1965 Fender Jazz

[Fresh Eddie]

That is a wonderful bass, and I love the connection to your father. I echo what has been said before, get some new saddles and put the old ones away. A fret dressing might do the trick, but if not... I would replace the dead frets. It doesn't seem like you ever want to sell it, and if it buzzes or has strings you don't like on them you might not play it as much as you should. Why increase the resale value on a bass you will never sell, right?

 

[mikeswals]

You don't even need to take the bridge off. Go on ebay and grab a set of replacement saddles and screws, and use those to gig setting aside the originals to keep safe.

^ this is what I would suggest doing at the very most. No need to buy an entire new bridge.
I have a 65 Jazz and the saddles don't move. I were you I'd find a good vintage guy in your area and have them look at both of your issues for starters.

Oh, and those frets don't look dead to me!

 

[mikeswals]

Just for the hell of it I checked this morning:

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I can't believe it but the date is my exact birthday (besides the year) What are the odds of that?? March 7th?? What a trip!

Well it's not a day, it's a code.
7 = means Jazz Bass neck, and the A is for the nut width size. (Precision necks used code 5, Telecaster Bass necks used code 23, and so on)

 

[SonnyMorrow]

That is a wonderful bass, and I love the connection to your father. I echo what has been said before, get some new saddles and put the old ones away. A fret dressing might do the trick, but if not... I would replace the dead frets. It doesn't seem like you ever want to sell it, and if it buzzes or has strings you don't like on them you might not play it as much as you should. Why increase the resale value on a bass you will never sell, right?

You know what, that totally resonates with me. I know these instruments are valued pretty high but I'd never ever sell it so

Well it's not a day, it's a code.
7 = means Jazz Bass neck, and the A is for the nut width size. (Precision necks used code 5, Telecaster Bass necks used code 23, and so on)

Oh right on, that makes sense. The more things like this pointed out, the better. Thanks!

 

[Energy]

Hey what's up everyone, I've got a couple of questions about a '65 jazz bass. First off, here is a little background of the bass in question. My dad who has been a musician his whole life bought this bass from the original owner in the early 70s for a couple hundred bucks. (He was about 20 at that time) Anyways he has been playing this bass for probably 40+ years, we are talking gigs left and right for decades. Recently his health is declining and can't play anymore so I've sort of taken custody of the bass for now. I'm an avid bass player too so it is an absolute privilege to play this beautiful bass. So far I've played it on a few gigs but there are a couple things I'm not sure what to do with. The string height adjustment screws tend to loosen up after hours of playing, causing the strings to go out of tune and fret buzz etc. I've tried thread locker but nothing seems to work, the vibration after years and years has made these screws permanently loose. The frets are original and I believe there is one dead spot 2nd fret on d string. If you play right on top of the fret its fine but anyways I'm kind of unsure what to do with the bass as it stands. Play the hell out if it some more? It is playable but gig wise I think it needs some work..

Anyways I'm new to old fender basses so if someone wants to point out any nuances about this bass, please feel free. From what my dad told me it is largely original, I believe he had a clear coat put on the body over top of the original finish years ago. He told me the paint was coming off onto his clothes when he would play. Other than that I believe everything else to be original, here are some pictures:


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Oh and look what I stumbled upon the other day, my dad playing a gig with this very bass all the way back in the 70s:

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Great story (except the declining health part, of course - I wish your dad all the best, may he get well soon). What a cool bass! Factory Black with matching headstock. Wow.

 

[deckstirparnell]

Back in the days of before I started using Leo Quan Badass II bridges to cure the saddle screw problem, I always used clear fingernail polish to lock the adjustment screws down. Set your height and then put a fairly heavy coat of clear fingernail polish over the threads sticking out or in the hole if they're recessed. Doesn't do anything permanent to the parts, holds well, and is pretty much invisible. Breaks loose pretty easy if you need to change it also. Buy good quality fingernail polish.

 

[JIO]

I shared your pics on my thread - SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES! - a wonderful instrument that probably sounds great having been played for all those years. I agree with recommendations to replace the saddles and put the originals in a safe place for provenance sake. If you know a good luthier, it might be worth money spent to have it professionally looked at and set-up.

 

[bbh]

Hey, that’s how old I was in the 70’s too. Boy do you have something special.
Might be hard to wrap but maybe Teflon tape on the screws? I’m not expert enough to comment on the frets. You have always watch for devalueing it.

 

[Keger Jupit]

This is, by far, the coolest amount of thumb wear I've ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jim nolte]

Well it's not a day, it's a code.
7 = means Jazz Bass neck, and the A is for the nut width size. (Precision necks used code 5, Telecaster Bass necks used code 23, and so on)

Do you think those are clay dots,I have a original neck date May 65 that has clay dots and apparently that is sort of rare for ‘65, the OPs’ bass looks like they might be.

