Fender Flea Jazz Bass - Shell Pink, Road Worn Reviews

Fantastic guitar playability sound is off the charts. The road worn look is just right on.
Great job Fender! Great job Sweetwater for making the whole process very easy. Everybody that I've worked with has been exceptional Michael Brandt who has been my sales rep for the entire relationship with Sweetwater has done and still continues to do an outstanding job! From his product knowledge to problem solving a first class act all the way!

Way to go Sweetwater please continue with the excellent service and products that you offer to the music community!

Right from the moment I opened up the box and took the guitar out of the case stunning. Hacks off defender for recreating such an iconic bass guitar. The road worn effect is spot on those vintage pickups could not ask for anything better just the whole guitar is absolutely amazing and for the price it's a steal. Do yourself a favor if you can get one definitely get one you will not be disappointed.

I just recently purchased the space guitar and I am very very pleased the sound from these vintage pickups the playability and of course back fantastic road worn look makes this base an easy choice to bring home and make it yours

For years I have been a five string, maple neck guy. This is my first 4 string or Rosewood bad I have bought in probably 20 years. I bought it to play in an RHCP tribute and thought I would only take it out for those shows. NOPE. This is my favorite bass hands down. I cannot put it down.

I have been looking at this for a while now and recently decided to pull the trigger. I was not disappointed and love the contrast compared to my P Bass. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a nice smooth playing bass.

This is an excellent MIM bass. I have a USA P-bass and I would say this is an equal to it. Cosmetically it is right on! I usually expect to perform a full set up on any new stringed insrument I purchase and this was no exception. Neck needed straightening, by the way do this immediately!!! saddles needed adjusting for intonation and string height needed lowering. After all that was done it became a lean mean playing machine. I don't ever see myself getting rid of this bass, it does make you want to play it for sure. The pickups are above average and no uprades are needed. I really do feel like I am holding a real vintage bass. My luthier stated that this was the best playing bass he has ever touched, are you kidding me? Made in Mexico is no longer 2nd rate and I think they are giving USA instuments a good run for their money. I would not hesitate to recommend this instrument, I don't know how long they will be making these but I did notice the price is slowly going up.

I absolutely love this bass. The sound is top notch. The action is low without compromise. No setup or adjustments needed on my end. Very pleased with this purchase.

Love it. There is nothing I would change on this bass. If that is your thing, buy something else. Highly versatile, broad tonal range can play any genre. Beautiful finish feels broken in. I had it Plek'd and glad I did. It is extremely easy to play, I have never experienced anything like it. It practically plays itself. My wife calls it "the bass from hell," because she says I sold my soul to the devil as the answer to why I play so well now. Thank you Sweetwater for setting up to my specs, it is perfect.

I couldn"t believe my eyes when I unboxed mine... i thought to myself that this couldn"t possibly be a copy... the detail that went into wearing this bass down to make it look old is incredibly authentic. All the way down to the dirty looking pickups and we"ll worn faded vintage "Shell Pink"... finding a real vintage shell pink fender "61 jazz bass would be like finding a unicorn... I thought for a moment that fender screwed up and sent me the original instead of a new copy. That was not the case and I am so pleased with this bass that I almost might want to purchase another as a backup in case the first one gets damaged or stolen. For what this co$t I can"t belive it. This bass can stand up to the more expensive relic series or any authentic vintage bass... and the "64 pickups are a dream to play... I"m a fingerstyle jazz, blues and "ambient music" guy so this bass is perfect for me in every way ... I also belive that even a hard rock or punk rock player would be pleased with this bass as well.

I play and record my Fender Flea "61 road worn Jazz Bass thru a Line6 HELIX and Boss RC300 loop station.

Big thanks to my go-to guy at sweetwater, Greg Savino... the advice and assistance that I get from Greg is priceless and is also the reason that I"m a loyal customer:)

OK we don't do much reviews because most professional gear functions like it is supposed to do, that being said this and AWESOME bass, we got the first one ant it had a defective volume/tone control. With one email to our sales engineer Tim Harrington we got a reply the next day and Sweetwater Tech support was notified and a replacement was shipped out right away.This bass is really comfortably to play, a little setup maybe required with string height etc. But you can't miss on this bass, do yourself a favor and get this because it just might your favorite new toy.

Many thanks to our sales engineer Tim Harrington & Dakota Bishop in TechSupport.

