Aerodyne Jazz Bass Review

The Aerodyne Jazz Bass is a special edition Jazz Bass featuring a bound basswood body with a unique 39" radius carved top, a rosewood fingerboard and matching painted headstock. It is loaded with a Precision/Jazz pickup combination and rear mounted controls with no pickguard.

Features:	9.3
Sound:	8.7
Action:	8.7
Reliability:	8.3
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9
Users rating:	8.2
Comments:	21

overall: 9.2

Featured review by: fenderaerojazz, on january 31, 2005

Price paid: $ 600

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: - Made in Japan
- Basswood Body and Rosewood Fretboard
- Passive Electronics
- Jazz and Precision Pickups. // 10

Sound: // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: When I frist tried the bass it was in tone and ready to play. The only problem was that the action was a little too high for my liking. Other than that I thought taht the bass was perfect. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I feel very confident playing live with this bass and have no major concerns. The hardware seems very dependable. I do have a problem with the strap sliding of sometimes, but that does not happen as much since I bought a better strap. Over all this is a very dependable bass and I do not think I need a back up for it. // 8

Impression: This bass is amazing, and it totally worth the money. Before bying I also tried the Fender P-Bass special bacause I wanted the P/J combo and I found this bass to look and sound way better. I have had this bass a little of a year and I am very happy with it, the only thing that I was it had was an option for a low B string. Overall this bass is an amazing value, and I highly recomend it. // 10

overall: 8

Reviewed by: Zachy Boy, on august 23, 2007

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: Rosewood fingerboard, 20 fret style, maple neck. Black finish (I've seen the custom style in blue and red), with a cream binding around edging of the bass (top only). A Split single-coil Precision Bass pickup, and one single coil Jazz Bass pickup. The controls consist of simple volume, volume, and tone knobs. The knobs themselves come in a chromed gray color, the jack plate, a Fender strat style, also comes chromed gray as the knobs. Standard 4-saddle style bridge non locking Fender tuners complete the Fender Aerodyne Bass. This Bass has a unique shape, it’s a little bit of a pain to get used to putting it in a stand, but it will fit. Th bass is Japaneese made. // 8

Sound: This guitar fits my style as a fast metal rocker; any other Fender bass would not suit my style. This is a great rock and metal guitar, I mostly use two BP80 DiGi Tech Bass Processors (It's what I recommend) allow me to distort my heavy metal bass. The strings are not noisy, but can ring if strung loudly. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar, overall, was set up very well. The pickups were a little high, but that was an easy fix. The rest of the guitar, was basically flawless, but even the slightest dent will make you sorry. If you plan to replace any knobs becareful not to pry them off, just use your fingers. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I've used this bass countless times, many shows. The hardware is perfect, though I replaced the knobs and the jack-plate, seriously to much black, the chrome looks much better. Without a back-up? Of course, this bass is almost flawless, except for the pointy-ass pickups. The finish doesn't wear off, but dents show up extremely well. // 7

Impression: The style of the guitar lets me play fast; it really lets me use bends very well. The strings remain close to the frets for easy hammering and pulling off. Tapping is a thing of the past with this bass. I've been playing for three years myself. I have a small blown out Dean Markley amp, and the two processors I mentioned above. If someone stole it, I would definitely consider getting another Aerodyne Bass, though I have yet to see another one. OK the bass isn’t perfect, but it's close, I would consider new pickup covers, the stock pickups are point and hurt when you hit them wrong. I do love the strings close-ness to the strings. My favorite feature is that it's the only bass I have found easy to tap on. I wish it had a whammy bar. Yeah a whammy bar for a bass, but that’s just a dream. // 10

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: elementwood89, on june 06, 2007

Purchased from: Local Guitar Shop

Features: I bought one of these bad boy's to replace my old 'Squire Precision' and am loving it. The shape of the guitar kind of freaked me out when I saw it at first, but I seriously love it's slim and sharp cut looks now. I got this in an Arctic White colored finish with black trim. It shares features with the Standard Jazz Bass, 2 pick-ups with individual tone knobs and volume. The shop I bought it from set it up with a BadAss II bridge and the action on the bass is unbelievable. It came with one of Fender's deluxe gig bags and a free cable. // 10

Sound: I play in an alternative rock cover band and I've been able to aquire the perfect tone for every song we've covered. I'm currently playing it through a 600W Gallien-Kreuger stack (which I also highly recommend looking at). The tonal variety, as with most jazz basses is superb. I also love the low end of this thing, it almost growls at me through my amp during heavy songs. At the same time, I can get sweet, smooth sounds by turning the tone down a bit. The only thing I could really complain about is a slight lack of 'punch' from the bridge pickup. Still great sounding though. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: I can't say I know how the original bridge was, but you might as well switch to the BadAss II bridge anyways simply because it's affordable, and so nice to play with. I didn't tamper with the pickups too much. They seemed to be setup nicely, but I'm not sure if they were adjusted in the guitar shop. The neck is of course Fender quality, frets are inlayed perfectly and the wood is blemish free. Very nice to play (especially compared to my old bass). // 10

