Fender JMJ Road Worn Mustang Bass - Black Reviews
Bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen is a true renaissance artist who has played with the likes of Beck, Nine Inch Nails, and Drake, among others. A dedicated bass player since the age of 14, "JMJ," as he is affectionately called by fans and music insiders alike, switched to the Fender Mustang Bass exclusively over a decade ago and has never looked back. Now Fender has partnered with JMJ to design the Fender Justin Meldal-Johnsen Road Worn Bass and bring it to the public. The Fender JMJRW is designed specifically to match the vintage ’67 Mustang Bass JMJ plays both on the road and in the studio. An alder body, maple "C" neck, and rosewood fretboard comprise the quality tonewoods for this killer bass. A single Custom Seymour Duncan Split Single-Coil pickup is featured and puts out thick, meaty low-end tone. Bass players here at Sweetwater have really fallen for this signature instrument from Fender and know you will too.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Nothing Better than the BLUES!
Fender knocked it out of the ballpark with the JMJ! The worry-free relic look is PERFECT! I decided to purchase a second one as a backup. Of all the bass guitars I've tried and owned, this has become a number one favorite for playing the blues. A bone nut with Labella 760f-MUS flats brings out the best for this bass. The neck is beefy and super comfortable. Sounds great with test recordings on its own through a Fender Rumble 100 which will eventually be upgraded to a 200 or 500. For deeper Precision bass tones, I sometimes use a Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2 or Ampeg SCR-DI pedal.
The coolest part about a JMJ is how it attracts attention from other musicians allowing them to reminisce an era when the Mustang was first launched. They treat it like it's a prized vintage instrument easily forgetting it's modern. There's a reason it's one of the most talked about Mustangs on many different social media platforms. Check one out if you get the chance, but please remember it sounds ten times better with Labella 760f-MUS flats and bone nut.
Very cool instrument.
Big sound out of this guy. The prices of everything have gone up, but this is still some good bang for the buck IMO. This is my second MIM bass, and they are very well made and executed instruments.
I installed a set of laBella flats and did a setup to my preferences and it's a great little bass. The neck feels great and has a worn-in feel and look. Tuners are legit, nut is cut well, and that little pickup sounds huge and defined. Overall it's a high quality bass with its own thing going on that still very musical and fun to play and is definitely gig-worthy. It's not quite as huge sounding as my P bass but isn't far off and cuts well in a mix. The relic job looks cool to me but that may not be your thing.
Perfect Bass for Gigging
I needed a bass for taking to gigs and practices without having to worry about the finish getting messed up and something that was light weight. Besides meeting the above criteria, the pickups "nail" the P-Bass sound and I did not notice any noticeable neck dive. This bass feels almost like a custom shop Fender without the high price. The neck width at the nut is 1 and 5/8, and Sweetwater did an excellent job installing a bone nut and setting this instrument up. Overall I am very pleased with this purchase.
This bass has "GIRTH" !
This bass has given me the best live sound I have ever had . I've owned enough basses to fill a music store and the JMJ Mustang has given me a sound I was always looking for . My rig is a Phil Jones C8 and a Blackstar U700 amp and depending on the acoustics , I'll run a Zoom MS 60B for even more "girth" . This bass has a different tone , it's not P-bass or jazz or any modern/glassy sounding bass.......this is a BASS!
Wanted to hate it ?
The JMJ Mustang is without a doubt , the last bass I ever saw myself playing . Due to a hand injury ,I decided to look into playing a short scale bass . In spite of the price , I decided to go with the JMJ bass. My initial thoughts of the tone were of dread , no matter what I did I could not get a good sound from the bass and was ready to ship it back . The next morning I went at it again and things began to fall into place and I was able to dial in a really solid bass sound . Next , I plugged into a Zoom B3 pedal and went to the SVT setting and it became a tone monster ! I guess it took me a little time to get used to what this bass is all about ....it's a killer !.....I love it!
Every penny is worth it.
I'm a big fan of the nitro finish, the lollipop tuners, and the pickup is amazing.
If you like Precision Basses, the Mustang bass pickup sounds similar to a precision but isn't as wide range. Less lows, less highs - in a really good way. It's narrower. I'm not a fan of Jazz Basses but sometimes you play in a bigger band, having something that is less big is great when you compete with multiple guitars, and keys.
