Fender American Vintage

Matt R. · **Posted:** October 11th, 2022, 7:05 am

Holy shit!

https://www.fender.com/en-US/electric-b ... 80805.html

pjmuck · **Posted:** October 11th, 2022, 9:09 am

Absolutely gorgeous. And available in sea foam green too. But $2299? Ouch. I suppose we should be thankful Fender's at least offering us lefties something new for a change. Funny, when I look at the headstock decals, they look positioned perfectly natural, begging the question why was Fender seemingly so confused for decades about how to position them when it came to making lefties? :roll:

The other odd thing is the bound rosewood fretboard. I don't think Fender ever made bound necks with pearl dot inlays, they were usually block inlays whether maple or rosewood. Am I wrong?

jersey bluesdude · **Posted:** October 11th, 2022, 9:46 am

pjmuck wrote:

Absolutely gorgeous. And available in sea foam green too. But $2299? Ouch. I suppose we should be thankful Fender's at least offering us lefties something new for a change. Funny, when I look at the headstock decals, they look positioned perfectly natural, begging the question why was Fender seemingly so confused for decades about how to position them when it came to making lefties? :roll:

The other odd thing is the bound rosewood fretboard. I don't think Fender ever made bound necks with pearl dot inlays, they were usually block inlays whether maple or rosewood. Am I wrong?

During the early CBS transition years of 65-66 Fender made Jazz basses with binding and dot inlays.

Here's a righty 66 jazz

https://reverb.com/item/52948544-fender ... l-case?bk=

pjmuck · **Posted:** October 11th, 2022, 11:47 am

jersey bluesdude wrote:

pjmuck wrote:

Absolutely gorgeous. And available in sea foam green too. But $2299? Ouch. I suppose we should be thankful Fender's at least offering us lefties something new for a change. Funny, when I look at the headstock decals, they look positioned perfectly natural, begging the question why was Fender seemingly so confused for decades about how to position them when it came to making lefties? :roll:

The other odd thing is the bound rosewood fretboard. I don't think Fender ever made bound necks with pearl dot inlays, they were usually block inlays whether maple or rosewood. Am I wrong?

During the early CBS transition years of 65-66 Fender made Jazz basses with binding and dot inlays.

Here's a righty 66 jazz

https://reverb.com/item/52948544-fender ... l-case?bk=

Thanks for clarifying. I don't think I've ever seen a vintage lefty with dots. All had block inlays.

J-meister · **Posted:** October 11th, 2022, 12:52 pm

Great find Matt! Coolest of basses, and I'm a sucker for white headstocks..!

But why can't they match the pickguards of that era?
I mean, Spitfire shows the way..

Matt R. · **Posted:** October 11th, 2022, 1:08 pm

pjmuck wrote:

I don't think I've ever seen a vintage lefty with dots. All had block inlays.

I’ve seen a couple lefty vintage ‘66 Js for sale over the years. My latest custom shop is a ‘66. Bound, dots, matching headstock.

Agent00Soul · **Posted:** October 12th, 2022, 2:36 am

Credit where credit is due. Fender hit it out of the park with this one aesthetically.

You would steal the show playing that green one in a surf band.

pike · **Joined:** February 14th, 2020, 5:01 pm **Posts:** 47

they finally threw us a bone! they look fuckin killer, wish I had the funds :lol:

jayceofbass · **Posted:** October 13th, 2022, 6:13 am

These look completely amazing. It is great to see a new line with a few lefties in it. But... would it have killed them to do a P Bass or two in lefty? Would love that 51/54 P-Bass...

J-meister · **Posted:** October 13th, 2022, 11:08 am

jayceofbass wrote:

..But... would it have killed them to do a P Bass or two in lefty? Would love that 51/54 P-Bass...

I'm letting you say that again. Word!

bigevilrobot · **Joined:** March 29th, 2011, 11:00 am **Posts:** 452

I've known since we got the docs on them in July. It's very really hard keeping quiet about the 66' Jazz, it's my favourite year by far.

