1987 Fretless Fender Jazz Bass Special

is it made in USA, mexico or japan? could you post the serial #? the condition is important. has anything been changed? tuners, bridge, p-ups etc... i work at a little vintage guitar store so i might be able to help. sounds like a cool bass.

 

Never seen the gunmetal blue, but the common colors are pearl white, silver/green, black, candy apple red, red, burgundy mist, and sonic blue. (don't quote me on the color names, but those are indeed the colors).

A fair price range is between $400-$600.

I hope that helps.

(those would be MIJ)

 

That is about right. The fretless version of this bass is fantastic! Some one is about to get a great player.

 

OK, history of the MIJ Jazz Bass Special...

Basswood body, it was available in black, a metalic grey, Candy Apple Red, a metalic white pearl, and a funny looking burgundy. I don't recall ever seeing any blue ones in the catalogs we had (I was a Fender dealer from 1977-1988). And I don't know of any being custom made for anyone at the time either. They all have basswood Precsion-shaped bodies, rosewood fingerboards, black hardware, a Precison and a Jazz PUP. Controls were a three-way toggle switch, and volume control for each PUP, and a master tone (actually Fender's TBX control). The earliest ones had black finish on the back of the neck and headstock and rather chunky, Precsion-style necks. Later versions had the back of the neck and the back of the headstock finished in a clear coat, and had narrower, more Jazz Bass-style necks.

People who used them at the time included Duff McKagan (and FMIC recently introduced a reproduction of them as the Duff McKagan Signature) of Guns 'n' Roses, Preston Hubbard with The Fabulous Thunderbirds (from the "Tuff Enuff" period), Richard Cousins with Robert Cray (during the "Smokin' Gun" period), and whoever was playing bass for Greg Allman solo projects at the time.

My experience is that they're great playing basses, but the sound is pretty nasal and middy. I got a CAR fretless one in December 1987. I loved how it felt, but I changed the PUPs within two weeks or so to Duncan 1/4 pounders. I also put a new bridge on it at that time (a Schaller roller bridge). Then I eventually gutted the controls and put in a master volume/blend/master tone set up. That got replaced with a Duncan Basslines pre-amp. Then the rosewood board wore out and I had a big chunk of ebony put on. That helped the sound more than anything else I'd done to it. Then I had a new body built, and it finally stopped sounding like a transistor radio.

Some folks like that midrangey sound (and I despise the mid-cut "smiley face" sound) but everyone of those basses I've played has that nasal honk that doesnt' sit in the mix but blares over it.

jte

 

I have an 85 fretless (has the painted black neck) in the weird burgundy color which I bought for $400 about a year ago. I'd say that would probably be about what you could get for it, although I think they're going for a little more lately since fender reissued it in the MIM duff sig which is selling for $800 and people figure they can get a little more for the MIJ originals.

 

also, your best bet for a price check is usually completed ebay auctions since thats a good guage of what people are willing to pay for things

 

pics!

also, I'm in Iowa too! Where you at in IA?

 

Andy Fairweather-Lowe plays a gray one on the Roger Waters "In The Flesh" live DVD.

They are great basses, and are undervalued, making them great values on the used market.

 

That was actually my first bass. Pearl White. Should have never sold it primarily for nostalgic purposes.

They are good basses though.

Peace

 

Ames also!

another TB'er in Ames? HOLY POOP

 

The green discoloration is due to the aging of the clearcoat. While you predominantly see this on nitro finished basses, poly finished basses do this as well. I had a white/blonde Fender from 1983 that showed very pronounced poly clearcoat yellowing...It would be a good bet that the bass in question is the metallic grey/silver color originally (which in some light looks blue).

 

I have the pearl white fretless '87 and recently have checked Ebay regularly to see what they've been going for. Found one that went for $660 usd.

 

they pop up about half as often as the fretted models on ebay. i had a friend years ago who had a jazz bass he bought off some guy that was a jazz special fretless neck on an american jazz body, great sounding bass. that bass was the reason i picked up my jazz special. is the back of the neck/head stock painted black on yours? i think it was done on the earlier models and then stopped later, or it might have been the other way around.

 

I've played a few of these, for some reason fretlesses seem to pop up fairly regularly. IMO these basses are GREAT. One of my favorite Japan Fenders.

 

...and me, in the late '80s. I had one of the pearl white ones with a black finished neck. Someone had replaced the stock pickups with an EMG P and a Seymour Duncan J before the bass got to me. I think Guitar Ressurection in Austin did the replacement, because some years later I took the bass in there and they recognized it. It eventually sold on consignment when I was in college, needed rent money, and had moved on to my Yamaha BB1600. Whatever that divey place is called on 45th street where you can buy real books, that's where I sold it.

I recall it as a nice enough bass. I doubt I would pay $400 to $600 for one now, though, as I recall it may not have cost much more than that new.