NBD: Fender American Deluxe Dimension HH Bass

[grayn]

Met up with Basschat forumer Karlfer this afternoon, to do a trade and ended up with this rather nice US Deluxe HH
Dimension Bass.  It was a pleasure meeting and doing business with Karl and talking bass, of course.
For some reason, Fender's Dimension series of basses didn't seem very successful, coming and going rather quickly.
I remember buying a new SQUIER Deluxe Dimension Bass V MN Black, for under £300 and being very impressed.
A lot of Fender players are very traditional and I guess they didn't take to Fender's attempt to produce an EBMM Stingray beater.
My first impressions of this particular Dimension bass, are very positive and having owned a number of EBMM Stingrays,
can see the similarities and differences.
The Dimension uses some very nice woods and hardware and the build quality and finishing are very good.
The 2 HB pickups come with a 5-way selector switch, that gives 2, double pickup, single-coil options.
And it is these 2 options that I like the most.
The pickups in full HB mode, singly or together sound good but I prefer the clarity of the SC options.
So how does it compare with a Stingray?
The bridge pickup is a lot closer to the bridge than on a Stingray.
So if you are after a bass that can do that Stingray sound, you'll be a little disappointed.
The Dimension's pickups don't have the HB quality of an EBMM Stingray, IMO.
But they do have there own sound and a lovely variety of combinations to delight your ear.
This bass sounds great through both my gigging rig (Galien Krueger - Mark Bass) and through my practice/back up amp (Fender Rumble 500 combo).  
It's a lovely mix of Stingray and Jazz Bass, to my ears, with something of it's own as well.
This Deluxe bass came with very low, very solid action and this combined with a very comfortable neck, make it a pleasure to play.
To my eyes, it's a bit of a looker too, with a translucent sunburst finish, over some lovely wood grain.
Although, on a personal level, I'd have preferred a tort scratchplate, with black, Jazz Bass style knobs.
As in it's name, this bass comes with some welcome, Deluxe features.
A very tasty, Hi-Mass bridge, a Heel-Mounted, Spoke Wheel, Truss Rod Adjuster and a very capable 18V Preamp with Active 3-Band EQ.
I also really like the Fender "F" Light-Weight Vintage-Paddle Key Tuners, with Tapered Shafts.
OK, I've only played this bass for about an hour, both solo and along to my own recordings (bass muted of course) but so far
I am very very pleased with it, both as a very capable/usable instrument and as a tasty addition to my bass herd.
I don't think I've played a bass quite like it, which is a very good thing, in my book.
So cheers Karl.

[Muppet]

These really are cracking basses. I have two of the HH five string versions and I love them.  The necks are beautiful and the bodies are nicely weighted.  Really under rated basses as people are always either comparing them to Stingray/Sterlings or complaining that they're just 'not Fender'. Then we complain that Fender just rehash the same old stuff year after year......... 

There's a FB page here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/382848225624135/

 

[Guest]

...and by way of my NBD, I just picked up a Dimension Deluxe V for a very good price. Mine’s natural ash and maple, and in pickup position 2 (not the furthest position from the neck, but the next one toward the neck) sounds very similar to a Stingray. I also have a Dimension Standard V without the pickup selector, and at the bridge it sounds nothing like a Stingray. The two in between tones are very interesting and make it more versatile than the Standard. 
 

Surprisingly the two basses sound very different - similar enough to appear to have the same basic character, but the different woods, and active vs passive make a big difference.
 

The only challenge I have had is with the spoke wheel adjustment - the small holes are only about 1cm deep and not hollow so you cannot just stick a small screwdriver through one hole and out the opposite one. In the end I had to take the neck off and with both basses the adjuster felt very stiff trying to remove relief. This isn’t helped by the bridge plate being so thick that it restricts how low you can set the bridge saddles. Luckily both are just about perfect in terms of action. It’s odd as the Stingray/Sadowsky spoke wheel is a piece of cake to adjust.

 

For what I paid for each bass they are an absolute bargain. If you see one for sale grab it as they’re rare and IMHO they offer something that neither a Jazz Deluxe nor a Stingray offers.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Muppet said:

These really are cracking basses. I have two of the HH five string versions and I love them.  The necks are beautiful and the bodies are nicely weighted.  Really under rated basses as people are always either comparing them to Stingray/Sterlings or complaining that they're just 'not Fender'. Then we complain that Fender just rehash the same old stuff year after year......... 

 

The ash/maple looks much better with a black scratch plate. Mine is white - need to change it!

[Muppet]

12 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

The only challenge I have had is with the spoke wheel adjustment - the small holes are only about 1cm deep and not hollow so you cannot just stick a small screwdriver through one hole and out the opposite one.

I use a spring loaded centre punch!

