SOLD ANOTHER PRICE DROP: 1973 Fender Jazz Bass - org nat finish, black blocks, sweet player!

***Make me a cash offer. Will come off the market by 9/4***


1973 Fender Jazz Bass
This bass is gonna make somebody really happy.
This is a player grade instrument that looks killer, too. It’s got some modifications (which is why it isn’t priced at $4000) but they aren’t catastrophic. An enterprising young soul could either hunt down the original parts, or use this as a platform for a great upgraded early 70s Jazz with real street cred.

Everything points to 73 - serial number, black blocks, tug bar on the treble side, 4-bolt neck. I might be off by a year one way or the other but no more than that....

Since I’m asking real money for this, I’m going to give a very thorough rundown of the condition of this bass:

Original body and neck.
Original finish. The finish on the fretboard looks to have been very carefully removed, not just worn down. You can see it in the pix. It’s smooth and plays great. Finish on the back of the neck was taken down. Also, and I have no idea why, the front of the bass seems to have spots where the high gloss was dulled, and not in the usual wear spots. You’ll notice it once it’s in your hands but it’s impossible to photograph. It didn’t bother me; maybe some automotive finish compound stuff can bring back the gloss?
Original neck plate, tuners, control plate
Original pickguard and tug bar (I’m certain on the tug bar, maybe 75% on the pg? Not sure, it’s aged into a cream color, and white Jazz pgs did come on some nat finishes but there weren’t a lot of them....)

Pickups were changed to EMGs....*but* there are no holes or rerouting! The battery slides right into the original control cavity, so you could go back to passive if you wanted.
Pots were changed for the EMGs. They actually sound pretty good - and they’re QUIET!
Knobs got changed, probably when they did the EMGs.
Bridge is a newer bent plate style replacement. They bridge it came with was an old high mass version that had the D string intonation screw rusted/fused stuck so I grabbed a reasonable replacement from my parts box.
Strap buttons changed to one of the common strap look versions.
Holes for the neck pickup cover were filled.
Case is gone. Comes in a decent Pro-Tech gig bag. I will pack accordingly. I might even hunt down an aftermarket hard case for the right buyer.

It came to me with what look like an old set of Chromes. I think they might be those Steve Harris sig strings because the tension is super high. They sound great so I left them on. Just set up and intonated, plenty of play in the truss rod. Fret wear is light/moderate - you can see for yourself in the pix. Weighs 10.5 lbs. A little husky, perhaps, but not egregiously so for the era.

Bottom line, a great player that you can put back to original if you want or just play the snot out of it as is.

Edit 8/28: Make me an offer, this will not last much longer.
Edit 8/8: Price drop to $2000 shipped and insured in the Lower 48.
Edit 7/28: Price drop to $2150 shipped and insured in the Lower 48.
Edit 7/3: Asking $2400 shipped and insured in the Lower 48.

Will ship to Hawaii/Alaska/Canada, we can discuss. No overseas shipping (I’m only dealing with UPS these days. If you knew what the post offices here in LA look like now, you’d avoid them, too.)

I’d prefer to sell outright, but I’ll consider trades. I’m into vintage stuff: old Fenders, G&Ls, Lakland, EBMM, Guild, weirdo Gibson stuff, cool guitars, tube amps, Epifani and Bag End cabs, watches, cigar humidors....I dunno, try me. I’m picky, but polite. Be polite and include a couple of pix and the worst you’ll get is a polite no.

Thanks for checking out this ad!

 

I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean by that. It’s a Fender “A” neck. 1.5” at the nut.

 

This neck is not like the 60s Fender necks. I haven’t played the 74 RI, but this feels like almost every 70s Jazz or A-neck Precision I’ve ever played.

 

Well, the lack of any offers tells me I overpriced this.
Marked down to $2400 shipped in the Lower 48.

 

10.5 lbs

 

Now $2000 shipped and insured to Lower 48.

 

I have a quick sound clip I just made. PM me your email and I’ll send it.
In the meantime I’ll work on figuring out how to post clips here...

 

***Make me a cash offer. Will come off the market by 9/4***

 

Still available for a few more days

 

Yes, it’s been sold.