Reliability & Durability: I've played several venues in the last month with this bass, and only brought a backup to a handful of shows. It's a very solid bass. It stays in tune well, I really only tune once or twice during a show. The strap buttons have held so far and I'm thinking they will continue to. Unless I was playing an arena or something I think I'd feel comfortable using this without a backup. The finish seems like it will last for a while, but I don't care too much about it. // 10

Impression: I've been playing bass for around 4 years now and have tried several basses including a Fender Precision, Gibson SG Bass, one of Ibanez's basses, and a Hofner. This bass, by far, is the best I've played yet. I think I will play this one for a while. The only thing I might do is look into switching pickups (not that the current ones are bad, I just want a little more 'umph' in my sound). I'd highly recommend this bass to anyone. // 10

Comments

[Aerodyne Jazz]

This bass is truly great, from day 1 this thing has been just fantastic, and without a doubt the best 400 quid ive ever spent

[Welsh Guitar]

400 quid? whered you get it for that much? i want it!

[MaidenRules666]

probably an English quid

[Fik0n]

All these reviews sucks since everyone gives everything 10's.

[kaptink]

MaidenRules666 wrote:

probably an English quid

Are welsh quids that different?

[metallicaPOOS]

Fik0n wrote:

All these reviews sucks since everyone gives everything 10's.

yeah thats true....

[E V H 5150]

WTF IS A QUID???? I'm American, if you can't tell.

Anyway...

Seems like a sweet bass. I was looking at bass guitars because I wanted to try something new. I also love Fender (or would love to earn an actual Fender and not a crappy Squire...), so maybe one day I'll consider the Stratocaster version of this (aerodyne strat). It just seems sleek and powerful.

[zigslip]

E V H 5150 wrote:

WTF IS A QUID???? I'm American, if you can't tell.

is that why we're looked at so bad?
i think its pretty obvious what a quid is, its definately not candy, seems like a nice bass though, anyone recommend a good metal bass? need one for my brother

[sbass12]

Epiphone Thunderbird is a good metal bass, and the Ibanez BTB200

[olithebass]

Ive played it once. I prefer the regular precision. you get a more clear tone. though this bass is hot and still sounds good. I just think its too much muffled noise. much like the fender jazz. which is basically what it is... with the precision pickup added

[Graybay]

I have a fender aerodyne and enough cannot be said about this ballsy boy! I have several of the boutique style bass guitars; dinwall, Lakland, Pedulla, etcetera...and this Jap made bass runs as good or better than all of those, it seems I reach for it most of the time! Go figure...if you are looking for a relativly inexpensive bass that gives a top notch performance every time all the time then forget all others - this bass fills the bill from all angles.

[Zachy Boy]

zigslip wrote:

E V H 5150 wrote:

WTF IS A QUID???? I'm American, if you can't tell.


is that why we're looked at so bad?
i think its pretty obvious what a quid is, its definately not candy, seems like a nice bass though, anyone recommend a good metal bass? need one for my brother

anything like esp, dean, not bc rich though, i hate them personally, ibanez is alright for metal also, and lol at the quid thing

[mini_mosher]

a quid is slang for pound...

i want that bass in olympic white...

[themtalisgood]

The Great Thing About This Is It Can Be Used For Jazz Or Precision. Its Look Suits Anything.

[jb_reborn]

sbass12 wrote:
Epiphone Thunderbird is a good metal bass

no its not, its a shit bass, neck dives like hell, plays like shit, tone is too muddy which isnt good for metal at all.
zigslip, if you want a good metal bass ask the bass forum, they will give a you a few great recomendations.

[flysupermoo]

I just got one second hand for £165 + my dean bass(part ex worth £120)
Just working out wheres best to rest my hand for playing so i get less finger prints and string slap.

[prt1990]

This has got to be one of the best looking basses around.

[SupersonicJSX]

this is a sweet bass. I like it better than the fretless I like to play. It versatile. I turned the volume down on P-Bass pickup and played Jaco, then turned the P-Bass volume back up and played the Sweet Child O mine bass feature at the beginning, then turned the J-Bass pickup off and played the Trooper. It looks really good too, I love the whole no pickguard look. Unlike most basses that I have played in store, this had no fret buzz at all. A really well made bass.

[the_underling]

Unfortunately there isn't a picture, but the Aerodyne also comes in transluscent blue and red, both with white pickguards and matching headstocks, and the red one is absolutely gorgeous.
All the ones Ive played, including the Frank Bello signature (different pickups, more body contouring, no tone knob) have had excellent action and have been superbly fast. I almost prefer the Aerodyne necks to the ultra-fast Geddy Lee neck...

[MetalHead_09]

I bought my Aerodyne for $200 American. I also play an Ibanez btb200 and i use this one for my metal playing more than i do my btb200... its nice to have that bass for a backup tho

[von tratt]

The bass is col, but there's one thing I don't like. It's called Aerodyne bcuz it's so light. But only the body... the neck weights MORE than my last one, and it's getting really annoying