Often Imitated

By mid-2000, Fender's popular American Standard line of basses and guitars was replaced by something described nebulously as the "American Series". I guess they got tired of the term "American Standard" reminding people of toilets and thus dropped the Standard moniker. No matter, however, as this has made the remaining quantities of the American Standard series much more affordable. The differences between the American Standard and the American Series are equally ambiguous--the new series claims to have "rolled fingerboard edges" and "greater attention to detail". For an average price differential of $250 between the old and new series, I don't think so....

I purchased a '97 American Standard Jazz Bass from Yahoo! Auctions for the steal-it price of $330. This is about the price of a new Made in Mexico (MIM) Jazz Bass. Since I've now owned both the Made in America (MIA) and the MIM Jazzes, let me here do a comparison as well as an overall review of the MIA.

What's the Difference?
Besides country of origin, there are a few differences between the MIM and MIA Jazz Bass to note (I go over these differences in my review of the "Standard Jazz Bass," so you might want to skip this section if you've read that one).

Body Woods: MIM has a poplar body while the MIA comes either in alder or ash. Alder and ash are the standard vintage tonewoods, but poplar is a very suitable alternative, being comparable in weight and tone to the other two.

Graphite Reinforcement: The neck of the MIA bass is reinforced with graphite stringers, while the MIM's neck is not. The original Fender basses didn't have graphite stringers either, so in this case, the MIM is more like a vintage Fender; however, there are some real advantages to having graphite stringers--the main one being stability. The reason so many of those vintage Fenders haven't survived is neck warping and twisting. While the graphite stringers change the tone of the bass somewhat, I find them overall to be an advantage. I managed to adjust the MIA bass so that the neck is pretty flat, with really low action and minimal fret buzz (definite plus!).

Electronics: The classic Jazz Bass tone comes from two single coil pickups wired out-of-phase. This means that when both pickups are used together, it cancels hum. When each pickup is used by itself, some hum will be present. Also, the bridge pickup on the MIA bass is slightly longer than the neck pickup, to accomodate the slight taper in string spacing from bridge to neck. The MIA Jazz has this arrangement, but the MIM uses two pickups that are the same size, and the neck pickup isn't reverse wound, so there is no hum cancelling effect. Theoretically, this means that the MIM has more tendency to hum. This also makes upgrading pickups on the MIM a little more difficult--to do so, you'll have to find a manufacturer that makes two neck-sized pickups, or enlarge the bridge pickup cavity.

Hardware: The American Standard basses come with different hardware than the MIM's. The first difference is in the bridge. Both basses have the relatively thin Fender stamped-steel bridge. However, the MIM's only offer top load stringing, while all the MIA's have through-body stringing. Some MIA's also have combo stringing (you choose whether to go through the body or through the bridge). Lots of people prefer through-body stringing because it creates a steeper angle between the string and the bridge saddle and thus makes better contact with the saddle. It's not a big deal, but it's a nice option to have on the MIA. Another area is the tuners. The MIA's come with Schaller tuners that are labeled with an "F" for Fender. Schaller is a very well-known and well-respected manufacturer in Germany. The MIM's come with some generic tuners. I can't say for sure, but generally the Schallers are higher quality and will offer better stability.

Summary: A new MIM Jazz Bass can be had for $300 or less. A new American Standard typically sold for around $900. Is the American Standard three times better than the MIM? In my opinion, no. For $600, a MIM bass can be modified in any number of ways to be just as good as the American Standard. However, as I mentioned earlier, the American Standard series is being phased out, so there are some incredible deals (I got an American Standard Hot Rod P-Bass brand new for $599!).

There are a few other reasons I would choose an American Standard over an MIM. The first one is that the American Standard is a professional-quality bass right out of the box. If you want something that's good and that you won't have to mess with (besides getting a setup, which is required of pretty much all factory-new Fenders), the American Standard will be terrific. If you keep it for many years, as you're likely to do, the intial price won't be such a big deal. The second reason for me is psychological (hope you appreciate my honesty). When I had my MIM Jazz Bass, I felt like I had something that was "good for the money". No matter what happened, I couldn't shake the desire for a MIA Jazz. I feel like the MIA is the "standard," and while there are still better Jazz Basses made by other companies (Sadowsky, Mike Lull), I don't feel like I need to have one. So if having an MIM is gonna bother you, you might be better off spending the money right from the start.

