Fender Gold-Foil Jazz bass

[jd56hawk]

Something new from Fender.

Available in 2-Color Sunburst, too, but it just doesn't work. Sorry Fender, you should've gone with Shell Pink.

Sweetwater...$1,299.99.

(Yes, a lot of money for an MIM, but...)

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by jd56hawk

[AndyTravis]

Steampunk Hoppus?

 

nah.

[Machines]

My Dad has gold foil pickups on a Rarities Stratocaster. Had to get them replaced under warranty as this was from a 20 min strumming session with a heavy pick. Can't tell if they've improved the design on that one, but be warned ! It is now kept in a case and never gets played for fear of damaging it.

 

 

[jd56hawk]

 

[Pea Turgh]

That’s quite nice.  I like.

[MungoBass]

£1199 at Thomann. 

 

I like the colour, neck binding and tuners.

 

I won’t be ordering one though!

 

 

[uncle psychosis]

Love it, but I'm not sure I'd want a gold foil in a bass. Hmm. 

[Waddo Soqable]

When I saw the title I thought it was going to be a Fender jazz finished in erm.. Shiny gold foil.. Doh.! 

[krispn]

The classic “Fender do something different” and folk either go mad +ve or -ve. If it’s not the look it’s the price or the concept or the fact that in 1986 you find a similar import…
 

Carry on fellas…

[krispn]

2 hours ago, Machines said:

My Dad has gold foil pickups on a Rarities Stratocaster. Had to get them replaced under warranty as this was from a 20 min strumming session with a heavy pick. Can't tell if they've improved the design on that one, but be warned ! It is now kept in a case and never gets played for fear of damaging it.

 

 

One may argue finger style bass may not suffer the same fate…

[AndyTravis]

Actually…sunburst looks better

[MungoBass]

1 minute ago, AndyTravis said:

Actually…sunburst looks better

Agreed!

 

The gold from the pup matches the burst and the white / parchment knobs match the pickguard......

 

Overall, much easier on the eyes!

[uncle psychosis]

Sunburst never looks better. 

[AndyTravis]

I am not into it at all…but if I won one in a competition I’d want it to be the sunburst 🤣

[Machines]

1 hour ago, krispn said:

One may argue finger style bass may not suffer the same fate…

 

I agree, but basically the pickup cover is paper. 

[Beedster]

Jazz Basses have 2xPUPs, end of 🎸

[Baloney Balderdash]

14 hours ago, Machines said:

My Dad has gold foil pickups on a Rarities Stratocaster. Had to get them replaced under warranty as this was from a 20 min strumming session with a heavy pick. Can't tell if they've improved the design on that one, but be warned ! It is now kept in a case and never gets played for fear of damaging it.

 

 

 

You are not supposed to hit the pickups with the pick, that is not how playing an electrical guitar or bass works.

 

And least of all if you are playing with a heavy gauge pick.

 

You are only supposed to hit the strings with the very outmost tip of the pick.

 

Not really Fender that is at fault here, as far as I am concerned.

 

Edit!!!: That came off a little more harsh and snarky than really intended. I mean of course it sucks that your dad accidentally damaged his new guitar cosmetically. Just saying that it's not entirely fair to give Fender the full blame, and that your dad definitely is responsible for part of it himself. Which I assume he is fully aware of too, since he didn't just send the guitar back. Some equipment is just inherently more delicate than other, and it is the users responsibility to treat it accordingly.

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash
Initial response came off a bit harsher than intended

[Aidan63]

Surely there are ways of making 'Gold-Foil' style pickups that are robust whilst looking nice, just using some gold foil on paper seems, well, a bit cheap, after all they will get sprayed with skin and sweat and pick flakes in the course of their life. Leo added the plastic covers to the P pickup ver. 2.0 to help them from premature degradation so maybe gold 'chromed' plastic would be a more suitable capping for such a pickup ? A case of style over substance me thinks

[Machines]

4 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

You are not supposed to hit the pickups with the pick, that is not how playing an electrical guitar or bass works.

 

And least of all if you are playing with a heavy gauge pick.

