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NEW Fender Deluxe Models!


Musicman20
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[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='784149' date='Mar 23 2010, 11:12 PM']Yes, it looks like they're using the same bodies as the Am.Std this time. It's good business sense to delete the smaller body shape they used to use for the Deluxe model. :)[/quote]


Ahh that explains it.

I was in the guitar shop today and saw what I though was one of these new ones - Delux Natural Jazz bass, US, 22 frets, 4 knobs, including a stack. However the bodies were tiny, down sized headstock and the strap peg wasn't over the 12th fret .... Didn't try one but it looked, er, different.

That must have been the older model.

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[quote name='OldGit' post='786330' date='Mar 25 2010, 09:03 PM']Ahh that explains it.

I was in the guitar shop today and saw what I though was one of these new ones - Delux Natural Jazz bass, US, 22 frets, 4 knobs, including a stack. However the bodies were tiny, down sized headstock and the strap peg wasn't over the 12th fret .... Didn't try one but it looked, er, different.

That must have been the older model.[/quote]


What shop was it in and would they have a website? The only shop i know in Cardiff is Cranes and their site shows a couple of nice 70's Jazzes
I am intrigued by these smaller bodied Fender Jazzes.

BB

Edited by BarnacleBob
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[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='786341' date='Mar 25 2010, 09:10 PM']What shop was it in and would they have a website? The only shop i know in Cardiff is Cranes and their site shows a couple of nice 70's Jazzes
I am intrigued by these smaller bodied Fender Jazzes.

BB[/quote]


There's 4 decent bass/guitar/gear shops in Cardiff and this was in Cranes.
They don't have much of their stock on their website.
They had two that I could see (they have about 50 basses at any one time)
One at about £999 and one at £1399 I think. Not sure why the difference,

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Just got back from trying out one of these new 2010 American Jazz Deluxes with the intention to buy. Hmmmmm! I thought the word Deluxe meant top of the range, hardly weighing in at a heavy 10lb. You would have thought they would have specially selected bodies represnting nice grain & light weights. Obviously other Deluxes will vary slightly weight wise but 10lbs sure aint Deluxe to me. Both my 96 Custom Shop American Deluxe Jazz & 02 FMT Jazz weigh in at 8.5lbs each, what I'd expect from a top end bass.
The active / passive switch is a nice touch although it was the new N3 pups & new eq that I was primarily interested in seeing what difference or improvements there were compared to the SCN & Noisless set ups of its Deluxe predicessors.
Overlooking the terrible (NONE) set up, to my ear I thought there was very little difference to notice if any. I'd have to realy test it out alongside my other jazzes to realy see if there were any real difference but on that all important first play opinion, I'll not be handing over my hard earned wedge just yet, not even if it was 8.5lbs. I was hoping for some real noticably differences in tonal ability. It will be interesting to hear from others who currently have the pre 2010 Deluxe basses & try a new one out.

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[quote name='Heartbreaker' post='790767' date='Mar 30 2010, 04:30 PM']Just got back from trying out one of these new 2010 American Jazz Deluxes with the intention to buy. Hmmmmm! I thought the word Deluxe meant top of the range, hardly weighing in at a heavy 10lb. You would have thought they would have specially selected bodies represnting nice grain & light weights. Obviously other Deluxes will vary slightly weight wise but 10lbs sure aint Deluxe to me. Both my 96 Custom Shop American Deluxe Jazz & 02 FMT Jazz weigh in at 8.5lbs each, what I'd expect from a top end bass.
The active / passive switch is a nice touch although it was the new N3 pups & new eq that I was primarily interested in seeing what difference or improvements there were compared to the SCN & Noisless set ups of its Deluxe predicessors.
Overlooking the terrible (NONE) set up, to my ear I thought there was very little difference to notice if any. I'd have to realy test it out alongside my other jazzes to realy see if there were any real difference but on that all important first play opinion, I'll not be handing over my hard earned wedge just yet, not even if it was 8.5lbs. I was hoping for some real noticably differences in tonal ability. It will be interesting to hear from others who currently have the pre 2010 Deluxe basses & try a new one out.[/quote]

Interesting! Thanks for letting us know....I sure need to test before I go ahead.

