Fender Vintera II '60s Jazz Bass - Lake Placid Blue with Rosewood Fingerboard Reviews
One look at the Fender Vintera II ’60s Jazz Bass, and it’s clear the 1960s are alive and well. Radiating classic J Bass earmarks and undeniable Fender style, this bass supplies you with a resonant alder body and a bolted-on maple neck capped with slab rosewood. You’ll easily find the groove with this axe’s vintage-style ’60s single-coil Jazz Bass pickups that let you sink your musical teeth into timeless tone. A bevy of other inspiring features, like an early ’60s “C” neck shape, vintage-style open-gear tuning machines, and 4-saddle vintage-style bridge with threaded steel saddles, outfits this bass for classic style and modern performance. Uncompromising punch, supreme playability, and traditional aesthetics — it’s all here in Fender’s Vintera II line!
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Highest Rated Reviews
It doesn't get any better!
I can't say enough about this bass! I had it extensively customized by Sweetwater before shipping (and they nailed it perfectly!), so I can't claim everyone will have the same out of the box experience I did, but even without the customizations, it's an extremely solid instrument. The upgrades were just the icing on the cake.
Fender really nailed the 60's specs on this one. I have several original 60s Fenders, and this one not only looks the part, but it feels like one in my hands as well. Fender nailed the famously comfortable 60's Jazz Bass neck perfectly. This bass plays like butter! Although it's referred to generically as a 60's bass, based on the feature set I would say it most closely resembles an instrument that would have been available around '61 or '62.
I've seen complaints that this bass is overpriced for a Mexican instrument, but this is a quality instrument wherever it was built. The mechanical assembly is perfect, no off-center bridge or other build issues that have been known to plague some of the Mexican builds. The neck is solid piece of maple with close, straight grains, I'm confident it will be straight and stable for many years to come ( I add that because it wasn't necessarily always true even on the originals).
It is true that the Mexican guitars occasionally lapse on the fit and finish, frequently out of the box they need a trip to the luthier for a fret level and crown, and filing down sprouting fret ends. I don't know if that's still true on this line, not wanting to take any chances I took the precaution of getting it PLEKed and setup before being before shipping, and I'm glad I did. The action on this bass is as fast as on any I've ever played, at any price.
Although the stock pickups are just fine, I wanted something with a bit more punch, so I had them replaced with 60s Custom Shop pickups. This bass sounds great! Think of the sound JPJ gets on the first 4 Zeppelin albums, and you get the picture. This bass sustains for days, even with flat-wound strings (TI Jazz Flats) on it!
The bottom line is that, as a tool for making music, it doesn't get any better than this. You can get an American Fender with fancier hardware, and a little more attention to cosmetics, but none of that affects the playing experience. I generally prefer the Mexican Fenders to the American ones, as they tend to hew closer to Leo Fender's original designs. Although out of the box they tend to arrive a little rough around the edges, with a little TLC they bloom into funky little Cinderellas, with a character that seems to have disappeared from the American line.
My only complaint is that two days after I ordered it Sweetwater started including $ in bonus bucks with the purchase. My own fault, I suppose. I was too impatient to get hold of it to wait for a sale. But no regrets - I love this bass!
I got this bass in Lake Placid Blue, which as a metallic finish is notoriously hard to photograph. The picture gives the impression the bass is an anemic light blue, but in the flesh it's a rich blue sparkle finish, consistent with other Fender LPB guitars. It looks as good as it sounds!
