To: my fellow bassists and lovers of music and everything just and equitable

From: your friend David at CertainBass

RE: The Real American Standard Jazz Bass.

In this newsletter I thought we’d have some fun.  Because I go to bass-related sites all the time, I get ads about basses (like I’m going to buy a bass or something).  With this new marketing feature of the cyber world where you get ads related to the products you look at, I’ve been forced to see a lot of ads from competitors.  Does Fender see my ads and is that why I get theirs?  Of course not.  I decided, for once, to check out what my “competitors” are doing since they were being waved right in front of my face.  Usually I don’t pay attention.  I don’t even go to NAAM.  That’s because I think we’re that cool.  We’re not making basses for an industry; we’re bassists making basses for bassists. 

The Fender Jazz Bass is the most recorded bass in history. Live, present, thumping bass rather than some dull thud in the corner.  We just finished a really slick bass that I feel is the American standard bass - like the one that made all of America’s pop music really pop.  My American standards are how and why I got started.  I market basses to professionals who own and play a vintage 1951 to 1973 Fender bass but need something identical or better to travel with while leaving the vintage love safe at home.  When I see someone with a vintage favorite, I tell them, “I will make you a bass that you’d rather pick up more than that one.”  Most will say, “You’re on,” and then I know I’ve sold a bass because after I make it and they play it once, they won't be able to let it go.  Works every time.  In my mind, it’s the real American standard, or what we at CertainBass call our Elita Model One.  I often think about what Leo may have done with his company and products had he not sold to CBS.  Everyone agrees that this acquisition took a toll on quality.  Today, would I go so far as to say that we make basses that are not only better, but are more authentic than what the company bearing Leo's name makes?   Yes!  That’s what I’ve been saying all along.  We’re making basses not for folks who want a new bass; we’re working for those who would really like to have an old one.  That, to me, is the American standard sought after the world over.  That’s exactly what CertainBass has been about.  

Today, the company called Fender sells what they call the American Standard Jazz Bass.  Are they truly still making that standard or just sayin’ it?   I'm going to let you decide.

I looked up their model bass closest to mine and I found their actual spec sheet.  Inspired, I put together a sheet listing our specs in one column and theirs in another.  Here are the results of this study (notes follow):

Our bass uses some Fender parts, but they’re better Fender parts than what they use on their bass.

Notes

1. We’re surprised to see they started rolling the fingerboard edges.  We’ve been doing it on all basses since day one - standard.
   
   
2. If you’ve ever played a real 1961- 65, that’s Us.  The Them is pretty hefty, baseball bat-ish...
   
   
3. The underlying principle at CertainBass is for us to take any option that is most like the early 60’s basses.  A bone nut is ephemeral.  You gotta have your bone nut! It’s old school, plus the nut is probably the most important component.  Real bone is hard as a rock and can last over 60 years.  The notches have to be precisely cut a certain way that pro bassists like to have it.  We don’t like it as low as guitar luthiers take it because on a bass there is a height for each string that is optimal for tone and feel.  This is something most luthier repair guys just don’t know about.  You can’t “cookbook” it. 
   
   
4. In general, we go for the 60’s true-to-the-period.  We don’t want you missing your old friend, your 60’s Fender.  We want our basses like Leo intended.  He favored nickel because it doesn’t corrode like chrome and has a softer, classier sheen.  Only our control plate is chrome.  We’re nickel from the big parts down to the screws, strap buttons and string tree. 
   
   
5. We use nickel plated reverse tuners that are made by Fender strangely enough.  Fender doesn’t even have Fender tuners on its American Standard Jazz bass!
   
   
6. We’re using Fender's Custom Shop pickups because they’re probably the best Jazz bass pickups Fender ever made and we want that classic 60’s Fender tone.  A little trade secret is that these pickups are copies of Jaco Pastorius’ pickups.   One of Jaco’s repair guys dissected and measured everything about Jaco’s bass including the pickups’ material, output and number of windings.  Back in the day, the old ladies at Fender winding pickups didn’t even count windings.  Each pickup is different and hence the sound of each bass is different.  They standardized in late 60’s and 70’s which is why all those pickups sound the same.  My vote is for Jaco’s tone.  Fat, meaty, present.  That’s Us, not Them. 
   
   
7. Every bass should have had a Varitone.  Most studios had one just for the bass back in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and beyond.  Passive EQ is the cleanest, too.  And no battery.  It’s extremely true-to-period except for the fact that the CBS acquisition of Fender brought the bean-counting suits into the mix.  They didn’t add features; they took features away in order to maximize profit.  This contributed to such ludicrous design changes as going from thick slab fingerboards to veneer.  Yes, they used thin veneer for a “fingerboard” from ’62 long through the 70’s.  Doesn’t quite cut it for the tone of a thick slab like all our basses have. 
   
   
8. Our playability, fit and finish?  They can’t touch us. 
   
   
9. As the Musician’s Friend site said, “Don’t think about it, just get it.”  Really?  I want you to think about it.  That’s what this exercise is all about.  You’ll be looking at any bass you buy for decades, or at least that’s my intention.  Such an important investment requires investigation, thought and consideration.  I want you to have your own special bass.  It's a major purchase, and it's not just about the money; this is about your music.   The right bass captivates our imagination and also our senses - sound, touch and sight.
   
   
10. Since we’re a custom shop, our price can go up or down depending in what you do or don’t want.  For example, don’t need another hardshell case? You don’t have to have one, nor must you pay for it - we’ll deduct it.  Want a different bridge or pickups or anything? That’s not a problem - we'll discuss every detail.  You have to buy theirs with every feature whether you want to or not. 

You might be asking the question, “How is it that David can provide so much more at the same price?”

Because David is a genius?  Hardly (well, maybe).  It’s really quite simple.  Take their price of $1300 and remove 40% for the retailer, and you have a $780 bass.  Even less if a distributor is involved.  So it’s not that they have a $1300 bass and we have a $1300 bass; it’s more like they have a $780 or less bass, and we have what would amount to a $2100 bass if we had to give the retailer his cut.  In other words, it’s easy to whoop them on quality as well as price!

A decent portion of CertainBassists are repeat customers with more than a few already getting their third and fourth CertainBass from us.  Repeat customers now get 10% off, so there's mutual love.  It's like finding a good tailor and having him or her make all your suits just the way you like them.  I don't know exactly what it is, but I must have some type of magic when it comes to creating playability on an electric bass.  It's actually in the set-up and in our build techniques.  Once you experience it, you know it's right and you come back for more.  I guess my own necessity was the mother of that invention.  I had to have a bass that played like greased lightning, and no one really knew how to make that happen, so I had to create it myself.

It’s undeniable at this point that the manufacturing base is coming back to America, which is a much-needed development.  Foreign workers are now demanding (sometimes violently) better pay, which translates into higher costs for the big companies. This means that guys like me are better able to compete with and even scare the big boys who use that foreign labor.  So the times are a-changin’ for the better - America is starting to make things again.  Something else is coming back, too - quality.  When Americans are happy, we’re very productive, and our stuff is good. 

Here at CertainBass no one is griping about a thing.  I’ve always believed it’s better to err on the side of a good vibe for all involved.  No one is going to starve treating their employees right as long we all treat the customer right.  And that’s who the boss is: the customer, You! We hope You will choose Us rather than Them for all the right reasons of quality and standards.

We hope to hear from you soon!

David Certain
CertainBass.com
david@certainbass.com
314 762 0902