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1960 Jazz bass questions...

AaronWarren

AaronWarren

Sep 7, 2000
248
78
Sunny SoCal
#1
Since I am sure a few of you guys own these on here.. What are your thoughts on if I could get a real 1960 Jazz bass in sunburst for $4500. Here is the catch.. Non original tuners & Electronics (pots & p/u's) & a re-fret job. I have a source for the original tuners ($800), so that leaves non-original electronics & a re-fret.. Is this a good deal? I have attached some pictures...

Any thoughts would be really welcomed!
 

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#2
If you're sure the rest is a '60, sounds pretty good. I'd use a set of reissue reverse tuners if you plan on playing it and save youself some $. A nice set of Lollar or Fender Custom Shop pickups would be my choice for a player.
Just my $.02. :cool:
 
#3
Hey skamaniac, values are difficult and subjective. Check Ebay, Vintage Guitar Magazine's Price Guide, Blue Book of Electric Guitars etc. for some general ideas. I see a few things in your pic that are missing. The finger rest and both the chrome covers, one that covers one pickup and one that covers the other pickup and bridge. Can't tell from the pic, but make sure that the knobs are stacknobs. Also, the tuners you mention, make sure that they are correct for early Jazz basses. They are typical looking for most Fenders but the shaft is longer and the head is circular and NOT the elephant ear style that was on the Precision of the same time period and later Jazzes. These are pretty difficult to find. Not sure they're worth $800 but they are hard to come by. How about the original case? Those are not real easy to find either. Hope this helps. Oren.
 
#4
Oren Hudson said:
They are typical looking for most Fenders but the shaft is longer and the head is circular and NOT the elephant ear style that was on the Precision of the same time period and later Jazzes. These are pretty difficult to find.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're talking about the oval tuners, which didn't appear until '65 or '66. For a '60 bass, he wants a set of kluson reverse, and the reissues would be my choice for a bass like this.
 
#5
I hope the bass in the picures you posted is not the bass your going to pay $4500 for. Looks like a refin got a better pic of the back of the headstock and the Decal? Serial# and bridge?
 
#7
Do you like the way it plays? Are you confident about the finish/parts (excepting what you've already noted) being original? Is there a local disinterested third party who can appraise it? If it's an original finish, it seems like a pretty good deal considering you can spend half that amount on a Custom Shop instrument that is not likely to appreciate, certainly not like a pre-CBS Fender will.
 
#8
If the Jazz in the pictures is the 1960 Jazz that's for sale, then it appears only the wood and possibly the bridge are original, nothing else.
That body has a typical old bad refin job, because of all that heavy use of black paint, and they also plugged the holes for the bridge cover/ashtray, and they sanded away the characteristic 'Fullerton hump' from the lower horn cut-away.
The proper 60/61 stack knob controls and pickups are going to be the most expensive and difficult items to find.
The tuners would be reverse-wind Klusons, and those are very easy to find (but pricey).
Thumbing through the vintage dealers listings, original sunburst stack knob Jazzes are ranging from 15-20k, so 4500 doesn't seem that bad, but with virually all the important original parts missing, you'll have to figure what the true cost is going to be.

BTW, those pictures are terrible, and anyone serious about buying it needs to ask for clear up-close pictures, to look at all the details.
 
#9
:crying: I stand corrected sproing. You are right on the oval tuners. I based my statement on memory that has been somewhat diminished with the higher numbers following the question age_____. I knew 2 bass players that had Jazzes prior to my purchasing a new April '66 P-bass, and theirs had the oval and not the elephant ear tuners like my P-bass. Thanks for making me visit some old materials that I have not looked at in many years. It was fun looking at the pix.
 
#10
In my humble, admittedly non-expert, opinion $4500 is way too much for that bass because you can't spend your way back to making that bass "original". The original pickups and electronics and tuners are gone forever. Even if you do spend big bucks for tuners from the same year, which btw is not possible to determine afaik, they will not be and can never be truthfully referred to as being original tuners. Same with pickups and electronics. If they are not original to that bass, then they're not original.

You've got all kinds of problems with this bass, all of which diminish its value as a "real" 1960 jazz bass. Tuners have been replaced by newer Schallers, which meant new holes were drilled and possibly even the shaft holes were widened. The body was almosy certainly routered to accommodate the newer electronics.

So what you (maybe) have is a 1960 neck that has been modified and a 1960 body that has been modified. That doesn't add up to $4500...again in my non-expert opinion.
 
#11
Craig Garfinkel said:
In my humble, admittedly non-expert, opinion $4500 is way too much for that bass because you can't spend your way back to making that bass "original".

So what you (maybe) have is a 1960 neck that has been modified and a 1960 body that has been modified. That doesn't add up to $4500...again in my non-expert opinion.
Click to expand...

Now getting into the whole thing about "player" instruments...

My '65 Jazz has been (poorly) refinished and has had the pickguard replaced. I'm happy with it as-is, but I was always into playing old guitars...

Eventually, you're going to be kicking yourself for not getting this thing- if you've got enough documentation showing it really is a 60 Jazz, regardless of the refin or replaced parts- it's still a 60 Jazz. I paid too much for my 65 in 1996 at $1K. It's a great playing and sounding bass- granted, mine is a little more stock than this one...

I'm not up on prices these days, but I'm guessing it's probably in the neighborhood of "right" but whether that makes it the right bass for what you want it for...
 
#12
when your in that price range, $4500-$5000 and up, the jazz bass should have all of its original hardware and paint. period.

also be aware that a original 1960's jazz bass should have original black knobs use straight blade screw driver tip set screws.
these knobs are hard plastic and are not shiny in finish

such details are part of and why you would be paying $4500 to 5000.
 
#15
Don't do it and give me the sellers number so I can tell him what I think...Yeah I'll tell the guy off...thats the ticket:cool:

In all reality...

Parted out...the body would sell for between $1500 and $2000 with that refin.

The neck, even refretted, about the same...depending on the shape of the decal.

The pickguard, if original, would go for, believe it or not, around 800.

Just my 2 cents.

But I would offer the guy 2800 cash and quote the negatives to him as matter of factly as I could.
 

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