My '62 reissue Fender Jazz Bass is stamped August 1993 on the neck. It is an American made Fender instrument. It has a sunburst nitro-cellulose lacquer finish, alder body, small/fast maple neck (with yellow tinted finish to simulate and aged look), rosewood fretboard 1.75" @ nut/7.25" radius, 20 frets (frets are the smaller vintage fret wires), dot inlay markers, vintage 60's Jazz style single coil pickups, a volume and tone stacked knob combination for each pickup, vintage (reverse action) tuners, vintage jazz bass chrome bridge with threaded saddles (top loading), (with a ground wire flat metal strip running from bridge to rear pickup just like the 60?s jazz basses), & a vintage hardshell tweed case with orange fuzzy interior. This particular instrument was used as a display bass by Fender at the NAMM show per my dealer.

I believe this reissue offers all of the features possible for a vintage copy. The reissue jazz bass is well suited to most styles of music though the small vintage fretwires may not suit a slapping or popping style well. I generally play blues, jazz, and classic rock which the bass does quite well. I use the bass in one of two rigs, either a 220 watt combo 115 with 410 extension if needed, or my biamped 500 watt rig depending on the venue. I also use the ART Nightbass SE preamp & multieffects unit. All single coil pickups are prone to 60 Hz hum by themselves and the jazz bass is no exception. When both pickups are used together they act as a double coil "humbucker" and cancel out the noise interference to a great extent. Taking this into consideration the '62 reissue has no more than normal noise problems than any other jazz bass type I know of.

I would describe the sound as punchy and focused for a jazz. I also owned a '73 Fender Jazz and the sound is actually somewhat different. The '62 reissue has a more modern (to me better) sounding single coil with more highs and better punch. Simply rolling off the highs o n the tone controls will eliminate this bright presentation if not desired. Blending pickups and experimenting with different tone settings for each individual pickup give a wide variety of sounds for a passive bass.

Not just a plug and play type of bass to get the most out of it some time and experimentation will be required. Should work well in either the stage or studio settings, but watch out for the dreaded 60 Hz hum if all is not grounded in the studio. The bass will cut through the mix very well with a tight focused sound, just the opposite of the full but undefined sound of the Fender Precision. I really like the sound of the bass for cutting through the mix. If I require a full sound, I just roll off the tone controls and boost the EQ on my amp.

It will not produce modern active bass tones however (probably not the sound you're after if considering a vintage Fender reissue anyway). I find that with my combo it can sound a bit too bright unless I roll the tone c ontrols back to around 7 out of 10. On the biamped rig I can adjust the high frequency crossover to compensate the balance. There is a slightly excessive brightness and ultimate lack of versatility But what this bass does it does very well.

Bass was set up by the dealer and same individual who sets up all of my basses, so I would say nearly perfect. With the vintage (smaller) frets you can get a nice low action on the bass even with light guage strings. Pickups were adjusted nearly perferctly as well.

The finish if is bordering on a work of art assuming you like sunburst. Really nice piece of wood on this bass.

This is the area where I will address my only major complaint of the instrument. In accordance with staying true to the early '60's jazz basses, Fender designed the truss rod to be adjustable at the body end of the bass. This means the neck must be removed to adjust the truss rod. BAD MOVE PEOPLE!!! Not only is it a major hassle, but it has resulted in damage to the finish on my bass when my dealer's setup person (normally very, very careful) slipped with the screwdriver while attempting to loosen the stupid neck bolts. I now have a relatively small but deep ding through the finish and have seen another played '62 reissue with exactly the same finish scars! I have also heard that stripping out the screw hole is a very common problem after a few adjustments to the truss rod which requires a maple dowel rod insert to correct the problem. I feel the buyer should have the option in ordering to get the truss rod adjustment at the headstock like all modern instruments. I don't care how careful one tries to be, if the neck has to be removed every time a small truss rod adjustment is needed (which will be frequently on a thin Jazz Bass neck if the bass is played out much) damage to the finish is almost a certainty! OK enough on that subject.

All other aspects of reliability and durability are great. This bass will easily withstand live playing, and as it is passive there is no reason to think you couldn't rely on it to gig with for many years to come just like the original '62s. I always have a backup bass on hand in case I break a string or want a very different sound, however I would never question the reliability of the '62 reissue.

I have dealt with Fender in the past and found them to be very helpful and nice. They are quite busy, so you may have to leave a message but my experience has been postive in dealing with them.

Overall this is a very fine instrument. I have been a bassist for 20+ years and have played a '73 Fender Jazz in the past. The '62 reissue holds its own with the older jazz basses. the pickups do have a more modern sound in my opinion but I consider that a plus. Roll back the treble and you have more of the traditional '60's sound. I own several other basses and this has been my main axe since I bought it. Not only do I love the neck, but the instrument exudes quality and is very much at home in a small jazz combo or a hard driving classic rock band. I have even played bluegrass with it and really enjoyed the tone I was getting in a primarily acoustic setting. The only real complaint is the truss rod adjustment requires removing the neck. Because of this I will give an overall lower score - just too many things going for it to score lower, but if truss rod issue weren't there I'd score 120 out of 100....it's that good for a passive vintage sound!

Construction	85%
(see truss rod complaint)
Playability	95%
Appearance	100%
Sound	90%
Value	90%
Overall	95%