Show Full Spec Comparison
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless | Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass | |
---|---|---|
General | ||
Brand: | Fender | Fender |
Year: | 2020 | 2023 |
Configuration: | SS | HH |
Strings: | 4 | 4 |
Made in: | United States | United States |
Series: | American Professional II | Limited Edition |
Colors: | White, Sunburst, Blue | Orange |
Left-Handed Version: | Yes | No |
Body | ||
Type: | Solid Body | Solid Body |
Body Material: | Alder | Alder |
Bridge: | 4-Saddle HiMass Vintage (String-Through-Body or Top-Load) | 4-Saddle HiMass Vintage-Style Bass |
Neck | ||
Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | Bolt-On |
Tuners: | Fender Lightweight Vintage-Style Keys with Tapered Shafts | Vintage-Style Open-Back |
Fretboard: | Rosewood | Rosewood |
Neck Material: | Maple | Maple |
Decoration: | White Line Fret Markers | White Pearloid Block |
Scale Size: | 34" | 30" |
Shape: | Bass Slim C | Bass Modern C |
Frets: | 20 Medium Nickel Silver | 20 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver |
Fretboard Radius: | 9.5" | 9.5" |
Nut: | Bone | Synthetic Bone |
Nut Width: | 38.1mm (1.5'') | 38.1mm (1.5'') |
Electronics | ||
Bridge Pickups: | Fender V-Mod II Single-Coil Jazz Bass (Single Coil / Passive) | Fender Custom Humbucking (Humbucker / Passive) |
Middle Pickup: | Fender V-Mod II Single-Coil Jazz Bass (Single Coil / Passive) | Fender "Wide Range" Humbucking Bass (Humbucker / Passive) |
Neck Pickup: | ||
Switch: | 0 Way | 3 Way |
Knobs: | Dome | Bell |
Pickup Mods: | None | None |
Volume Controls: | 2 | 1 |
Tone Controls: | 1 | 1 |
Hardware | ||
Strap Lock: | No | No |
Hardware Color: | Chrome | Gold |
Show Diagrams Comparison
Reasons to Get
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless over Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass
Reasons to Get
Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass over American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless
Other Key Differences
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless vs Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass
Shared Features
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless vs Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Top Pickup Brand
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
- Weight Relief
- Retainer Bar
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both are balanced for most hand sizes.
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless:
Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass:
Beginner Friendliness
The Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass meets 5 out of our 6 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless meets only 4. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
New Player Friendliness
Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Narrow nut
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.
Winner: Tie.
Pickup Configuration
The Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless has an SS configuration while the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass has HH pickups.
SS is the classic Telecaster configuration. It's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion, and it's very popular for the country genre because of their brightness. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.
On the other hand, Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.
However, the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Preamp Circuit
A preamp in an electric bass functions as an electronic circuit that acts as an interface between the bass's pickups and the amplifier. Its main purpose is to amplify and customize the bass's initial signal before it reaches the amplifier, offering enhanced control over factors like tone, volume, and sound attributes. Preamps typically come equipped with tone adjustments, equalization options, and sometimes built-in effects, empowering bass players to fine-tune their sound to suit their personal preferences and the musical environment.
Both basses have a Passive preamp.
Passive: A bass with a passive preamp lacks an onboard electronic circuit for tone shaping and signal boosting. Instead, it relies solely on passive pickups and basic tone controls, typically consisting of volume and tone knobs. Passive preamps don't require an external power source like batteries, making them low-maintenance and dependable. While they offer a simpler and more straightforward tonal character, passive basses are appreciated for their warm and vintage sound, often favored in genres like classic rock, blues, and funk. They are an excellent choice for musicians who value the simplicity and timeless appeal of their instrument's tone without the need for active electronic components.
Winner: Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass gives you 3 switch options while the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless gives you 0. This means that the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Neither of them come with some kind of coil split or pickup mod option. This makes both lacking in terms of versatility.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless compares to the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in United States.
The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your bass to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless has a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.
On the other hand, the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass comes with a Synthetic Bone nut. Bone is the best natural material for guitar nuts. However, its tonal properties can be inconsistent. That's the problem that synthetic bone fixes. This is much better than using a plastic nut because the nut is more slippery—which helps with tuning stability—, and it gives your open strings rich harmonics.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless's are Fender Lightweight Vintage-Style Keys with Tapered Shafts while the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass's are Vintage-Style Open-Back
Winner: Tie.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a bass is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Active Preamp
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Retainer Bar
- No Strap Lock
Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Synthetic Bone Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Active Preamp
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Retainer Bar
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a bass might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a bass feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 38.1mm (1.5'').
This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 4-string bass. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless has the longest scale: 34". The Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass is only 30" long. This is a 4'' (101.6mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the bass sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless and the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most bass fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
Both the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless and the Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass have the same fretboard radius of 9.5". This is the most common radius for Stratocaster guitars. It's considered curved when compared to most other models. This allows you to play chords very easily without muting strings accidentally and gives you more space between strings for fingerpicking. However, this curve also gives the guitar less allowance for lower action. If you bend too hard at the high frets, some of your notes might get muted because the curve will make the string fret out.
Fret Size
The Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar Bass has Medium Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass Fretless's Medium frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.