Fender Player Jazz Bass Review

Fantastic bass

I've had mine for 8 months now and I love this bass. Excellent build, comfortable to play, great classic tones, pretty to look at. I was never a Fender guy but this bass (my first Fender) showed me that I have been chasing after the classic Fender tone for the last 40 years. It's been my number one ever since I got it.

---

Cancel Comment

Awesome Bass

I love this bass, I always get compliments not only on the looks but sound at gigs. 10/10 would recommend

---

Cancel Comment

She’s a Sweet Thang !

After a couple of twists on the truss rod, a couple of turns on the string height screws, and a little touch of intonation adjustment, the Fender Players Jazz Bass is one "Sweet Thang"! Gut grabbing bass on the low strings and twang on the high strings. The potentiometers are very responsive and are more than capable of helping the player to dial in that " sweet sound" everybody… read more looks for. My Sweetwater Sale's Rep, Charlie Davies, said " You will love this bass". Charlie you are Correct! Sweet Thangs come from Sweetwater and Fender!

---

Cancel Comment

Wow! The Quality and Sound is Fantastic!

The sound is clear and punchy. Very nice low notes I prefer this MIM bass over the American. Really love this bass.

---

Cancel Comment

So pretty! I'm in luv

I've been dreaming of this bass for three years now so I finally caved and purchased it as a little birthday gift to myself, and also as a congratulations gift for turning in my college applications on time. It's beautiful!!! I have a background in playing guitar and ukulele so I don't think it's been too difficult for me to learn and play, especially since I haven't been able… read more to put it down since I opened the box HAHAHA. I'm interested in getting a pedal or two to get the exact sound I'm looking for, but I think it's playing incredibly well for now. Thank you Nick Dutiel for the helping me get this bass!

---

Cancel Comment

Amazing value!

I've been very impressed with the quality of Fender's Player Series instruments. Of course, Sweetwater's 55-point inspection probably has something to do with their guitars not needing a thing straight out of the box besides tuning! This bass is a joy to play and it has all the classic Jazz Bass tones. I am very happy with my purchase!

---

Cancel Comment

Love this

Great playing and sounding instrument .. as most shipped guitars and basses it needed a little tweaking to get it perfect.. I also have a Mexican Jazzmaster and shell pink so I knew this would be good .. some great stuff coming out of Fender Mexico factory

---

Cancel Comment

Great affordable bass

This is my first new bass purchase after dabbling for many years and owning a couple used ones handed down from friends. I'm primarily a guitar player but I can tell you this bass just feels and sounds so good. Not sure what Fender has going on down at their facility in Mexico but this far exceeded my expectations. Great quality for the price.

---

Cancel Comment

Great Value

I sold Fender US products for many years and played them as well. This bass feels and sounds exactly like the US version at a great price point. As a lifetime pro player and music professor I own top quality and vintage guitars and this instrument is one that I am thrilled to play just as much.

---

Cancel Comment

Fender Player JAzz Bass- AWESOME BASS OUTSTANDING VALUE

I have owned a pretty full run of different Jazz Basses... Squiers, Fender MIM Standards, Geddy Lee Bass, etc. This new Fender Player Jazz is a huge upgrade (second to the Geddy Lee I had). I wondered how this would compare to the MIM Standards and the Player Series is closer to the American stuff from 10 years ago. It looks and feels deluxe. The pickups sound premium. In the past,… read more with the Standard Series, I would be modding it out. The MIM Standards never felt finished to me, but this Player Series is a different animal. Like I graduated to something professional. The only mods are a new tortoiseshell pickguard, flatwound strings and chrome ashtray covers. And I feel guilty about THOSE mods!The action is where is should be, nice and low. Fret edges are SLIGHTLY rough, but no biggie. Tuners are super smooth.The only two things I find real fault with is (A) under the pickguard, the wiring route is exposed. Even my Squiers are solid under the guard and have discreet holes drilled for wiring. Not here. AND (B) I would have loved more of a tinted neck. But those are minor complaints.The finish on it feels thinner that what I expected... and that's a good thing. I hate the finishes that look and feel like the guitar is covered in 1/4 inch of plastic.All around, this is an outstanding value!

---

Cancel Comment

Incredible

This bass is so great. I got mine about a month ago and wanted to wait a few weeks to really make sure I've broken it in. It came out of the box perfect and ready to roll. The only thing I did was lower the string height, but that's just because of preference. It wasn't a necessity at all. I cannot explain how pleased I am with this thing. Perfect J bass sound, incredibly easy and… read more comfortable to play, and pretty light compared to other J basses I've played in the past. Also, Cody Kraus is the man. I've only bought from him over the years and he always takes care of everything I need. All in all, if you're on the fence about buying this bass, just go for it. You won't regret it! P.S. if you're feeling extra naughty, make sure you go for the buttercream option.

---

Cancel Comment

Best $... you can spend

I'm a guitar player who was wanting to get a bass for a while. I know quality Instruments as I've spent a lot of money on guitars.. for $699 this is an incredible instrument. Fender Mexican line has become the gold standard for sub $1,000 instruments. This is a quality piece that completes with much more expensive basses. No brainer for the price

---

Cancel Comment

3 tone burst w/ maple player jazz.

Been a p guy for 30 years, my first jazz! Wow!!! Great neck, well made, sounds awesome, looks perfect. Got a set of rotos to put on after the Fender strings die. Good service as usual.

---

Cancel Comment

Jazz bass

First of all Sweetwater did such an awesome job with the set up didn't need to touch it plays like butter sounds great color is even better than what I thought it would be Once again Sweetwater knocked it out of the park with the delivery so if you need a great bass you can't go wrong with this fender Pick ups are great plays fantastic sounds great way more for your money...

