazz man at all but somehow the Flea feels so different.

For me i think its a combination of the road worn finish and the stacked knob controls, just so much better than the VVT for me.

Get one you wont regret it.

 

[nige1968]

How U-shaped are the necks in reality?

[isteen]

Thanks guys, I will go and try one in a shop - and might take it home, too 😁

 

Thanks for your time

[paddy109]

They do turn up quite often on Basschat! I think there was one very recently advertised.

[bassfan]

There’s one for sale on the forums... @walshy  has one. 

Edited February 21, 2019 by bassfan

[walshy]

1 hour ago, bassfan said:

There’s one for sale on the forums... @walshy  has one. 

Yep I sure do with Custom shop ‘62 pick ups 👍

[Hellzero]

Played one of a friend last week and it's a really good bass. I usually don't like neck pickups on Jazz Basses, but on this one it sounded simply terrific. In fact I played all of the rehearsal only with this neck pickup, using the detent tone to vary the sound to suit the music (fusion and a bit of pop). The bridge pickup is very good, but too conventional.

A player's bass for sure. About the neck, I preferred it to the typical Nothing in the Hand Jazz Bass usual neck. 😉

[miles'tone]

20 hours ago, Hellzero said:

 

A player's bass for sure. About the neck, I preferred it to the typical Nothing in the Hand Jazz Bass usual neck. 😉

Does this mean that they are a bit thicker front to back? If so I like the sound of that. Slim J necks give me hand cramp!

[Drax]

Played one and really liked it but just can't get past the relic thing. Did half consider getting one repainted..! 

[gjones]

On 20/02/2019 at 19:19, White Cloud said:

I own one and having owned scores of jazz basses from Fender and the other usual suspects it is admitedly probably my favourite 'Feelwise' 

... however, it is rough in places. The pickup rout on the bridge pickup is sloppy and oversized (about 4mm too wide on the underside), the neck pocket vould be a tad tighter and the plugged in sound is definitely on the dark side (which I never anticipated from a bass endorsed by Flea!)

Overall, a flawed, but very good copy (in spirit) of a 60s jazz. 

I played one and found it quite twangy. The sound of a Jazz Bass does depend on how the pickups are set up. I own a road worn Jazz, which initially sounded pretty nasal. I adjusted the neck pickup, so that it was closer to the strings and lowered the bridge pickup, and this darkened the tone considerably.

[Hellzero]

2 hours ago, miles'tone said:

Does this mean that they are a bit thicker front to back? If so I like the sound of that. Slim J necks give me hand cramp!

Yes, that's it.

[Lozz196]

Our very own Bassix has one and in the mix it sounds great, neck pickup sounds very Precision-like, and both pickups together are classic Jazz bass. 

[bassix]

I've had to put it up for sale unfortunately, not by choice! They just feel great to play. 

[afterimage]

I have  fender  jp hot rod and a fender 74 with the u profile neck both feel comfortable but they are a bit different

If your used to the c profile necks I do like the flea and the stacked volume tone knobs 

But not the relic look  I would rather have a new look 

[NikNik]

On 22/02/2019 at 12:28, miles'tone said:

Does this mean that they are a bit thicker front to back? If so I like the sound of that. Slim J necks give me hand cramp!

IIR, the original stackpot Jazz necks were fuller compared to the slim neck that came later in the '60s, say from '63 onward. Anyone agree?

[police squad]

yep, it's all I used for two years, I did about 80 gigs on it and I love it.

I'm not playing much bass these days but I have it in my office and had a noddle on it last night before I went home.

Lovely bass

[maybemart]

On 20/02/2019 at 17:58, isteen said:

I think I am falling in love with this bass.

Hi

I owned one for a while, gigged regularly.  Sold it (reluctantly) to make way for a Fender Strat

Very nice bass though, distinctive sound, punchy, powerful.  I can't claim to have played early 60's original basses I'm afraid, but this comes pretty close I reckon.  Downsides were :

- completely unshielded electronics, so it buzzed like a swarm of angry bees!....of course, I could have got that sorted for not much money

- the tone controls are mighty strange.  They don't work in any kind of graduated, linear way, or nearly as 'well' as on my American standard.  Probably supposed to be like that to mirror those early days, but I found it very tricky to quickly get, say, a much warmer sound if you wanted that

But, overall, excellent and very cool bass for the money....

Mart

 

 

[[email protected]]

Got one of these last month. Got to say I love it. Used it at a function last weekend along with my Stingray. A great sound, a pleasure to play and ended up doing 90% of the gig with it. I've not experienced any of the negatives that have been mentioned above and I played at a fairly loud level. I did buy it cheap with the intention of moving it on for a profit but it's now not going anywhere, sounds so good in the mix.