The American Standard Jazz Bass
The previous section was meant to educate the first-time buyer on the differences between the MIM and MIA Jazz basses so that you can be an informed buyer. Lately on eBay and other places, I've seen MIM's selling for ridiculously high prices. If you have other questions, feel free to send me an e-mail and I'll do my best to help you.

As I mentioned earlier, I got this American Standard from Yahoo! Auctions for a song. It was a fluke, really, and I doubt I'll ever get such a good deal again. The seller was a little sketchy, and I was stressed out thinking that maybe I had gotten ripped off at first, but it came through and now the bass is in my greedy paws. It's opaque black, and there are a bunch of other finishes available. The American Standard also comes with the option of a maple or rosewood fretboard. Contrary to one of the other reviews, besides the look and smell (?), there is a tonal difference between maple and rosewood, which should be your main concern. Generally, maple lends a brighter tonality, while rosewood is warmer and deeper. Rosewood fretboards are much more common to see in stores, but if you want maple, be aware that it's available (but I don't recommend choosing it just because it looks cooler). The typical Jazz Bass electronics are seen on this bass--two passive single coil pickups, each with an individual volume, and an overall tone contrl (that affects both pickups simultaneously). These are single-coil pickups, which means you'll get some hum from them unless both of them are on at full volume. Fender has recently started to sell "Vintage Noiseless" pickups; I've ordered a set and will try to update this review when I've spent some time with them.

Sound
The Jazz Bass has been used by thousands of musicians in its nearly 50 year history. Here I will highlight three famous Jazz Bass players and the American Standard's ability to replicate their sounds. This is not an exact science (tone has a lot to do with a player's own style and his/her amp setup), but I think I can provide some general guidelines.

1. Jaco Pastorius (Fusion, Jazz) - For myself and most of my friends, when I think of Fender Jazz Bass, I immediately think of Jaco. He was one of the greatest musicians who ever lived. Jaco played a heavily modified fretless Jazz Bass, and his tone can be characterized as bright and warm at the same time. There's a lot of clarity in his sound, and it really cuts through in a mix. This sound can be found on the Jazz Bass by using the bridge pickup with the tone control backed off almost to zero and plucking close to the bridge.

2. Larry Graham (Funk) - Larry Graham made a name for himself as the innovative bassist for Sly and the Family Stone and later, his own band, Graham Central Station. Lately he's been working with Prince. Larry was one of the first, if not THE first, to use the "slap bass" style of playing that has become so cliche in this day and age. His tone is characterized by a deep bottom, nice thick top end, and lightly scooped mids. This is not the scooped mid tone we're used to now, but more of the old-school style with less "sizzle". I find that this tone is available with both pickups wide open. I suspect that he might have used the bridge pickup, but as a P-Bass guy, I don't like the way that the bridge pickup robs the bass of its gorgeous low mids, so for a nice old-school funk tone, I use both pickups together.

3. John Paul Jones (Rock and Roll) - John Paul Jones was a talented multi-instrumentalist with Led Zeppelin. Besides anchoring the band with his deep Jazz bass lines, he played the keyboards, synths, and bass pedals. What a guy! To approximate his sound, I use neck pickup on 100% and bridge pickup at about 1/4. This gets me close to that rock and roll tone.

Some other Fender Jazz players whose tone you might want to study are Geddy Lee (Rush), Marcus Miller (Miles Davis, David Sanborn, everybody else!), Tommy Shannon (Stevie Ray Vaughan), and Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers Band). There are plenty of other players who have used Fender Jazzes, but I've been writing this review for a long time already and my mind is only half on! Anyhow, what you'll find from listening to these bass heroes is that the Jazz Bass is quite versatile. I personally love the character of its low-mids, which I have never been able to get using active electronics. I'm not too hip on the brightness of the bridge pickup solo'ed, but a lot of people really like it. There is endless experimentation available with the Fender Jazz, and I highly recommend adding one to your bass arsenal. Note that while American-made Fenders are pretty good, many of them come from the factory with lousy setups, and you'll need to adjust the action to your liking. This is explained in the owner's manual that comes with the bass (no matter what Guitar Center tells you, the bass is SUPPOSED to come with the case, a manual, strap, polishing cloth, and adjustment tools), or you can take it to a qualified technician. There is also some variability in quality between different versions of the same model, so try them all.

Get out there now and try one out, and remember to trust your ears.