Fender Highway One...

Royale with Cheese

Am in the market for a new bass. My current backup I find too similar to my primary bass so I've decided to offload it and go for a Jazz Bass (came very close to buying a USA deluxe before getting my current bass).

Was considering just looking for a straight swap, my Warwick Rockbass Corvette Proline Special Edition, for a Mexican Fender Jazz Bass. I'm not spending big bucks on this so the Mexican series was what I was looking for. Am just after noticing the Highway One Series now. Does anybody have one of these? Are they worth the extra €200 over a Mexican Jazz? Could get one for €700 brand new, if I can't be arsed waiting for one second hand.

Actually I've only ever played the USA series Jazz basses, so I don't even know what the Mexicans are like.

Oh, and I know it's very popular around these parts, but I'm not importing anything from Japan

Dord

The Highway 1's are American. The new ones look cool, they come with Badass II bridges stock! :eek: And all the HW1's have nitro finishes, so it'll start showing your love (abuse) after a while. :cool:

Royale with Cheese

Yeah I know the Highway One's are American. Am just wondering if you're paying the extra cash for the made in USA bit on the head, or if they actually are of better quality.

I do quite like the finish on them I have to say. What's the deal with those bridges?

Dord

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Yeah I know the Highway One's are American. Am just wondering if you're paying the extra cash for the made in USA bit on the head, or if they actually are of better quality.

I do quite like the finish on them I have to say. What's the deal with those bridges?

The Badass II has been around for 30 odd years and its a tried and tested replacement for Fenders bent piece-o-metal bridge. It feels more solid, and the best thing is that it stops the saddles slipping because they run in grooves. Plus it looks cool. The extra added weight has an effect on the sound also (for the better) and can also help relieve instruments with neck dive issues.

Given the option (money-wise) I'd go for a highway 1 rather than a mex, purely on the basis that all the upgrades that I would do are already done. US pickup, better pots, greasebucket tone circuit, and that lovely 70's style headstock.

Royale with Cheese

Sounds good. I shall have to hurry along to my local music store to see if they have any I can try out.

gaffmaster

I dont know much about HW1 basses but as far as the guitars go, the HW1 series is a combination of american and mexican parts assembled in america.

Put in it's most simple form - American Timber, Mexican Hardware.

I have a Highway1 strat and I love it. the body and neck feel great, and the pick ups etc arent bad at all. I play it more than my AV Jaguar.

Ravelleman

For about the same price as the Highway One Jazz Bass you could get the Geddy Lee Signature Jazz Bass. It's quite similar to the Highway One but looks like a bettr deal to me. It has the same badass bridge, American pickups and high quality electronics. If you like the 70s styling of the Highway One Jazz Bass, you'll probably like the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass' 70s style block inlays and headstock. It also has a real finish... They're made in Japan but they're an export model so they're just as readily available as the Highway One basses in Europe. I tried one in New York last year and it really was excellent. The neck is quite thin though. You might not be in to that.

fish-head

I've played a few HW1 Jazzes and they're lovely basses by all accounts, plus quite affordable for a MIA Fender.

Royale with Cheese

Ravelleman wrote: »

For about the same price as the Highway One Jazz Bass you could get the Geddy Lee Signature Jazz Bass. It's quite similar to the Highway One but looks like a bettr deal to me. It has the same badass bridge, American pickups and high quality electronics. If you like the 70s styling of the Highway One Jazz Bass, you'll probably like the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass' 70s style block inlays and headstock. It also has a real finish... They're made in Japan but they're an export model so they're just as readily available as the Highway One basses in Europe. I tried one in New York last year and it really was excellent. The neck is quite thin though. You might not be in to that.

I would actually prefer the thin neck, I'm used to them. Can't stand p-basses, mainly due to the size of the neck on them. Had a look at the Geddy Lee, looks nice enough... and I know how highly Japanese Fenders are thought of. It's €200 more than the Highway One though so I don't think it's an option.

Played a Highway One in Music Maker earlier. Thought it was quite good, not as good as the USA deluxe I'd played there before obviously, but it's definitely worth its price tag. I actually quite like the non gloss finish on them.

As far as the Mexican hardware, American timber thing goes... I think it may be true for the guitars, but the basses use the USA pickups and have the better bridge, so they do look a good deal. Actually I'm not sure about the pickups...

Ravelleman

Oh right. For some reason I thought the Highway One basses were €900 too...

Royale with Cheese

Musicmaker were charging €1000, said they could let it go for €900. They're about €780 on Thomann but you can get them for just over €700 from soundslive.co.uk

Dord

Thats a big difference! Fuppin' joke the price of stuff here.

Royale with Cheese

Yeah. I find the guitars (stuff you'd preferably want to play before buying it) are alot more expensive. Was looking at getting an Ashdown 15" cab. It's only about €5 more expensive in Musicmaker than it is online.

Dord

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Yeah. I find the guitars (stuff you'd preferably want to play before buying it) are alot more expensive. Was looking at getting an Ashdown 15" cab. It's only about €5 more expensive in Musicmaker than it is online.

Thats quite handy actually, I'd prefer buying a cab in Dublin and a head online. I could get the head cheap. The shipping of the cab would scare the **** outta me.