OK, folks. I’ll just write this review on day one. I played bass in a rock band for quite some time. I had a few Yamahas and my last bass was a Fender Jazz Bass Highway One (USA-ish Mexican, that is). Bought this one since I always wanted a five-string Jazz Bass and a maple neck. Unboxed it today. Frets are on par with my Fender. No razor blade edges here. I don’t recall the setup of my Fender being any better out of the box. Neck is straight, intonation is fine, action is a bit high but that’s what the wrenches are for. Tuners are fine. Bridge is basic but fine. Would probably change it somewhere down the road to a Badass Bridge or similar (like my HW1 has). Also, I plan to have some fun with the electronics, probably add a push-pull to the volume pot to act as an active/passive switch to bypass the preamp. Both of which are just personal preference. One thing worth noting is that the instrument itself is a bit on the heavy side. Pickups are fine. Recorded a few bars and you wouldn’t be able to tell if it’s a Fender HW1 or a Squier. Having said that, I’d like to emphasise that production has come such a long way. This bass could easily have the main Fender logo like the first Squiers used to (which changed shortly for obvious reasons). But that doesn’t even matter ... don’t chase the headstock, especially if you’re a beginner (or an intermediate; a beginner would probably have a better start with a four-string, unless you really want to dive in). IMHO, given the current Fender lineup, you could very well spend few times as much to get virtually the same thing. Use that cash difference for a nice amp. It won't compete with high-end models but for the price/performance ratio is an easy 5 stars from me. I didn’t even mean to write a review, but I was just pleasantly surprised and had to. I could go on but have to go now and groove on that thing. Cheers.