 

[2F/2F]

Very cool, very desirable bass. I love black with matching head!

Have it refretted with original size frets, and replace the bridge with a Fender Pure Vintage one. Spend the extra money to get it refretted by a known and respected tech, like Dan Erlewine.

It’s too bad about the clear coat, but I wouldn’t refinish the bass.

I notice that your neck pickup is very low too. A neck shim might benefit the setup, as well as hold your bridge saddles more tightly.

FWIW, my ‘64 AV reissue’s saddles work their way downward as well.

Notice that no primer was used in the factory. Just another example of how Fender’s finishing processes varied, and were not set in stone.

 

[nilorius]

What do you want ????

 

[BAG]

This is, by far, the coolest amount of thumb wear I've ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

View attachment 3599823

I thought so too. I also find it funny that he moved the thumb rest and then obviously found he still preferred to rest his thumb on the body.

 

[bearfoot]

Make sure you tell him about the neck stamp. Even though it isn't a manufacture date, it still reads like one , and that removes none of the cool coincidence. Like what are the odds that "jazz bass = 7"? That is magic.

 

[ad9000]

Re. the note that's fretting out: taking the bass to a good luthier who has experience working on vintage Fenders would be the ticket. If a fret dressing alone doesn't solve the issue, it wouldn't be difficult to replace just the offending fret. Some dressing would likely be needed as well, but that wouldn't be a bad thing to do anyway to get the bass playing up to it's potential. I've had a similar job done (caused by the bass being knocked over and taking the impact on one fret), and after the replacement fret oxidizes a bit it's hard to tell it apart from the originals. I can't tell you off the top of my head what gauge fret wire it is, but it's common vintage wire. You're lucky the bass doesn't have binding (added to J-basses just a bit later), which would complicate that repair greatly.


Also, in this case I wouldn't sweat fretwork affecting the collectible value of the bass, even if you end up doing a complete refret. It sounds like you're going to play it and not keep it in a closet, so get it playing as well as it can!

Re. the bridge, I agree with an earlier poster who suggested using the existing bridge and buying replacement saddles and screws. Just don't lose the springs!

 

[Slevage]

Man alive - check the Cerwin Vega rig!

Looks like an old GK head too.

 

[red_rhino]

Oh and look what I stumbled upon the other day, my dad playing a gig with this very bass all the way back in the 70s:

Man alive - check the Cerwin Vega rig!

Absolutely! Swap out that Jazz Bass for a mid-70's Rickenbacker and that could be me in that pic!

I would replace the dead frets. It doesn't seem like you ever want to sell it, and if it buzzes or has strings you don't like on them you might not play it as much as you should. Why increase the resale value on a bass you will never sell, right?

Agreed. If your goal is to play this bass, you should take steps to rehab it in period-appropriate fashion (e.g. replace like-for-like, no BadAss bridge). Vintage cars, vintage bass, vintage anything: stuff wears out and does not perform as originally intended. If you want this to play as well as it did originally, spruce it up. Otherwise, if your goal is collect it and sell it someday, leave it alone and play something else.

 

[tjh]

Do you think those are clay dots,I have a original neck date May 65 that has clay dots and apparently that is sort of rare for ‘65, the OPs’ bass looks like they might be.

I had a '65 1/2 Jazz, it had the oval machines, dots w/binding on the neck … I don't remember if they were clay or not … '65 was a transition year for Fender, so there is a good chance there will be a few fairly rare 'one-off' type finds … the hard part is remembering all that … I sold it in early 70's when I headed to SE Asia to fight the war that was never a war ...

 

[Turnaround]

There are two basic approaches you should consider about this bass. If you want to preserve it as a "museum piece" you won't touch a thing. But if it's to be a player, then you need to deal with playability issues, respecting its history just the same. True collectors will want it with all it's wear and tear, sweat, grunge and all - it's all part of its history. But in my view, it's an instrument made to be played, and the best way to honor it is to play it. To do that well you should address playability issues.

To me that means you should have the frets dressed, and if they are beyond being dressed then re-fret it. Frets are something that eventually wear out and replacing them is no worse than replacing worn tires on your car.

Have an experienced tech look at the bridge - I am sure a good tech can fix the height screw instability. If there are other playability issues I would have them addressed.

I would clean the instrument if it needs it. Replace the strings as needed. But other than that and the things I have mentioned I wouldn't change anything. Respect the history of this instrument in your Dad's playing career.

 

[logdrum]

It's really weird about preserving for collectability and price for vintage slab basses. In the DB world, a fix helps in selling the bass and does not decrease the price. Heck if you said Lisa Gass worked in it, you can tack even a few hundred/thousand and make your bass more sellable.