NBD - Fender Duff McKagan Signature Deluxe

[BrunoBass]

Today I welcomed into my fold a brand new Fender Duff McKagan Signature Deluxe bass guitar. 

I’ve been thinking about getting a PJ configuration bass for a while. I had one a while back and it filled the gaps very nicely in my rock covers trio. I saw the Duff in a store last week and thought it looked awesome. Lots of online research, followed by a return visit to try it out and the deal was done.

It’s a beauty, finished in a lovely pearlescent champagne colour. It’s not quite white, but it’s close enough to tick my Paul Simonon fanboy boxes. I’m not usually a fan of black hardware but it looks great on this bass. You can find all the specs online if you’re interested. 

The neck is substantial but not overly chunky. Nut width is 41mm I’d guess, it feels similar to my EBMM Stingray. Despite the Jazz Bass Special name on the headstock it’s definitely got more Precision DNA in it than Jazz. Despite being a Signature instrument there is no trace of Duff’s name anywhere on it, only a ‘skull’ motif pressed into the neck plate.

It’s slightly neck heavy, more noticeable when playing seated but strapped on it balances well. I love the fact that I have master volume and master tone (that’s how I’ve always had my J basses re-wired) and a pickup selector. All three positions give very individual, useable tones. The secret weapon is the TBX tone control which I’m looking forward to experimenting with. 

Very useful to me is the factory fitted Hipshot D-tuner. It’s not properly set up though so it will need fine tuning, which I hear is a bit of a faff...

The set up was ok: intonation and action all good, although the relaxed tension on the E when the Hipshot is engaged results in a lot of buzz, so that will need tweaking too.  

General fit and finish is excellent, as you’d expect from a £1000+ bass. 

It comes with a Fender gig bag which they describe as ‘deluxe’: it’s anything but - thin and fairly useless, so I’ll be using one of the excellent Mayones gig bags I own, which are very heavy duty. 

It’s definitely a ‘rock’ bass, and as the man himself plays almost exclusively with a pick it’s easy to get a punchy rock tone by doing likewise, with both pickups on. But I think the Duff is more versatile than that. The Seymour Duncan J pickup in isolation is honky and funky but not thin and weedy, and the P pickup in isolation is warm and full, especially played finger style. 

I like it very much. I’m looking forward to giving it a proper high volume workout tomorrow at rehearsal. Nice! 

[Lozz196]

Congrats, I’m really liking the look of these 

[PlasmaZombies]

Looks excellent man!! I'm digging my black one! Very versatile bass!

[bassbiscuits]

That's lovely that.

[LewisK1975]

Played one of these in Wunjo a while back, very nice indeed!

I wasn't a fan of the Vol/Tone/3-way personally, I prefer VBT or VVT.

Lovely Bass though, and congrats!

[BrunoBass]

I managed to get some time to sit down with the Duff and get to know it a bit better. 

Overall, I’m very impressed. One thing that does disappoint me however is the bridge, which looks and feels thin and flimsy. No big deal, as I was kind of planning to put a black high mass on anyway, but disappointing none of the less. You feel the same @PlasmaZombies? 

[PlasmaZombies]

@brunobass I am very happy with mine! However, while I do feel a high mass bridge would be a bit more solid and look much cooler, I wouldnt class the original bridge as flimsy. It serves its purpose just fine but i may well upgrade it to a high mass in the future if there's a suitable one that would just drop in without further modification. Keep us updated if you do change yours!

[BrunoBass]

First band practise with the Duff tonight. Very happy! 

[BrunoBass]

On 05/09/2019 at 20:02, PlasmaZombies said:

@brunobass I may well upgrade it to a high mass in the future if there's a suitable one that would just drop in without modification.

There are a few hi-mass bridges with five screw holes which should just drop straight in. I’m considering, Gotoh, Hipshot, Omega etc. who all do bridges in black finish.

Fender hi-mass are very solid, good price too, and I’ve installed them before, but they only come in chrome sadly.

[BrunoBass]

I replaced the stock bridge, which I wasn’t totally happy with, with a Gotoh high mass bridge. Thought you’d be interested to see this @PlasmaZombies 

Easy fit, all the screw holes lined up perfectly. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade as far as I’m concerned; the notes have more clarity and attach than with the old bridge. I’m not bothered about increased sustain particularly but the new bridge has improved that too. 

It looks great as well 😉

[Lozz196]

Looks great with the Gotoh

[LewisK1975]

57 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Looks great with the Gotoh

+1

[PlasmaZombies]

@BrunoBass Wow!! That looks absolutely fantastic and I'm glad to hear about the sonic improvements it has made! 😀

You really have me tempted now to make the same upgrade to mine, it's probably the only weak aspect of the bass IMO. Again, it looks awesome! 

[PlasmaZombies]

Just noticed also, have you fitted chrome straplocks buttons to yours? Or did those come as standard?! 

[BrunoBass]

40 minutes ago, PlasmaZombies said:

Just noticed also, have you fitted chrome straplocks buttons to yours? Or did those come as standard?! 

Well spotted! The bass came with black strap buttons but I always fit Schaller strap locks to my basses. I had some chrome ones lying around, and I was going to buy black ones, but then I thought ‘no one’s going to see them once the strap’s attached!’ so I fitted the chrome ones.

[grayn]

That is such a cool looking bass and the hi mass bridge just adds that finishing touch.

Congrats all round.

[uk_lefty]

13 hours ago, BrunoBass said:

Well spotted! The bass came with black strap buttons but I always fit Schaller strap locks to my basses. I had some chrome ones lying around, and I was going to buy black ones, but then I thought ‘no one’s going to see them once the strap’s attached!’ so I fitted the chrome ones.

Someone noticed them. Go get the black ones!! 

😂😂😂