---

Cancel Comment

Excellent sound and feel, but...

Most Player Series Jazz and Precision Basses that i've seen have their strings misaligned with respect to the neck. This is obvious from around the 12th fret area and above. When I ordered this, I was bothered by the misalignment and showed a trusted luthier. He said the bridge was off by a few millimeters towards the treble side, hence why the strings have bad alignment. I've… read more seen a lot of brand new Player Series basses with this problem. Especially the MX20 serial number ones.

---

Cancel Comment

Great Choice

Coming from an Ibanez GIO that suddenly crapped out on me, the guys at SweetWater were amazing in having me return the GIO and I opted to upgrade to a Fender. I was torn between Jazz Bass or the P Bass. After doing some research and note I have only been playing for a short time, the thinner neck toward the top of the Bass sounded a little more pleasing to me in learning the instrument.… read more Once I got this bad boy in the mail, I was blown away! The feel, the sound is amazing! If you are a newbie or a seasoned pro, this is a great buy. Thanks to Jason from Sweetwater on his great customer service and patience. Always a pleasure working with this guys.

---

Cancel Comment

Great buy!

Excellent sound and extremely comfortable. Hard to beat the quality & price on this monster. As always Tom took care of us. Definitely recommend this product.

---

Cancel Comment

My fender bass

My fender Jazz bass is a very good piece of equipment. It heads as good aggressive tone that is punchy and really good quality. My bass has some other thing to it too. Instead of the baby looking bridge that’s isn’t really cool. My bridge is a BADASS BASS II and looked at many basses and I found none. It’s awesome and a great thing to have

---

Cancel Comment

Great bass

I had no need for a jazz bass but wanted to add one in the collection. I had Sweetwater install the Aguilar hum canceling pickups and I’m glad I did, for not much money I really upgraded the sound of this bass and no hum! I ended up changing the bridge to a cheap vintage style with flat head saddle screws and the slots to adjust for string spacing. I was able to set it up reasonably… read more low action. I also did change the tuners for some hip shot lollipop style, but that’s more cosmetic than functional. The stock tuners are fine, just a little stiff. Great beat around bass or backup.

---

Cancel Comment

I'm Back Home!

Learned to play bass on a new 1996 mim Jazz and really liked it. Bought and sold several types of basses since then, but now I'm back to my first love - the Fender Jazz. The upgrades Fender has done are really nice but I'm loving the maple fret board option. Neck is smooth and fast and so comfortable. Changed the pickguard to black and love the look - black, black with maple… read more board. Bass came pretty well setup out of the box - thanks Sweetwater - but wanted to change strings to flats and had my luthier do that along with a quick setup checking intonation and lowering the action. The upgraded pickups rock - awesome tones with the classic jazz growl. Looking forward to many years of fun with this bass!

---

Cancel Comment

The standard in bass guitars.

I guess you can say my review of this bass may be a little biased as I am a big fan of Fender bass guitars. I bought this for my son, who is a beginner, but is quickly outgrowing his short scale bass that he plays in the Jazz Band at school. I let him play other brands and this is what he liked playing the most. I would honestly give this bass a 5 star rating but there are a… read more few things that prevent me from giving it that rating. The bass is kind of pricey. Unfortunately, the only Fender Jazz bass model cheaper than this would be a Fender Squier and they just did not seem to be nearly as nice as this bass. Although, they are half the price and that should be expected. The bridge doesn't seem to be any better quality than the lesser priced Squier models. My early 2000's Fender Fretless Jazz bass has numbers on the volume and tone knobs. Very helpful to know where you have the knobs set to. The knobs on the new bass only have a white line on the top so you have to remember where the line was set to if you want to dial in a tone that you liked at a specific setting. On the old Jazz bass you could just write remember the numbers on the knobs. Not a big deal, but I feel the numbered knobs are better. These are my only gripes with the bazz and some could say I am being nit picky, but this is not a cheap bass. Now, let's talk about why this bass is worth every penny spent on it. It looks and plays AMAZING!!! Seriously, this bass plays so nice. The neck is a nice width and your hand slides easily up and down the neck. Right out of the box it is easy to play with no fret buzz anywhere. The action does need to be lowered just a bit, but that is personal taste. The bass also sounds great! It is such a versatile bass that can accommodate any style of playing you throw at it. There is a reason so many bass players choose the Fender Jazz bass....because it really is a great instrument. One other thing I've noticed is that a Fender bass will hold it's value over time and will probably be worth more than you payed for it down the road. My son loves playing his Fender Jazz bass and so do I when he's not around ;-)

---

Cancel Comment

So this is what a real bass is like!!

After playing a Squire P bass for 15 years you can understand my excitement when I started playing this bass. My comparison is quite different than most I assume, but this JBass is amazing. The action is easy, smooth...the tones are so varied and the neck feels so much more comfortable. I have only had it a couple of weeks and been away from it for most of that time...however...it… read more is sweeeet!!

---

Cancel Comment

Fender Player Jazz Bass

I was looking for a Jazz Bass with a maple fingerboard and I found this one. I ordered it from Ben as this was the lightest weight one he had. I received it very quickly and loaded it with D'Addario light gauge flatwounds. A setup wasn't necessary as the shop had done a good job setting it up already. Plugged it in and began thumping righr away. Played good and sounded good. Played… read more it on our next gig and every one since. The sound cuts through the mix and blends in well with the rest of the band. It looks good, plays good, and sounds good. I like it and am glad with my choice. Get you one.

---

Cancel Comment

Love This Bass!

I didn't want to spend $2000 on a bass, so went with this one. Wow! Great choice! I love the sound and feel of this bass. I'm looking forward to playing the daylights out of it. lol

---

Cancel Comment