Fender Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass | Fender Music Australia | RRP $2499
The Fender Laura Lee Signature Jazz Bass is a faithful recreation of the iconic instrument Laura Lee of Khruangbin played on stages across the world for almost a decade. From festival slots under blistering sun to late-night TV appearances, it’s been a worthy vessel for her vibe—visually distinct, sonically plush, and dialled to perfection for the subtle swagger that defines her playing.
Texas-based instrumental trio Khruangbin is one of those bands that transcends genre. They borrow the best parts of an array of disciplines—funk, soul, psychedelic, dub, surf rock, and melt them down into their core components, blending them together to create an alloy that is white-hot, rock-solid, and greater than the sum of its parts. Listening to a Khruangbin record feels like peering out from the eyes of a carrion bird as it swirls about desert canyons and whips past the campfires of weary travelers on cold, clear nights. Underpinning and anchoring that sound is the gooey, pillowy bounce of Laura Lee’s fingers on the flat-wound strings of her bass guitar—warm, rounded, and perfectly in the pocket. It’s no wonder that Fender has honoured her with the Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass.
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In interviews before, Laura explains the origins of her signature bass: a J-style instrument with an unexpected set of quirks that give it a charm of its own. Like Laura herself, it’s instantly recognisable, unapologetically unique, and impossible not to adore. Unlike most J-Bass owners, she chose not to rip off the chrome ashtray and neck pickup guard, opting instead to retain the classic aesthetic appeal, relishing the feature as a point of conversation among onlookers unfamiliar with such bold, pronounced fixtures. Laura also kept the foam mute pad in the bridge to mimic the velvety thump of an upright bass—a tonal quality that complements Khruangbin music like peanut-butter complements chocolate. Even Laura’s choice to stick religiously to flat-wound bass strings demonstrates her dedication to that woolly, syrupy tone.
Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass
The Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass has a 34” scale-length with a classically asymmetrical alder body, finished in a gloss polyester vintage white finish that’s reminiscent of melted butter or vanilla frosting. Alder has long been the go-to for Fender builds: relatively light-weight while delivering balanced tonal properties—clear highs, strong mids, and just enough low-end heft to keep things grounded. The middle layer of the 3-ply parchment pickguard is black, and the top and bottom layers are white, giving the illusion of a neat, thin black border—a subtle detail that draws the eye into the centre of the body.
Annexed onto the bottom edge of the pickguard is a chrome control panel that sits under the knurled chrome concentric (stacked) tone/volume pots and the input jack. Concentric knobs are a clear nod to the original J Basses of the early ‘60s, giving the player control of both tone and volume independently for each pickup. Perfect for players who like to blend just the right amount of neck warmth with bridge bite and don’t want to mess around with four separate knobs.
Conspicuously jutting out of the pickguard just below the G string is a tug bar—something of an oddity and more of an aesthetic fixture than a practicality to the modern bassist. Tug bars were originally intended for upright-style players (think James Jamerson or Bill Wyman), designed as an anchoring point to be gripped by the fingers while the thumb plucked downward. Today, it’s a vintage detail that’s rarely functional but incredibly charming, especially on an instrument so steeped in retro character.
The curious appointments continue with a chrome pickup cover and bridge ashtray, a nickel string tree, and vintage-style open-gear tuning machines with cloverleaf paddles. The tuning pegs add a comfortable mass to the headstock, subtly influencing sustain and resonance. Fun fact: this signature bass is so faithful to Laura Lee’s original instrument that Fender even reversed the tuning machines, meaning you have to turn clockwise to tune up and anticlockwise to tune down, making this bass feel like more of a personal artefact than a generic factory build.
The maple Custom “U” shaped neck is finished in gloss urethane and topped with a 9.5” radius rosewood fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and pearloid white dot markers. The Custom “U” profile is chunkier than most modern necks (closer in feel to a vintage P-Bass) but the smooth gloss finish means it doesn’t feel bulky or slow. The profile gives your fretting hand something substantial to wrap around while still being nimble enough to navigate Khruangbin-style runs and soft, expressive slides. The .048 – .095 gauge flat-wound stainless steel strings lend a streamlined, aerodynamic feel to left hand navigation. Paired with the vintage accoutrements, playing this bass feels a lot like running your hand along the warm hood of a 1940s Cadillac.
Both the bridge and neck pickups are passive DiMarzio Hum-Cancelling Ultra Jazz pickups, the ideal choice for players who want clarity, responsiveness, and dead silence when you’re not playing. They’re designed to accentuate that rounded, pumping low end while still capturing snappy top-end articulation and a generous helping of harmonic sparkle. They’re voiced to thrive in mix-heavy contexts; focused enough to cut through reverbs, delays and modulation (all mainstay effects on Mark Speer’s pedal board) without stepping on toes. Paired with the flatwound strings and a foam mute under the bridge cover, they deliver that unmistakable warm, vintage bloom that is the mantle of Khruangbin’s sonic world.
Playing the Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass feels like stepping into a retro daydream. Everything about it is warm, bold and unctuous. It commands attention not only through its tone, but also through its feel and its dress. It’s a bass that invites you to play less, feel more, and look hot as the Texas Sun while doing it.
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