‘78 Or Not?

[Rip Van Dan]

My bass according to Fender's serial number is supposed to be a late-'77/early-'78 bass. Parts say it is a late '82 to early '83. My number starts with S 866, his is S 858814, which Fender can't find in its records. Mine has a 4-bolt neck, his is the three bolt "micro-adjust" pattern from the 70's. Looks like the part number on the first volume pot is R1378017, which if I recall correctly, means that pot was made in the 17th week of 1978 (late April of 1978). I have dot markers on my neck, he has the bar markers, which were common in the 70's.

I think the neck binding is pretty unusual for '78. They did that in '66 and again in '82 as a regular option, but perhaps it could be ordered as a separate option some years? My '82/'83 also has the binding but that's what the '82 Jazz called for. You'd think they would have cleaned up the instrument cord input though. It's rusty as hell.

 

[Fender_Bender]

Did you see the dates/markings on the neck?

True, not thinking straight. It’s like trying to turn on light switches after the power is out .

 

[Ace Of Bass]

The International Series were simply standard production instruments offered in specific new colors. They were offered to the dealers (I was a Fender dealer '77-'88) with an amplifier deal- If we bought a certain pre-selected package of International Series instruments, we could order amplifiers with black faces rather than the usual silver faces. I think we got 8 instruments and so we got two Twin Reverbs, a Deluxe, and one each of the Bassman 50 and Bassman 100 (or perhaps they'd gone to the UL transformer so they were Bassman 70 and 135).

The absolute worst Jazz bass I ever touched was one of those- an Antigua/maple one. So bad that when someone broke in and stole about 15 instruments, they took that Jazz and left it on the roof where they'd broken in...

Thanks JTE for chiming in...your knowledge is well known and respected ...I’ve read the robbery store before on another thread..still funny as ever..! Jokes on them thigh...Antigua finished Jazzes seem to go for a premium nowadays...

 

[Ace Of Bass]

I know this bass (and the store - which is good).
I'm a HUGE fan of this era. But indeed, QC back then makes good ones (resonable weight, light wear, good neck pocket) more rare then hens teeth. When Fender got it's new management team ~1980, they found out that about 3% of what was leaving the factory TRULY passed QC! THREE PERCENT !!! Now tell me how rare a beautiful '77 is?!?!
She's heavy. And the tummy and arm bouts are shallow, which is a pet peeve of mine.
She's is pretty, and ash. With flats I can't make much of comment on the sound.
And the rust - must have lived by the beach. See that alot in CA.
Still a cool bass. No comment on the price. If you like it, it's worth it.

Thanks..! What great insight..! I too figured maybe the ocean air played a role in the corrosion...I do love heavy Jazz basses...this is getting more and more interesting..

 

[jchrisk1]

I wouldn't buy it based on that neck pocket. It looks like a huge gap to me.

 

[RodneyM]

If you buy it, we'll be brothers from another mother.

 

[FranF]

My bass according to Fender's serial number is supposed to be a late-'77/early-'78 bass. Parts say it is a late '82 to early '83. My number starts with S 866, his is S 858814, which Fender can't find in its records. Mine has a 4-bolt neck, his is the three bolt "micro-adjust" pattern from the 70's. Looks like the part number on the first volume pot is R1378017, which if I recall correctly, means that pot was made in the 17th week of 1978 (late April of 1978). I have dot markers on my neck, he has the bar markers, which were common in the 70's.

I think the neck binding is pretty unusual for '78. They did that in '66 and again in '82 as a regular option, but perhaps it could be ordered as a separate option some years? My '82/'83 also has the binding but that's what the '82 Jazz called for. You'd think they would have cleaned up the instrument cord input though. It's rusty as hell.

Your pot code reading is wrong. 1378017 is the 17th week (May) of 1980, so the bass is definitely from later '81 at the earliest. Dot necks were '82-83. Neck binding was on every single Jazz from very late '65 right until the Standard Jazz ended in '83.

 

[FranF]

Anyway, back to the subject bass. It's definitely a very late '80 at the earliest, but likely '81-82, period, not a '78. And wayyy overpriced. Even with the cool color, it's probably mid-2k at best. It appears to have sat in a wet case, which unsurprisingly didn't affect the nuke resistant 1/8" of poly on it (that's where two pounds of the weight is-lol) but did cause the corrosion.

 

[Ace Of Bass]

If you buy it, we'll be brothers from another mother.

You get me a good deal for that bass and I’ll be your Dad if you want..!!

 

[Ace Of Bass]

Anyway, back to the subject bass. It's definitely a very late '80, but likely '81-82, period, not a '78. And wayyy overpriced. Even with the cool color, it's probably mid-2k at best. It appears to have sat in a wet case, which unsurprisingly didn't affect the nuke resistant 1/8" of poly on it (that's where two pounds of the weight is-lol) but did cause the corrosion.

Now we got FranF in the mix...I’m getting all the heavy hitting Fender aficionados today..thanks for the info..!

 

[RodneyM]

They deal. Call. Call back. Call again.
Been there for many months.

 

[FranF]

Now we got FranF in the mix...I’m getting all the heavy hitting Fender aficionados today..thanks for the info..!

Aww heck, exposed for the sham that I am...lol

 

[bolophonic]

Bro, those neck screws are an embarrassment.

 

[FranF]

They deal. Call. Call back. Call again.
Been there for many months.

True, listed for a year now... hmmmm

 

[Ace Of Bass]

Bro, those neck screws are an embarrassment.

Ahhh the clean ocean air, am I right...? Not to get too morbid but I saw a YouTube vid on a guy who was out on his boat at sea alone and died...heart attack or something while sitting at his desk...they had pictures of what the salt and ocean air had done to him after a short period of time...very similar looking to those screws...anyway, I’d be scared to keep them on long after I got it...if I get it..

 

[Ace Of Bass]

True, listed for a year now... hmmmm

Uh-oh...

 

[mikeswals]

Looks like the part number on the first volume pot is R1378017, which if I recall correctly, means that pot was made in the 17th week of 1978 (late April of 1978). I have dot markers on my neck, he has the bar markers, which were common in the 70's.

The pot codes are 137 80 17
137 = CTS manufacturer (if it had a 304 in this spot, then the manufacturer would be Stackpole)
80 = year
17 = week

 

[eastcoasteddie]

...The neck pocket isn't a great fit and whilst this might not affect how it plays, it doesn't add anything positive...

I have a bass with a much looser neck pocket than this one

and it still sounds great. As long as a neck fits into a pocket, very little of the heel actually touches the body. As long as the screws are tight, it’ll sound fine.

 

[Ace Of Bass]

They deal. Call. Call back. Call again.
Been there for many months.

Would have been great if you got a good read on the resonance of the body....sounds like it’s in good shape though..

 

[buldog5151bass]

Heavy, late 70s (the era with the most QC issues at Fender). No.

 

[Stackpole]

I’ve never seen a Fender bass in the 70’s with those cheap 80’s style volume/tone knobs. Always hated those knobs!