I have the Olympic White on order, should be in by December.

bbl · **Joined:** July 9th, 2008, 4:39 pm **Posts:** 942

bigevilrobot wrote:

I've known since we got the docs on them in July. It's very really hard keeping quiet about the 66' Jazz, it's my favourite year by far.

I have the Olympic White on order, should be in by December.

Did she arrive Big Evil? If so, is she a keeper?

jersey bluesdude · **Posted:** February 6th, 2023, 10:02 am

I picked up a seafoam green Am Vintage Jazz from Chicago Music Exchange just before the new year.
They were easy to deal with and offered a 10% discount which reduced the price by $230.
Fit and finish are flawless and it looks, plays and sounds fantastic. The matching headstock, white neck binding and pearl dot fb inlays are a nice touch.
The nitro body and neck finish are awesome although I'm finding the neck needs to be polished often to prevent that sticky feel that comes with gloss nitro.

Mine weighs in at a comfortable 9 lbs and is well balanced.
I'm really liking the vintage style lollipop tuners and the bass stays in tune consistently.
The bridge is a simple vintage bent plate design with threaded saddles which I prefer over hi mass style bridges.
The 66 vintage pickups provide plenty of growl and bite and rolling the treble off provides ample thump.

If you like the vintage 7.25" fingerboard radius ,you'll love this bass.
If you prefer a flatter fingerboard radius this bass is not for you.

I sent an inquiry to Fender about a run of lefty Am Vintage P basses.
Their response was non committal but we'll see.

pjmuck · **Posted:** February 6th, 2023, 12:32 pm

There's a used one on ebay right now being sold by Sweetwater:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175598669924?h ... R7L5mIPFYQ

gravesbass · **Posted:** February 6th, 2023, 4:02 pm

pjmuck wrote:

There's a used one on ebay right now being sold by Sweetwater:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175598669924?h ... R7L5mIPFYQ

It's also on the Sweetwater site. It was a return... I returned it. There was a few flaws but I got it setup killer. It played really well.'

Marc40a · **Joined:** October 6th, 2010, 8:48 am **Posts:** 66

What’s the consensus on the ‘vintage tall’ frets? Noticeable?

Stingray5 · **Joined:** April 5th, 2008, 4:52 pm **Posts:** 367

Here's a comparison of this with an actual 66 Jazz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yFiA5bAGMY

I feel like the actual '66 has the upper hand with the bridge pup/Jaco style stuff, but the Vintage II sounds better everywhere else

pjmuck · **Posted:** February 7th, 2023, 8:38 am

Stingray5 wrote:

Here's a comparison of this with an actual 66 Jazz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yFiA5bAGMY

I feel like the actual '66 has the upper hand with the bridge pup/Jaco style stuff, but the Vintage II sounds better everywhere else

I like the Am Vintage '66 better here overall. Punchier and livelier, and, to my ears, it sounds like his original '66 neck PUP has a weaker output, as the blended tones still lean heavier towards a bridge sound than a 2 PUP sound. That's not to say I wouldn't want to own an original lefty '66, but this video is selling the reissue for me.

superheavydeathmetal · **Posted:** February 7th, 2023, 1:14 pm

pjmuck wrote:

Stingray5 wrote:

Here's a comparison of this with an actual 66 Jazz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yFiA5bAGMY

I feel like the actual '66 has the upper hand with the bridge pup/Jaco style stuff, but the Vintage II sounds better everywhere else

I like the Am Vintage '66 better here overall. Punchier and livelier, and, to my ears, it sounds like his original '66 neck PUP has a weaker output, as the blended tones still lean heavier towards a bridge sound than a 2 PUP sound. That's not to say I wouldn't want to own an original lefty '66, but this video is selling the reissue for me.

It kind of sounds like the Original Vintage has dead strings compared to the Vintage II.

pjmuck · **Posted:** February 9th, 2023, 2:54 pm

Here's another used one on Reverb now (with overhyped photo enhancement):

https://reverb.com/item/65706816-fender ... green-0295

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Fender American Vintage

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