Fender Vintera III Early '60s Jazz Bass Sonic Blue

A faithful early '60s Jazz Bass - slim "C" neck, rosewood board, and the warm, woody growl that lived under the records that defined a decade.

The early '60s Jazz Bass is the one that started it all. Introduced in 1960 as Fender's "deluxe" bass - the answer to the Precision Bass - it brought a slimmer neck, two pickups instead of one, and a tonal range that gave bassists somewhere new to go. By the time the decade was underway, you could hear it everywhere: Motown sessions in Detroit, soul records out of Memphis, jazz dates in New York. James Jamerson played one. So did Carol Kaye. The Jazz Bass didn't just keep up with the music of the '60s - it helped shape what the music sounded like.

Fender's Vintera III Early '60s Jazz Bass is a faithful read on that instrument. Alder body, maple neck with the early '60s "C" carve, rosewood fingerboard with a 7.25" radius, vintage-tall frets. The neck has the round, comfortable feel of an early Jazz - slim where you want it slim, full enough to give you something to push against. The rosewood board adds warmth to the top end and a little wood to the midrange, exactly the way it should. The pair of vintage-style early '60s single-coils is where this bass earns its keep. Both pickups on, you get the warm, woody growl that lived under so many of the records that defined the decade. Favor the bridge and the bass tightens up and barks. Favor the neck and it rounds out into something fat and supportive. The vintage 4-saddle bridge holds intonation, the vintage tuners stay where you put them, and the whole thing plays like a Fender should.

If you've been chasing that early '60s Jazz Bass voice - the one that sits warm in a mix and gives you room to play with the dynamics - this is the most direct route Fender currently offers.