Dating 1973(?) Fender Jazz

[Fun Size Nick]

Thank you. I see, so not original tuners either, possibly still 70's ones. The spec sheet from the dealer says it is indeed an Alder body, so if true that would confirm the body is a 73. Total weight from their spec sheet is 8lbs 15oz, but no weight on just the body and I don't have a scale otherwise I'd weigh it for ya

My ash '74 probably weighs that much without a neck on it! I'm sure that's alder - the ash ones of this time period are legendarily heavy with few exceptions.

Mine also has a very clean neck like yours - the finish seems to be very robust on these (interestingly, the neck finish on mine seems to have been less affected by age than the body finish, which has gone soft and crackly in places). The wear on the neck of mine that is most noticeable is on the (white) binding, and I'll bet that the black hides that better on yours. Yours also doesn't seem to have much darkening of the headstock face - they were finished in nitro rather than poly (they had trouble with the decals at the time IIRC), and so they go noticeably amber with time, sun, and smoke. I say this to let you know that it's possible that it's clean just because it hasn't been played much - but don't rule out a refinish.

Also - it's been long time since I took it apart, but I'm 99% sure that mine also does not have a neck stamp. It had some QC stamps/pencil initials in the neck pocket itself if I remember right (ie between the screw holes).

As mentioned, tuners are not original. I wouldn't be surprised if they had become stiff and been replaced with the new Schaller ones, which had the same hole pattern. Mine had become almost impossible to turn and so this is what I did years ago to mine. I think now, I'd find a way to clean & lubricate them, but my younger self liked the better mechanical design of the Schallers and sold the originals...ah well. Gotoh make repros of the original-style tuners if you have the desire to change them.

And because we all love to look at basses:

I agree, Sinking the badass into the body of the instrument is a strange and somewhat ugly choice.

The original Badass was made for Gibson basses with angled necks, not Fenders, so the base plate is very thick. Fenders had to be routed to fit - the Badass II was the one made for Fenders.

 

[Wisebass]

Good Morning

the black ones did have a white primer coat under the black paint

Yep! But...

The neckpocket doesn't show the typical 'neck pocket paint stick' mark,

that I would expect to see on a factory finish.

e.g. like on this one

The 5 original holes (red) look like they are all! full of paint and

it looks like the whole neck pocket was painted? Primer and paint under the paint stick?

That doesn't look like a Fender factory job to me!

The two extra holes (blue) were drilled later for the second (natural) refin they are 'clean'.

Yes I understand now, it was most likely natural to begin with, was refinished and painted over, and then refinished again and restored to natural IYO.

Your spec sheet says that it is an alder body and the weight seems to confirm that!

Alder bodies were not used for natural finishes.

But alder was used for other 'transparent' finishes ' e.g. sunburst or

which would explain the rather nice matching pieces (But I can only speculate! Nothing is sure!!!)


With a little luck there is some of the original finish left under the first refin (in the neck pocket)

But only when the guy who did the first refin was too lazy to sand it off.


greetings

Wise

 

[johnk_10]

without it sitting in front of me, i can't really tell if the black is on top or under the white paint either.

 

[blastoff]

I agree, Sinking the badass into the body of the instrument is a strange and somewhat ugly choice.

if you dont mind it, its perfectly fine. BUT if you ever wanted to, its relatively simple for a competent woodworker to fill that route with a matching piece of wood and you will never know it was there- especially if you ever re-re-re-finish! i had it done to a precision bass with a much nastier route than yours (i literally think someone had used a Swiss army knife to install the badass). the woodworker had to route out the body to make it a clean hole. then he cut a plug and it slid right in. the original bridge plate nearly covers up the entire route so its basically invisible. altogether it took him about 10 minutes. i was very impressed.

 

[DennisM]

in '74 the were ash (not alder) and had the thumbrest on the bass side. it's definitely a 73.

You are right about thumb rest. I didn't notice that. Thanks.