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any good??? 80s fender..

#3
They are decent basses that were the beginning of the upswing of Fender from the late 70's. still made at the Fullerton plant but they have yet to see any real value on the vintage or used market. Part of it is the one piece pickguard and white pickups. I happen to be a big fan of the white pickups and I also really like the early 80's necks (although i could do without the headstock accessible truss rod).

Decent bass and if it remains at the price it is now then it's a good buy however I probably would not go over that.
 
#4
With all the unfavorable comments on 70's (especially late 70's) J basses, I don't agree that this is when they started turning around. I think the early 80's ones are actually much worse. They are usually lighter, and some have reasonably solid necks, but I've tried several that played terribly and very stiffly, and sounded dull and lifeless. Same can be said for a few '77s and '78s I've played, but I've also played a few that were quite satisfying.
 
#6
I own one of these in sunburst. Of my 7 Jazz basses it's one of my favorites. I think the last years of the fullertons(82,83,84) were the some of best basses made by CBS. I've owned over 100 Fenders ranging from years 1962 to 2008. The Jazz basses with dots and binding from the early 80s can run a bit heavy as can the Elites(but I remember a time when players wanted the heaviest bass they could get. Myself included,ahh to be young again). But the American Standards are great basses( I still like them better than anything made by FMIC including,dare I say, the 2008). I still own 4 of them. Ask anyone who owns a Fullerton RI if the basses from that period were any good. Played Stiffly? Dull Lifeless? Not any of the 8 or 10 I've owned.

Can you spot the ealy 80s basses in this picture?
 
#7
I had an 83 Jazz that I purchased brand new. Same color except black pups. It was a wonderful bass. I think '83 is the year before Fender moved their factory so it's probably got some future upside from a monetary value standpoint, and if it plays well then that's even better.
 
#8
I'm sure there are some very good early 80's fenders out there, I just haven't played one. I've always had better luck with 70's ones, but I know plenty of people won't even touch those! I did try one from '89 that I really regret not buying, it was a fantastic player and pretty light too. And they were only asking $600... oh well:(
 
#10
It's from around 1982, and it's after CBS had hired Bill Schultz to fix the company. After he took over management, he shut down the factory and essentially started over by teaching the company how to build, and more importantly INSPECT instruments. I'd go for it, and it's probably way better than the typical 1980 or earlier Jazz bass through at least 1973.

Schultz managed the company for CBS for several years, started the Vintage Series instruments with '52 Telecaster guitar in 1981, brought in a lot of key people from Yamaha, Music Man (pre-Ernie Ball), etc. He put together the group of investors that bought Fender from CBS in 1985. The new company, called Fender Musical Instruments (FMIC), got the rights to Fender's names, patents, and copyrights. They got some machinery and they got the works in process. But they didn't get any real estate so US Fenders made before 1985 were built in Fullerton.

jte
 
#12
85 was when they shut down. From my understanding there was no US production for about a year and when they started back up (at least with the reissues) there were still a few made with Fullerton parts so it's possible to get an 86 that may have been Fullerton made (may being the key word).
 

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