Out Of The Ashes Of Fender ADE...

[Matt R.]

Hello all. I just wanted to share with you a humble instrument that has pretty much been in the works for over 2.5 years.

You may ask, "Is it a sweet Fodera Emperor or a masterbuilt custom shop spicy burled almond top something or other with a 38 volt preamp and cup holders?" Nope.

It's just a damn Fender American Standard Jazz in Olympic White with a tort guard.

A couple years ago I tried the Fender American Design Embarrassment, as related toward the end of this thread:

http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5225

I had yet another fiasco with that this year as well (I'll explain if anyone wants to hear it, but I didn't feel like writing a novel here at the moment), so I decided to put together my own bass.

Everything is brand new. It's a formerly alder/sunburst Fender replacement jazz body, bought on Reverb and refinished ever so beautifully (to me) by Pat Wilkins. He does such lovely work.
The neck is just a Fender replacement rosewood/maple neck, also bought brand new. All hardware is Fender American Standard. Pickups are Fender Custom Shop.

Anyhow, nothing fancy or groundbreaking here, but I have been determined to get a modern Fender Jazz in Olympic White for a while now, and I'm cautiously optimistic that this one is a keeper. I've been playing and tweaking it in small increments for the past week and I think I have it dialed in.

Here it is. Hank seems to dig it too:

[tim]

Excellent!

I guess it's like they say: if you want something done right...

[Matt R.]

Thanks Tim, and true!

I forgot add above- this EXACT bass would've cost 1850 in the new Fender mod shop. Add tax & shipping, that would be about $2000 to my door. In comparison, I saved hundreds this way. Could've grabbed a decent used amp with the savings, no joke.

[paulo]

Came out really nice!!

[AzWhoFan]

" a 38 volt preamp and cup holders" - too funny!
Hank has great taste!

and fell free to write a short novella about your ADE fiasco. Knowledge is power and no doubt we could all learn something from it.

[Jules1]

Wonderfull

[fivebass52]

I'm curious - what year would you say this jazz bass is designed after, and why? Thanks.....

[screambasses]

Looks great! I've always wanted a white bass, which is why I had started Scream Basses in 2009.
It's so frustrating. Happy for you.

pete

[Matt R.]

I'm curious - what year would you say this jazz bass is designed after, and why? Thanks.....

It's just an American Standard

[superheavydeathmetal]

Nice-looking bass, man. I like the Rosewood fretboard on white.

I am glad it was worth the wait. Now you won't ever have to look at the ADE again, I promise. Everything will be okay.

[Matt R.]

Now you won't ever have to look at the ADE again, I promise. Everything will be okay.

Truth.
To be fair, I have an ADE Jazz that I bought from Chris here, which is pretty much perfect, and one of my go-to basses. I also had a Lake Placid blue ADE Jazz that was perfect as well, but I sold it because I am an imbecile and needed cash.
But the hunk of shit to keeper ratio has always been heavily in favor of the hunk of shit side when it comes to my sorry ADE experiences. I honestly don't think Fender cares about or is catering to working musicians who give a fuck about their setups or quality anymore. It really stinks to see my favorite instrument manufacturer go down like this.

[belinmad]

I honestly don't think Fender cares about or is catering to working musicians who give a fuck about their setups or quality anymore. It really stinks to see my favorite instrument manufacturer go down like this.

That's what happens when a cool company gets acquired by a Private Equity firm unfortunately.

[gravesbass]

Well, this is going to unfortunately happen more now due to costs rising again. Suppliers are raising prices and builders are having to cut corners to produce basses. I have an abundance of stories but keep it simple. Yea, it sucks but sucks even more for us lefties because these boutique guys (not Fender) can't even get the lefty builds 100% right. I guess they just have a hard time reversing everything as its not standard.

IMO Fender took a crap many years ago on their USA stuff. It's sad..... It's a parts bass that should be easy to get right.... Assemble, setup, fret level or plea and go... done.

I watch all the Fender Custom Shop stuff get listed on sites and always find some gotcha... nut is filed incorrect, string alignment, etc. It's a Custom Shop!! Wish I had time to build basses for lefties... They would be perfect.

BTW: Matt, that Olympic white AS above is beautiful. Great looking bass.

[bbl]

Glad you finally got what you wanted Matt.

I did almost the exact same thing, but with a P. I :heart Pat's olympic white.

Let's start a club. We can call it the "Fender Parts Basses With Sunburst Bodies Refinished Olympic White By Pat Wilkins" Club.

Or, the FPBSBROWPW Club, for short.

Edit: Crap, I left some things out. It's now the "Fender Parts Basses With Rosewood Fretboards and Tort Pickguards and Sunburst Bodies Refinished Olympic White By Pat Wilkins" Club.

The FPBRFTPSBROWPW Club. I'm sure it'll be very popular.

[gravesbass]

^^^ lmao Geoff ^^^

Yea, how come the Fender parts basses make you guys more happier?

[Matt R.]

^^^ lmao Geoff ^^^

Yea, how come the Fender parts basses make you guys more happier?

Because, unlike Fender employees (seemingly), I wait until AFTER assembly to fire up a bowl.

[bbl]

Actually, I like my '73 P better than my parts P.

Come to think of it, that's a plus about Fender's ADE -- by comparison it improves the perceived quality of its 1970's output.

[fivebass52]

^^^ lmao Geoff ^^^

Yea, how come the Fender parts basses make you guys more happier?

Because, unlike Fender employees (seemingly), I wait until AFTER assembly to fire up a bowl.

I should probably not be LMAO, of even LOL-ing, in support of your travails, but you may have hit the nail, or bowl in this case, on the head... or is it head shop?!

[Matt R.]

All's I'm saying is that there's a time & place for everything.

[fivebass52]

All's I'm saying is that there's a time & place for everything.

Yep!