This is the American Deluxe Jazz Bass…

I picked up my 2007 Olympic White Pearl Rosewood Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass from Guitar Center in Phoenix, Arizona in 2009. It was on clearance because the new 2010 Deluxes were a completely new style. Fender ran this configuration of American Deluxe Jazz Basses from 2004 to 2009. Whenever this happens you’ll see GC blow out their inventory. I picked up a Mesa Boogie cabinet when they changed grills in this same way back in the day.

These were pretty elegant in their day. It has a bunch of high end features:

• Metallic silver headstock logo
• Modern C-shaped, graphite reinforced neck
• Contoured heel for more fret access
• 5 bolt neckplate with Corona California Fender logo stamped
• Abalone dot fret markers
• Rosewood rolled edge fretboard
• Pearly Olympic White paint
• Tortoise shell pickguard
• Through body or topload bridge
• Hipshot USA made Deluxe Lite-Bass tuning machines
• 3 Band Active EQ with 18 volt power supply
• Samarium™ Cobalt Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups
• Schaller Style Strap Lock Buttons

My Review

This bass does a modern take on the Jazz Bass very well. It’s loud, precise, and very configurable. The neck is very comfortable and fast! This thing may get you into trouble, you’ll be soloing your pants off, adding little flourishes here and there, meanwhile your band is all like, “Whoa Turbo!” This bass is light at 8 pounds, 7 ounces and well balanced. The body seems to be slightly smaller and sleeker than the American Standards.

This guy will cut through the mix for you. No mud on these brown notes! The tone is clear, bright, and punch. The options you get with the 3 band EQ make it highly configurable. I found the stacked knob gave me the most versatility.

There is no passive/active switch, which Fender gets right on successive designs for the Deluxe models. I don’t think I ever changed the 2 9 volt batteries, but you probably want to make sure to pack some backups in the case. You don’t want to be left high and dry at a gig. I haven’t seen any documentation, but my best guess is that you want to make sure to unplug this bass when your finished using it so that it doesn’t draw power from the batteries.

Overall this is an amazing, fun to play, great sounding bass.

The American Deluxe Jazz Bass came with Fender’s Deluxe Jazz Bass case. I think this means it’s TSA approved or something. Basically all I know about the case is it’s a much bigger rectangular case that looks like you can throw it down a flight of stairs. It’s not a piece of trash like my American Standard Precision Bass case. You know, the one shaped more like a guitar than a rectangle and it falls apart if you look at it too hard? Yeah, this case is way better than than one.

That said, for whatever reason after owning it for 9 years I have probably played it less than 50 times. There are probably a lot of reasons for this. For one, I’m mainly a P-Bass player. I also went through a G&L SB-2 phase for a couple years…again P-Bass guy here. But for me, I think this bass sounds too refined, too sophisticated for my playing style. I love a raw, throaty sounding Jazz bass growl like Tim Commerford gets on Evil Empire. This thing sounds and feels like you should probably be good at bass guitar to play it. 😂

American Deluxe Jazz Bass Knob Configuration

Master Volume: This is pretty self descriptive, but important to note that the American Standard Jazz bass has 2 volume knobs for each pickup. This can get tricky if you’re trying to fade out with your volume knob.

Neck/Bridge Dynamic Select Knob: Allows to select both pickups, bridge or neck, or a mix of the two. The knob has a center detent for both pickups. Again, to me this is a better configuration then two volume knobs if you generally run both pickups.

Stacked Treble and Bass Boost/Cut Knobs: These knobs allow up to +18db boost or -18db cut. I haven’t found any documentation for which frequencies are effected. Both knobs have a center detent for a flat EQ.

Mid Boost/Cut: Allows for +12/-12db boost or cut in the mids. Again, not sure which frequencies are effected. This knob also has a center detent for flat EQ.

2007 American Deluxe Jazz Bass Press from Fender (via WayBackMachine)

American Deluxe Jazz Bass®

0194460

Our upgraded American Deluxe Jazz Bass guitar captures the spirit of Fender innovation with its three-band active EQ, pair of Samarium™ Cobalt Noiseless Jazz Bass pickups and 18-volt power supply.

This select alder-body bass has a modern C-shaped, graphite-reinforced maple neck with a contoured heel (for easy access to upper frets), five-bolt neck plate, maple or rosewood rolled-edge fingerboard, abalone dot inlays and highly detailed nut and fret work. Other features include chrome hardware, a variety of pickguards (see specifications), deluxe chrome-plated steel bridge plate (string-through-body or top-load) with nickel-plated brass saddles, and Fender/Schaller® Deluxe Lite-Bass tuning machines.