The Fender Jazz is an electric bass played by Prince played live and in the studio in the early 1980s and again in the 2000s.
Andre Cymone first acquired a Fender Jazz, with a natural finish and a maple fretboard, on the Prince tour. This was Prince’s preferred studio bass at this time, appearing on albums like Dirty Mind, Controversy and The Time. It was later modified with a mirrored pickguard and a zebra print finish. This bass still belongs to Cymone.
Prince continued playing a Jazz after Cymone left the band, acquiring a black Jazz bass with a mirrored pickguard, which was played live by Brownmark on the Controversy and 1999 tours. This bass was refinished in purple and given a grey scratchplate for the Purple Rain album and film (similar to Wendy’s Rickenbacker 330). Prince continued using a Jazz for some of the Around The World In A Day sessions, before switching to an Alembic Spoiler.
Prince started playing Jazz basses again in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Prince had a close working relationship with Larry Graham at this time, who often played Jazz-style basses and this may have influenced his decision to return to the style. Prince started playing a black Fender Jazz again on the One Night Alone tour, which was later auctioned. Prince was seen playing red and purple Jazz basses later in the 2000s. He also had a black Jazz, which was his preferred studio bass.
The Purple Rain, purple and black Jazz basses all appear in the Prince - Guitar & Bass book. Along with the red Jazz, these are all currently in the collection at Paisley Park.
Rhonda Smith also started to use a Fender Jazz American Deluxe in the early 2000 and Josh Dunham used Jazz basses, including the Marcus Miller signature bass.
