• In Tonight's Bout Special Vs. Standard; The Battle for Jazz Supremacy

  
  As reviewed by Priest Bass player for The Saints of on 4/6/2011

  When buying any piece of equipment there are really only 3 things that matter. Tone, Durability, and Ease of Use. Has to sound great, has to last forever, and has to be able to be used on a dark stage at a moments notice. This bass comes on all three with flying colors. I bought this bass while looking for something new to add to my stage set up. I compared it directly against the American Standard Jazz, the Geddy Lee signature, and a Fender Mexican 60's Jazz. All the basses were tried through a Markbass Little Mark III and a Markbass 2x10 cab. The Geddy and the Mexi were first round knock outs. They really shouldn't even have gotten into the ring. The Mexi's neck felt like a bat compared to what a Jazz bass neck should feel like and lacked in the punch department and all around tone. The Geddy had a dead, no brightness tone with a nice neck but nothing that made it stand out or could justify its 1000 dollar price tag. The last battle would be fought between the American Standard and The American Special. Ignoring the almost $300 price difference I was hard pressed to find a major difference between the two basses. The Standard has a better bridge (the high mass is pure brilliance) but the Special has a slightly better neck and bit more of that better in the hand feel. That little something that makes the hand want to stay wrapped around the neck. Balance and body feel the two basses were dead on with no difference in weight, or how they felt wearing a strap. The last thing was tone. The Standard had just that; standard tone. Not that its a bad thing just it was what I had come to expect from every American made Jazz bass by Fender. In contrast the Special was just what the name implies; special. The tone was a bit brighter and had a bit more mids then the Standard and not in a bad way (I use a fairly scooped sound so mids are often my enemy) Without any sound reinforcement I was able to dial up an amazing sound from both basses clearly over their lame duck cousins, but the special was able to come up with something that I hadn't herd before in a very good way. Imagine Tim Commerford Battle of Los Angeles era Rage. The Grease Bucket tone knob... it seemed like a normal tone knob and rolled off exactly the same as every other bass I have ever owned. Fender says its special, so what ever. Personally I always play with all three knobs turned to 10 so I could find nothing about it that was special or stood out about it on, off or half way up beyond the functions of a normal tone knob. The only minus for this bass are the lack of extras given to you by Fender, gig bag not a case. But for the money your saving on the bass you can buy a Fender SKB case and still have some bucks left over, for a nice strap, a cable, strap locks, lunch at KFC, and a peddle from BOSS, or a practice amp, you pick.... Kinda a big jump there. In the end I already own a Fender Case. So i would say it was a fight between two basses where the fight had to go to the cards where the judges gave it to the Special on price, and just that something extra in the neck and tone. Plus it was made in America, so it will keep its value so its win win win.

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• A Very Good (Possibly Great) Bass

  
  As reviewed by Jon C on 6/17/2011

  I've been looking for a great Jazz Bass for several years, and until recently have been unable to find anything that really grabbed my attention. On a friend's recommendation I checked out the new American Special Jazz Basses. There were three in the store - one white, one sunburst, and one black and all three of them sounded completely different. The white bass had prominent bass and treble with a slight scoop in the mids, yielding a fantastic slap tone. The sunburst had a big woofy classic-rock sound, and the black had a very even tone with a complex and pleasing midrange. I went with the black bass because it had the sound I was looking for - however, I want to stress that none of the basses sounded bad, they just all sounded very different. The only criticism I have about the bass is the bridge - I had a spare Badass Bridge, and the stock bridge came off the second I got the bass home. It's thin and looks cheap, but it is completely functional.

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• Awesome Bass

  
  As reviewed by Steve on 4/27/2011

  This one truly is Special. It has that low end growl that we love and the highs are perfect. Great price too and no batteries to change. This one is my fav now after 25 years of playing. Buy one if you can afford it.

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