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1964 Jazz Bass restoration

#83
Great job.
This may sound weird but.... did the tone of the bass change at all after the refin? I've heard stories where a refin changes the character of the tone. Just curious as I have a '64 P with a bad refin almost identical to the "before" picture of this '64J. I'm considering a proper refin but I really like the tone.....
 
#85
slagbass said:
Great job.
This may sound weird but.... did the tone of the bass change at all after the refin? I've heard stories where a refin changes the character of the tone. Just curious as I have a '64 P with a bad refin almost identical to the "before" picture of this '64J. I'm considering a proper refin but I really like the tone.....
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the tone didn't change at all.
 
#91
mjac28 said:
+1 When someone says "I've never seen it done that way" I have to ask have you seen them all?
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go look up any sunburst fender from this era and youll see what im talking about. when youre sending something in for an era correct restoration, at what i know is not budget work, than you expect it to be correct right?

i know this comes off as a thread crap but i was just honestly curious considering johns posts over the years regarding the different eras of fender and how things are done. hell, i wish the coloring on my 62 jazz refin that lays did 15 years ago were closer to this.:bassist:
 
#92
Concerning the pickguard and the great idea of the plywood temporary frame......

In the 30 years I've owned my 61 & 64 PBs, I've never once taken them apart as there is no way I'd ever get the pickguards back on. Was this bass not already showing signs of shrinkage? I'm lucky that both of my guards are still whole and in one piece, but you can see that the plastic is pulling hard against the screws and I just don't believe that it would ever go back together - at least not without driving the screws in at some weird angle in an effort to line up the holes on the shrunken guard and the holes on the stable wood body.

what's your secret? Or was this guard somehow not noticeably shrunken? (hard to tell from the photos)

full disclosure - yes, back in the seventies, I "hippied" a 1970 Gibson EB-3, but the previous owner had already half-stripped the original walnut finish - it was a true monstrosity when I found it hanging on the wall of We Buy Guitars on 48th st.
 
#93
lexington125 said:
Concerning the pickguard and the great idea of the plywood temporary frame......

In the 30 years I've owned my 61 & 64 PBs, I've never once taken them apart as there is no way I'd ever get the pickguards back on. Was this bass not already showing signs of shrinkage? I'm lucky that both of my guards are still whole and in one piece, but you can see that the plastic is pulling hard against the screws and I just don't believe that it would ever go back together - at least not without driving the screws in at some weird angle in an effort to line up the holes on the shrunken guard and the holes on the stable wood body.

what's your secret? Or was this guard somehow not noticeably shrunken? (hard to tell from the photos)

full disclosure - yes, back in the seventies, I "hippied" a 1970 Gibson EB-3, but the previous owner had already half-stripped the original walnut finish - it was a true monstrosity when I found it hanging on the wall of We Buy Guitars on 48th st.
Click to expand...

it definitely was/is shrinking (as they ALL do) and some of the pg screws are going in on an angle, but there's really no good remedy for that.
 
#94
as far as the burst on the back near the neck plate, once the neck plate was installed on it, it looks pretty period correct to me now.

KO64JB-24-800.jpg
 
#95
Regarding pick guard shrinkage, I bought a bass made in 1967, (not a Fender), and the pick guard had actually pulled some of the screws nearly all the way out of the body. So far, I have left them as they were, but if I could fix it, I would.

Is there any way to flatten a pick guard that has become distorted over time?
 
#97
johnk_10 said:
as far as the burst on the back near the neck plate, once the neck plate was installed on it, it looks pretty period correct to me now.

KO64JB-24-800.jpg
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That looks EXACTLY like the 60s period correct fenders that I have seen. I would be overjoyed if that was mine. The 70s burst that were shot....the red didn't get into the neckplate...just black. That looks just like my 64!!! Nice job
 
#98
jamminology101 said:
That looks EXACTLY like the 60s period correct fenders that I have seen. I would be overjoyed if that was mine. The 70s burst that were shot....the red didn't get into the neckplate...just black. That looks just like my 64!!! Nice job
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Just for kicks, I held up my '63 to this photo. Period correct? ...yes, I guess so! They're identical in appearance.
 
#99
johnk_10 said:
I've tried slowly heating them up to expand them a little bit but with unpredictable and varied results. it mostly depends on how badly shrunken it is.
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Thanks. That is pretty much what I would have thought. I tend to leave my old stuff as is, (you should see my '63 B-15, it's rough), so I'll probably just leave it.
 
#100
narud said:
serious question. i love old fenders and have in the past considered sending stuff to john to get work done. i know if this was my bass i was getting back with something so era correct in the coloring but incorrect in burst pattern, in reality it would more than bug me but i was trying to be polite.;)
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Point taken. And on that note, it really is a very nice burst. I'm a fan of a thinner black edge, much like this one is leaning towards.
 

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