Thanks, @howard . . . I really got a LOT of mileage out of your post! 
Up until now, I hadn’t really paid too much attention to neck construction. After digging around, it seems there are a number of advantages to a 5-piece neck.
What I had in mind was only the thinness of the necks, so I learned something new today.
I don’t think I’ll be hitting my Jazz with sandpaper, though . . . lol 
All best, Joe
Just the type of question I don’t like to ask because you are asking me to tell you what “I like” when there may be no intrinsic value in Fender at all… Yet I must answer. I have had a Gibson SG bass for decades and an Ibanez-- I sold my SG and my Ergodyne bass. For 20 years of recording and gigging, I was never happy with either bass. Ten years ago I looked at basses but it was more money and I had two basses. Selling my gear never seems to fetch more than 50% of the new price. I hate buying something new if I already have 1 (OR TWO). So I kept using the basses I had. For 10 more years, I figured I could fix the tone in post processing. I then a few years ago had a bassist friend record a bassline for me using his 100 $ usb interface and with no eq and no compression, I was far happier with his bass tone than anything I had “worked on”. I mean I couldn’t let it sit unprocessed because it just wasn’t polished dynamic’s wise but it sounded incredible. It was a Squire bass. My My My was I burning… I went to the local music shop and tested one-- and oh my… a SQUIRE just really really blew my mind both in the way it played, felt, and sounded. This began a quest to test out many Fender basses. Ultimately I bought a used one-- can’t afford a really nice one but I am so glad I finally got rid of the others. That said, I have tried some others that I really like : Music Man, G & L, some of the LTD’s, some of the other Ibanezes that were just way better than mine… one Rickenbacker I really liked… but I’m definitely hooked on Fender. I feel like I wasted 20 years since I didn’t have one. Prior to Fender, I never wanted a bass rig and never wanted to play in a band… now I want both.
I feel ya. I’ve started a pretty close friendship with an MiM Fender Jazz Bass at my local Guitar Center. I regularly try different Basses but keep going back to that one.
I have to admit I really liked (more than I expected) the MIJ Jazz I was handed in a music shop while trying out amps. Gorgeous blue bubblegum color, great tone.
I think I would want to get a P/J instead of a J though.
Woo-hoo! . . . somebody else on here had one! . . .
I’m still playing around with mine @Pbassnewb, but I really have to say that I like my Squier Jazz WAY more . . .
I really should update my thread on that.
Cheers, Joe
Keep in mind that Cort makes a lot of the lower priced Fenders and Fender just puts their decal on them. American Fenders are quite expensive I agree. Not knocking Cort, I have one of their basses and for the money you get a nice bass.
yeah Cort has a very nice quality/price ratio.
I kinda like the looks of their Jeff Berlin model (which, also, is no longer quite so “inexpensive” any more):
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Cort/Jeff-Berlin-Series-Rithimic-Bass-Guitar-Natural-Rosewood-1433965542391.gc?source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgYLIhLGD6AIVCtvACh0C5A2UEAQYAiABEgJ07PD_BwE