I was really hesitant to buy this bass. But I'm really glad I did. I've been playing bass for many, many years and have had quite a number of j-basses. This Flea Jazz is the best Jazz I've owned overall. It sounds amazing and the dual concentric tone controls are actually quite useful--they don't take much time to get used to. Although I didn't think I was a fan of "relic" guitars, I guess I am now. It plays amazing and feels like an old friend--such a comfortable "broken in" feel--looks pretty cool as well. The neck width and profile is perfect for my small hands and rivals the Geddy Lee J-bass for comfort.

Whether running it with both pickups, or either one soloed, all are useful tones. And it's such a balanced, ballzy tone. As the "Jazz Bass sound" goes, it is perfect and the epitome of what a good J-bass sounds like. It has that natural scoop and growl that only a J-bass has. There really is nothing I do not like about this bass. I didn't think I'd like the shell pink color, but it's actually really cool because it is faded/grayed to match the relic job, so it's not a bright pink at all--very subdued pastel-like color. And it does get noticed--lot's of comments about how cool it looks and sounds.

I haven't been able to put this bass down. My other basses are getting very jealous... as well they should. I honestly don't even play them much anymore with this Flea bass around. Oh, and don't worry if you are not really big into Flea--this bass is as much a '61 Jazz reissue as it is a "Flea Bass." It has a great old school vibe. Of course, Flea bass lines sound great on it... but so does everything else from soul to rock to funk to country to Latin to acid jazz. You name it and this bass will do it. Fender got this one right for sure. As close to perfection as a production bass in this price range gets. I've had Fender Custom Shop basses and they were killer, but I'd put this Flea bass up against them. It's that good.

I own a Modulus Flea bass and I had to own this as well. The action was setup great, all I had to do was slap a set of light gauge strings on it.

Even if your not a fan of the fake relic look you still really need to try one of these. This bass really shines after a proper setup and a good set of strings (Dean Markley NickelSteels). The neck and pickups are what make this bass so great. The stacked volume/tone controls are pretty cool as well. The nitro finish is nice and smooth and feels really good. Of course Sweetwater's service is second to none. Thanks to my Sales Rep Alan Carter (ext.1354) who is so courteous and helpful!

Had a little concern because it was my first non-American made Jazz. But it has a nice fat tone, love the distressed look of it, I have 2 other Jazz basses that are getting jealous that I paid almost twice as much for that are getting "jealous" because I am having a hard time putting this one down. Have played it both in a Country Band and a Contemporary Worship Band and it gives me the sound I want.

Love this Bass! Yes, it is Mexican made, but it holds up to my American Jazz basses. Love the relic finish. I know the relic stuff is not for everyone, but this is based on Flea's 1961 Jazz; wear patterns and all. The bass sounds and feels great in your hands (love the neck). It's a custom shop bass without the custom shop price. I'll admit, I was one of those "where was this made" snobs, but again, this bass seems as quality as my other basses. I would (and will) gig with this Bass. This is my new favorite!

Also, couldn't be happier with the service from Sweetwater! Kudos to Mark Thompson and everyone at Sweetwater! Thanks again!

all i can say is... this is a great sounding jazz bass with it's classic shell pink finished...wow! get this awesome bass and you will see and hear what i'm talking about.

I just purchased this beautiful Flea signature Jazz Bass. In no way shape or form am I disappointed the playability of this instrument is incredible the looks and the beautiful work and craftsmanship that went into giving this guitar a road worn look is outstanding. The sound from these vintage chairs pickups is mind blowing! All in all I would highly recommend everyone that is a bass player to go and purchase this recreation of one of the Masters of all time.

The particular Flea bass I received is a very playable, great sounding vintage style J bass. I wanted a reliable passive J with vintage tone at a reasonable price point, and this fit the bill. Kudos to Sweetwater and my rep, IsRael, for connecting me with a bass that met my criteria!

I got one and it is neck heavy. The action was ridiculously high, like sky high! If I adjust the relief and string height to where it should play OK I get major fret buzz. On one of the knobs the tone adjuster was messed up and I had to fix that. Neck relief was not good at all. So much for the 55 point inspection. Sorry but I don't believe you inspect anything. After making adjustments to make it playable I wish I never bought it.

This is an amazing bass, and it is probably the best "vintage bass" for the money but after playing it for about two weeks in my bedroom the neck pot died on me and the bridge pickup sounded like nails on a chalkboard when I adjusted it. So if you were to get this bass I would replace the whole stacked knob layout for a v-t-t layout.