Fender Announces the Flea Jazz Active Bass
New model is the second collaboration between Fender and the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist.
Fender has announced the release of the Flea Jazz Bass Active. The new artist signature model was designed by Flea and Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Jason Smith, and marks the company’s second collaboration with the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist.
“We wanted our second artist signature bass with Flea to complement the Shell Pink Flea Jazz Bass—a reproduction of his beloved studio bass we recreated with him in 2016,” said Justin Norvell, EVP, Fender Products. “This new active model is a complete 180 from the super vintage-style of the first; it’s what Flea plays live on stage and was built to cut through with punch.”
The active, American-made bass features an offset alder body offered in two finishes: Satin Inca Silver and Satin Shell Pink. There’s also a Satin Polyurethane neck finish with a matching headstock.
Other features include a 22-fret “C”-shaped maple neck; 12”-16” radius maple fingerboard; and a single, high-output humbucker with an Aguilar OBP-1 18-volt preamp.
“This bass helps me hear every note crystal clear, it's great in the studio, and it's a really warm sound with a lot of love in it,” said Flea. “This bass has a lot of character. It's a workhorse, you know, you can beat it up, and it still rocks.”
The Flea Jazz Bass Active is available for $1,699. For more information, head over to Fender.com.
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.