'76 fender jazz body

[oddgrowth]

I have found a fender parts bass that (the owner says) contains a '76 jazz body.

So, I'm looking for some defining characteristics of a USA 76 made fender jazz bass body. he says there are some numbers in the neck pocket, but can't remember them. I read this morning there were MIJ's produced in '76 (is this true?) and this has me leary of the deal.

The only thing I have to go on so far is that it features 3-bolt fender microtilt neckplate.

any suggestions? It'll be a bit of a drive to go inspect it and I don't want to waste the time if it's not evenn the real deal.

[gbazinet]

In the neck pocket there should be a washer looking piece that is part of the micro tilt. Here is a photo of a neck pocket posted by another user.

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/699/509bod6iz2.jpg

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by oddgrowth

I read this morning there were MIJ's produced in '76 (is this true?) and this has me leary of the deal.

Not at all. Fender japan didn't start up until the mid-80s, although they did make reissues of the 75 jazz with a 3-bolt/micro-tilt system.

As far as a 76 jazz, check the pickup/control cavity routes which should be separate and not a continuous channel between the neck pup and control panel like on later models. There would at one point have been brass plates installed under the pickups and in the control cavity - while those may be gone, they were mounted into the body with little triangles of metal stuck into the wood that were then soldered onto the brass so there may be little spots where those once were, maybe see if those are visible.

I'm not really up to snuff on my body route knowledge, but there may be useful info here:

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

[oddgrowth]

Originally Posted by coreyfyfe

Not at all. Fender japan didn't start up until the mid-80s, although they did make reissues of the 75 jazz with a 3-bolt/micro-tilt system.

As far as a 76 jazz, check the pickup/control cavity routes which should be separate and not a continuous channel between the neck pup and control panel like on later models. There would at one point have been brass plates installed under the pickups and in the control cavity - while those may be gone, they were mounted into the body with little triangles of metal stuck into the wood that were then soldered onto the brass so there may be little spots where those once were, maybe see if those are visible.

I'm not really up to snuff on my body route knowledge, but there may be useful info here:

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

ok, I must have mis-read what I saw about the MIJ jazz. phew!

thanks ALOT for the info guys...these particulars are great, and will most likely dictate it's authenticity.