NBD Fender Boxer Jazz Bass Special (2021) mini review

[Pinball]

I'm "on honeymoon" with my latest purchase, a MIJ boxer. A P/J hybred, which successfully manages to be a re-issue and an update worthy of a 2021 release. 

Choosing my bass!

I spent around 3 hrs making a racket in Bass Direct, armed with my ears and and an open mind. They have a large collection of new and used kit so it look me a while to decide.

The important criteria were the sound (tone/power) and playability, together with looks and cost. I was prepared to pay more if needed and It was a tough decision as there were some really nice basses.

The Boxer came home with me because:

1. When soloing the neck pickup, it was one of the nicest sounding of the basses on offer. This alone narrowed the search from several down to one of 3 options.

2. It was really nice to play and the satin neck felt just right (search was now narrowed to 2).

3. The extra tone options!

Those pickups are hot and you get a lot of extra tones options. You have the J and P pups, 3 way pickup selector, each pup has it's own volume. Finally there is the "TBX tone knob", which has a split function. The first half turn functions as a normal tone and the 2nd half gives scoops and boost options. I can even hear it doing an active bass impression at times so it stood out when compared to the others.

Check out the video below to hear the sound options.

It was already winning my heart before even coming down to it's looks and won there too as I love it's RED colour. Other endearing features are that it is light weight and has solid MIJ build quality.

So to sum up it is a re-issue, a great precision and bang up to date with more tone options, hot pickups and great neck. I wanted the P bass tone, power and simplicity. The boxer delivers.

There are some things that I don't like. I would have preferred a beefier and less spiky bridge (I hate those screws poking up) and I don't like the sharp corners of the pickups. All that comes with the re-issue tag I guess.

Overall it is a "bruiser" of a precision and a real players bass. I'm very happy and although it has Jazz in it's title I'll be using it as a P bass.

This video sums it up well.

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by Pinball