We take a look Fender's American Ultra Jazz model and break down what makes it unique and how it sounds
I have long been in love with the Fender Jazz Bass. As a young player, I found myself drawn to the Jazz Bass — how it looked, felt, and sounded. A Jazz Bass just felt like home when I had it in my hands. I liked the slender neck, the way the two-pickup configuration allowed for a variety of tones, and how favoring the bridge pickup allowed the bass to punch through the mix. For a long time I wanted an Amercan-made Jazz, but I couldn’t afford it. Toward the end of my college years, however, a friend who worked at a local music store sold me one he got in on trade — at a price that I’m told later got him in trouble with management. (Thanks, Jeff!) That ’93 American Jazz Standard is still one of my main instruments, but I’ve added a number of other Jazz Basses alongside it, including a ’76 that is killer.
Over the past three decades, I’ve played a host of Jazz Basses, from vintage ’60s models to the reissues and modern updates Fender has produced in that same time spa