10lbs to me seems pretty normal for a full sized 5 string...was it a 4 or 5?

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This had the Alder body (3 colour Sunburst) as do all the black & other solid colour new Jazz Deluxes, they only do the ash body on Natural & Trans Wine.
My Lakland 55-02 Deluxe is only 8.7lbs, (lightest Lakland 5 string I've had) mind I also had a 55-94 Deluxe at atround 9.5 lbs & a Natural 55-02 that was near 11lbs so I guess many manufacturers show quite a bit of discrepancy in body weights too.
For weight camparison in the shop I also picked up couple of new 09 American Deluxe Jazz's, one was light, the other heavy.

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Well,

I got my hands on a 3-Colour Sunburst/RW today...

First Impressions -

-Looks great, a very dark, rich Sunburst (may not be 'yellow' enough for some).
-Shiny fretwork.
-Great blocks/binding, tidy nut.
-Out of the case, not as heavy as my MIA Vintage 75 reissue, nor as heavy as My Marcus Miller.
-Fantastic low action.
-Geat fit and finish.
-Schallers (nice, considering they ditched themm on the last 2 variants of the Standard).
-Big 'Geddy' style logo, early 70's my favourite of them all.
-Glossy head front, tidy saitin back of neck.
- 21 frets!!! thank God.

So it looks good, and plays like a dream - It really does look the part; i was never really a fan of the sqaushed apperance of previous American Deluxe models.

A really slim neck, very like the current USA standards -It feels like home...if you get me?

If you work in a shop, you'll know that the Fender USA standards can need a tweak out of the case - this just doesn't need anything.

How does it [i]sound[/i]?

I used a cheapish but reasonable amp to try it out, Peavey Tour 450 Head, 2X10/1X15 cabs.
At first, it was very bright, but i set the amp completely flat.

The EQ is really nice, seems more subtle than the previous Deluxe Jazzes i've played, the bass doesnt muddy things up, the mid is really useable.
When pushed, the treble control introduces the typical background noise - Not excessive, this control can split a hair a 100 yards, a very boosty treble.

The Pickups are great, really responsive, seem to have a hint of the USA vintage i'm used to with my Miller/75.

I played a typical default slap thing - Sorry, i know demo guys always pull 'meck, meck, thakka wakka' etc. This bass is like a much tider sounding Marcus Miller in this respect (i however, am not...). The treble control half up, bass three quarters and mid in the centre, very good.
Roll to the bridge pickup - not completely, roll treble more or less off, fantastic for Jaco-esque runs (i'm not Jaco either...)
Messing around with it opens up a world of sounds...a really good all rounder.
I found a really nice setting for funkier stuff, not toatlly 'typical'.

Passive? Yeah, just a really tasty passive Jazz. I didn't have time to pop the batteries out to see if it's a true passive on/off.




Now, as i said, this is not a fanboy review sales pitch...

Things i don't like about it...and they aren't major.

1. The tone control would be invaluable if it worked in Active mode. It [u]doesn't[/u], and that's a real oversight - I think it is the making of the Jaguar Bass, and it could have been a strong selling point. (This is the worst thing about it).

2.The decal on the back of the headstock 'American Deluxe' looks terrible, maybe this is just me.

3. The N3/Fender logos on the pickups look really cheap looking 'Silver'. For points 2 and 3, i'd buy some wet and dry to rub them off, or buy plain pickup covers at least. If this was your main bass, this wood start to wear off and look tatty, not something i'd want on my bass.

4. The A string has its own string tree. Somebody had too much time on their hands - compared to a Fender USA standard there isn't a major difference in break angle over the nut for the A string, a couple of degrees at most. If you can restring a bass properly, you'll acheive the same restlts, and you wont have a claw on your A string.

5. Very Minor - Wish it was a shell pickguard.

6. Wish it had a 'bullet' truss rod nut.

I hope this isn't a one off, if it is, i'm buying this one...I can live with the minor things.

I'll probably sell my Marcus Miller - :)

Hope this helps guys, it's been a busy busy day for bass at my shop...but i managed to convince myself, i like it a lot.

Trav

Edited by AndyTravis
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