Fender American Elite Jazz Bass V - Natural w/ Maple Fingerboard Reviews

This is my dream bass! It has that classic Fender Jazz Bass tone, but the active 18V preamp and EQ takes it to a whole new level with tone control. It takes minimal adjustments of the EQ and pickup pan controls to get an amazing variety of sounds.

The neck shape, instrument weight, and balance on a strap when standing are everything I wanted coming from my previous bass (a 6-string Warwick Corvette Standard that weighed in at a whopping 14 pounds). I've played 4-hour shows with this thing strapped on my shoulder and it barely feels like I had been playing at all!

On suggestion from my sales engineer, Taylor Perry, I had my bass Plek'd and strung with the Fodera Nickel Roundwound .45-.125 strings. These strings have a warmer/darker sound than the stock Fender NPS strings, and are a perfect fit for the bass sound I want.

Based on my experience so far, you can't go wrong with this bass!

Purchased this from Sweetwater, and I don"t think I"ve heard a better bass sound. On top of that, Nick H. at SW is the tops! He has helped me with several purchases at sweetwater. From my Aguilar amp to my newest bass. I can"t thank him enough. Though my jazz base is a beautiful tobacco sunburst, can"t go wrong with Fender USA.

Fender absolutely "knocked" this out of the park! Wow fun to play the entire tonal range of this bass blows me away every time I pick it up. I highly recommend this bass to anyone. On most basses the low B get muddy and on this bass you have a tone that will stand out on the mix.
Thank you Fender

This bass is a great example of how quality craftsmanship and materials can make an otherwise "light" gauge B string feel nice and tight. I used to think I must have a 35" scale bass when buying a 5 or 6 string just to keep the low B tight enough. However, this 34" scale plays just as nice as any other, and I don't have to buy railroad ties for strings!
I saw one of the Fender videos with someone saying the Elite bass is so comfortable to play that they could play it for hours and hours and not get tired. I completely agree! This bass has a lot of versatility and comfort. I even tried other brand basses in the same price range, but nothing stood up to this one. I think it's even better than the Elite P-Bass...and not just because it has a 5th string :-)

I spent a lot of time deciding on this bass, and am thoroughly satisfied with this fine instrument. It has taken some time to find the sounds I was looking for, but not all that hard to dial them in. Extremely versatile.

What can I say? Since Fender acquired Music Man their top level instruments have been improved considerably. This bass is as solid as they come. Outstanding performance from the active/passive electronics and top flight hardware means every note rings like a bell. The low B string sounds fantastic. You don't need an extended scale (this bass is 34") to make the low B sound good. At least not here. This bass comes with a heavy duty form fitting case loaded with case candy that includes a top quality strap and Schaller strap locks. There are allen wrenches for adjusting action and intonation and the intonation wrench doubles as a truss rod adjustment tool. Everything you need to start gigging right away.

When I first received the bass it a very loud hum issue and I noticed that the input jack doesn't hold all instrument cables tightly. Both Sweetwater and Fender recommended that I bring the bass to the nearest authorized Fender repair dealer, which I did. The repair shop also agreed that the hum was louder than it should be. They had the same bass on the sales floor and did an A/B comparison, which confirmed the problem. They also noted that their bass had the same issue with the input jack. The repair shop removed the pick guard, control plate and batter cover. Checked all wires and connections and found nothing wrong. After putting it back together they plugged it in and the hum was gone. There thought was that the wires hadn't been laid in properly when the control plate was originally installed. Apparently if certain wires cross over others it can cause this problem. So... the hum is now at the appropriate level for an active system. The input jack is the same. Fender said they would look into the input jack thing with their R & D department as it wasn't unique to my instrument. I found that my Quantum cables fit tightly so I use those. Repair was free under warranty and the problem hasn't returned. Been playing out with it every weekend for a month and it sounds and plays great.

It's great beautiful wood grain neck is nice also get all kinds of tones with it in active . Switch to passive sounds great also. Only reason didn't give it 5 furrels came off when doing string thru. No big deal.sweetwater tech advice how to fix.also it was set right from sweetwaters.

I gloried at the beauty of this bass when I opened the case the first time, and still do. Outstanding craftsmanship. It also plays very well. Neck and action are wonderful. Lots of resonance in the body. Very comfortable to play. However... very noisy pickups and/ or preamp. The noisiest bass I own. My two passive Fender J basses (American Standard fretless and USA Geddy Lee) hum a little if you take your hands off the strings but don't hum at all with hands on - i.e. while playing. This thing hums even with treble and mid cut in active mode. In passive mode the hum is less distinct. However, it doesn't go away when you touch the strings as with a regular passive bass. The pickups say "noiseless" on them, but they're not. When the entire band is playing the hum is not noticeable but it's a problem during quiet sections of a song or when no instruments are playing. I have to mute it during those times. Also, the input jack doesn't hold all instrument cables tightly. My gold tipped Planet Waves cable has about 1/4' of play after it clicks in but fits tightly in all my other basses. My Quantum cables don't move in this jack once clicked into place. Incidentally, the tightness difference between the cables has no effect on the hum. This bass could never be used for studio recording. I plan to have a chat with Fender about the hum issue. Very disappointing. Sweetwater service awesome as always!