10 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

The ash/maple looks much better with a black scratch plate. Mine is white - need to change it!

Sims custom shop made mine. They should have it stored as a template if you contact them!

[Guest]

WD in the UK now have dimension pickguards available to order. I’ve bought a black/white/black. £27 inc postage isn’t bad but it’ll be on back order so may be a while from the US.

[Marc S]

Not tried one of these. I did try a Squier version, but couldn't really judge it too well, as the shop I tried it in (in Bristol) hadn't set the bass up very well at all
The action was terribly high. In fairness, they said it had just arrived....

I do like the look of this bass - lovely colour & grain I must say. And yes, you're right - Fender seem to be damned for trying to make something "different", while at the same time, damned for making something "un-Fender-like". So it seems they can't win. Wouldn't mind trying one of these myself, to give me something else, with different tonal options. But I must resist - as I've already got too many basses!

Happy NBD - enjoy, and let us know what you think once you've played it more and gigged it

[Paddy515]

Anyone own both a G&L L2500 and a 5 string Dimension or A/B'd them together to see the similarities/differences?

 

Always thought this was Fenders take on one of Leos best bass designs.

[skej21]

Tried a few of these in the shop and they are awesome basses. Must admit I spotted the ad and was a little tempted

[Guest]

On 04/12/2019 at 10:32, Paddy515 said:

Anyone own both a G&L L2500 and a 5 string Dimension or A/B'd them together to see the similarities/differences?

 

Always thought this was Fenders take on one of Leos best bass designs.

I don’t own a G&L but had a good long play on one not long ago. The Dimension doesn’t have any true coiltap facilities (the in between settings are one coil from each pickup) whereas the L2500 has series, parallel and single coil per pickup. I remember the L2500 as having a great tone, If rather hot and a little too hard sounding and aggressive for me. The Dimension is still very much a Fender despite the humbuckers. The active one with ash and maple board is noticeably brighter than the passive version with alder and a rosewood board, even with EQ set flat. I love them both!

[mangotango]

On ‎02‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 16:08, grayn said:

Met up with Basschat forumer Karlfer this afternoon, to do a trade and ended up with this rather nice US Deluxe HH
Dimension Bass.  It was a pleasure meeting and doing business with Karl and talking bass, of course.
For some reason, Fender's Dimension series of basses didn't seem very successful, coming and going rather quickly.
I remember buying a new SQUIER Deluxe Dimension Bass V MN Black, for under £300 and being very impressed.
A lot of Fender players are very traditional and I guess they didn't take to Fender's attempt to produce an EBMM Stingray beater.
My first impressions of this particular Dimension bass, are very positive and having owned a number of EBMM Stingrays,
can see the similarities and differences.
The Dimension uses some very nice woods and hardware and the build quality and finishing are very good.
The 2 HB pickups come with a 5-way selector switch, that gives 2, double pickup, single-coil options.
And it is these 2 options that I like the most.
The pickups in full HB mode, singly or together sound good but I prefer the clarity of the SC options.
So how does it compare with a Stingray?
The bridge pickup is a lot closer to the bridge than on a Stingray.
So if you are after a bass that can do that Stingray sound, you'll be a little disappointed.
The Dimension's pickups don't have the HB quality of an EBMM Stingray, IMO.
But they do have there own sound and a lovely variety of combinations to delight your ear.
This bass sounds great through both my gigging rig (Galien Krueger - Mark Bass) and through my practice/back up amp (Fender Rumble 500 combo).  
It's a lovely mix of Stingray and Jazz Bass, to my ears, with something of it's own as well.
This Deluxe bass came with very low, very solid action and this combined with a very comfortable neck, make it a pleasure to play.
To my eyes, it's a bit of a looker too, with a translucent sunburst finish, over some lovely wood grain.
Although, on a personal level, I'd have preferred a tort scratchplate, with black, Jazz Bass style knobs.
As in it's name, this bass comes with some welcome, Deluxe features.
A very tasty, Hi-Mass bridge, a Heel-Mounted, Spoke Wheel, Truss Rod Adjuster and a very capable 18V Preamp with Active 3-Band EQ.
I also really like the Fender "F" Light-Weight Vintage-Paddle Key Tuners, with Tapered Shafts.
OK, I've only played this bass for about an hour, both solo and along to my own recordings (bass muted of course) but so far
I am very very pleased with it, both as a very capable/usable instrument and as a tasty addition to my bass herd.
I don't think I've played a bass quite like it, which is a very good thing, in my book.
So cheers Karl.

That looks absolutely wonderful. Not sure why people give the major manufacturers stick for trying something different from their usual lines...unless it's something hideous like a Gibson Corvus or the like. THEN you can beat them with something large and heavy.