 

You are only supposed to hit the strings with the very outmost tip of the pick.

 

Not really Fender that is at fault here, as far as I am concerned.

 

Edit!!!: That came off a little more harsh and snarky than really intended. I mean of course it sucks that your dad accidentally damaged his new guitar cosmetically. Just saying that it's not entirely fair to give Fender the full blame, and that your dad definitely is responsible for part of it himself. Which I assume he is fully aware of too, since he didn't just send the guitar back. Some equipment is just inherently more delicate than other, and it is the users responsibility to treat it accordingly.

 

 

It was actually me, he doesn't play much anymore as he has arthritis. Yes, you are supposed to hit the strings, but i've never had that happen on any other guitar i've played in 20 years - suggesting those other 50+ guitars were not made from a perishable material, on a £1800 instrument I found that shocking.

 

My point is that I think this is not a pickup any player who should get if they are a 'physical' player. Home plodders/wall art collectors go ahead.

[ezbass]

8 hours ago, Beedster said:

Jazz Basses have 2xPUPs, end of 🎸

True that.

 

If I had been designing that bass, I think that would’ve set the pickup back a bit so that it’s not in the P or J neck p/up ‘sweet spot’, more towards the MM position. If you’re going for different, go different.

 

Also, I’m intrigued with the recent fascination for gold foils, which has filtered across from the skinny stringed market. They’re not the most powerful of pickups and plainly have some build issues. It does appear to be more of a marketing exercise that one based in tonal superiority. As ever, YMMV.

[Doctor J]

13 hours ago, krispn said:

The classic “Fender do something different” and folk either go mad +ve or -ve. If it’s not the look it’s the price or the concept or the fact that in 1986 you find a similar import…
 

Carry on fellas…

Every time Fender do "something different" I try to understand which gap in the market they're trying to fill or if what they have done is good enough to create its own space.  Dimension aside (which fell into the "what exactly is this bass trying to do which isn't already done superbly well by a L2000 or Stingray" bucket), their "something different" seems to be mixing up a random jumble of parts from pre-existing instruments into something never quite satisfying which will have a short production run and vanish. 
 

And here we have another one 🙂

 

I think they continually put out this limited appeal, short lifespan tat for brand awareness only. They'll get limited column inches, facebook posts, retweets, youtube reviews and forum chat for the 1000th regurgitation of a P bass with a slightly different colour of paint but, ooooooh, gold foil... shiny! 
 

And here we are talking about Fender 😁

[MungoBass]

6 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

 

 

forum chat for the 1000th regurgitation of a P bass with a slightly different colour of paint but, ooooooh, gold foil... shiny! 
 

And here we are talking about Fender 😁

 

Or even a J bass with gold foil! 😁

[Doctor J]

10 hours ago, Beedster said:

Jazz Basses have 2xPUPs, end of 🎸

 

😁

[Beedster]

36 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Every time Fender do "something different" I try to understand which gap in the market they're trying to fill or if what they have done is good enough to create its own space.  Dimension aside (which fell into the "what exactly is this bass trying to do which isn't already done superbly well by a L2000 or Stingray" bucket), their "something different" seems to be mixing up a random jumble of parts from pre-existing instruments into something never quite satisfying which will have a short production run and vanish. 
 

And here we have another one 🙂

 

I think they continually put out this limited appeal, short lifespan tat for brand awareness only. They'll get limited column inches, facebook posts, retweets, youtube reviews and forum chat for the 1000th regurgitation of a P bass with a slightly different colour of paint but, ooooooh, gold foil... shiny! 
 

And here we are talking about Fender 😁

 

Agreed, 'different', 'better' and 'necessary' are certainly not always the same thing 🤔 

[neepheid]

This will disappear without a trace.  Keeps on happening, anything that deviates from the "norm" - take your pick - Dimension, Cabronita P, Starcaster, Coronado, I could go on.  The Meteora will be next, followed by this, most likely.

 

I personally applaud them for trying new stuff, but they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.  The majority of Fender's customers just want the classics.  People who want something a bit different don't tend to give Fender a second glance.  This is the world we live in.