Fender Jazz Bass Archives

A historic 1969 Fender Jazz Bass purchased by James Brown for Bootsy Collins is back on the market, carrying decades of funk history and documentation.

A vintage 1964 Fender Jazz Bass inspired a fresh approach to groove—ditching slap for pick funk in B minor pentatonic with palm muting and sextuplet licks.

A Bass Gym exercise focused on speed and flow, inspired by time spent playing a 1964 Fender Jazz Bass and the feel of a truly responsive instrument.

Bootsy Collins’ James Brown-era 1969 Fender Jazz Bass, the instrument that shaped early ’70s funk, is now up for auction through Heritage Auctions.

Keith Williams of five watt world put together an incredible video on the legendary Fender Jazz Bass. The video covers the origins of the instrument, the specs, some of the legendary players who played the instrument, and later variations.

This time around, we’re checking out a unique hybrid of a bass, thanks to Gary Shea, who shares the story of his 1965 L Series Fender Jazz Bass with a 60’s Precision Neck. Gary has been happily playing it for nearly 50 years.

For many readers, the gold standard of basses is the Fender Jazz. For No Treble reader Ken Burgner, the Jazz is his dream bass. Ken started out with a 1972 Jazz with a Lake Placid blue re-finish. But when he saw a ’72 with a sunburst finish listed for sale on TalkBass, he knew it was the bass he had...

Fender has upgraded its Modern Player series of instruments including updates to the Jazz Basses in the line and the introduction of a new model called the Dimension Bass. The new instruments keep in step with the rest of the series, which offers unique designs at entry-level pricing. The new Modern Player Jazz Bass and Jazz Bass V feature a...

Fender has announced a new line of replacement bodies and necks, produced at their manufacturing facilities in both Corona, California and Mexico. The parts come with the exact specifications as those used in their full American and Standard series instruments. So far, Fender is offering Precision and Jazz bodies and necks. Each of the bodies are offered in alder or...

In our last edition of Old School, we shared Mark Anderson’s 1963 Fender Shoreline Gold Precision bass. This time, we’re showcasing Fender’s Jazz bass from the same year, and specifically Jay Fortier‘s ’63 Jazz. Fender introduced the first Jazz in March, 1960, becoming the company’s second bass model after the Precision. In 1963, Fender replaced the below-string mutes with a...