I loove the flats that come on it and I also love the Labella Mustang bass strings.
You won't have to change a thing.
Only negative is the gig bag. I don't like hard cases - so I use the Gator Pro Go Electric guitar bag or the Mono Electric guitar bag. (Not the bass bag versions)
fender mustang bass
arrived in tune,intonated,as described. The sales person was great, we reviewed the other available basses available to compare.
a really good purchase experience!
Quality Bass!
I was quite pleasantly surprised when I received this bass. It came in great, no issues and very well set-up. The quality was the very best I've seen from Mexico...by far. I put my own strings on it (Fender flats were very good, btw) and just tweaked a couple of things to my liking, and it's one of the best basses I've played.
It's easily the same quality as my American Professional Precision, and maybe just a bit better!
I know the price is a bit steep, but the quality is there. JMJ did a tremendous job here. Tremendous instrument! I couldn't have been more pleased, and I'm certain he's proud to lend his name to this! It's certainly a player's instrument!!!
Black Justang bass
An absalut beast of a bass! This is a pure mojo bass, the nitro relic finish complimented with lolly pop tuners gives it cool vintage vibe. The pickups have superb lows and growl to them. The iceing on the cake is the extra black pickguard that comes in the gig bag pocked
Sweet, Sweet, Bass
After playing guitar for years I decided recently to pick up the bass. I have a nice vintage spec P-Bass -
love the tone - but the thicker neck has been tough to handle as I learn. Decided to get a short scale, and this seemed to fit the bill nicely. I am glad I got it. The sound/tone is really nice, warm and round but not quite as dark as my P. I like the tone of the Mustang better, frankly. I had it Plek'd and set up by Sweetwater just to see. Don't know how it would have felt without Plek-ing, etc. but I do know it plays like butter now. Very happy all the way around. I've made quite a few purchases from Sweetwater over the last decade, and I have been more than satisfied with every one.
55-Point What?
I bought this bass a few months back. Love it! Plays effortlessly, sounds very good and looks very cool. Sooooo, I finally brought it to my tech just because the D string buzzed even when played open (that nut slot was cut too low at Fender, easy fix). He was taken back by how badly the intonation was set. (I knew it was off but since I rarely play at a bass' high range I didn't bother to have it resolved.) Anyway, shouldn't that have been picked up by Sweetwater's 55-point check? I wouldn't ask to have them establish perfect intonation but how about a quick adjustment to get it close. Hence the 2-star deduction from an otherwise 5 star bass.
Customer Service Magnificent As Usual; Bass: Semi-Disappointing
Due to an upcoming gig and practice, I notified my sales engineers - Steve (and his colleague Joey) - that I'd be visiting Sweetwater to pick up this bass the next morning, gave them the serial #, etc etc. I drove 2.5 hours and literally walked in the next morning. The bass was out and ready to go, with a separate bag of gear that I'd also requested. There were other "heroes" along the way - Chris at the front desk and Brandon at sales - who suggested some extra supplies and helped me get everything together...literally I was in and out in an hour thanks to them. HUGE thanks to those guys for making my trip efficient and successful. 12 stars for the customer service!
The bass: I have a Fender P and a PJ Mustang, the latter of which motivated me to consider this one. The PJ is just fantastic - great variability in tones, smooth fretboard, nice weight, and SO easy to play. So naturally I thought that the JMJ would be much more of the same.
PROs:
-deep, thick sound
-FAIRLY easy to play
-Nice size (short scale)
-Holds tuning well even when new
CONS/disappointments:
-can't change pickups/single pickup: I never realized how much I used my pickup switch on the PJ until I didn't have it on the JMJ. Depending on what you do it may or may not matter: for my one gig with a Party Band, I need that variability to go from thinner (bridge) to thicker sounds.
-the highs are quiet. If you're like me, you like playing up and down the fretboard, especially during quieter songs. In fact, some of the better sounds I get off of my PJ are when I go higher as a contrast to the lows. I haven't tried cranking the treble on my amp with the JMJ, which may be the next step...but should I have to? Why compromise?
-As I said above, it is FAIRLY easy to play. The Rosewood fretboard is not at all as slick as my PJ's Pau. I miss that. That said, Pau is wound tighter meaning sound "bounces" off of it more, so to speak. So the compromise would literally be some of that deeper tone that I like. Such is life.
