Fender 74 Jazz bass neck with 8 holes.

[radvbass]

I recently pursued a 74 Jazz bass listed as "original condition". Part of the verification is taking it apart and validating the components. When I found 2 sets of neck holes, I decided to cancel the transaction. I'm thinking the neck was used on a different bass originally. The neck stamp on the heel was red and readable and represented 74. I really could not authenticate the body. It had very little markings in the neck cavity. The condition of the neck itself was mint. Could it be a 74 RI neck? or maybe a non 70's body? Any thoughts on what bodies could be a few mm different?

 

[bobyoung53]

Could it have been a Fender screw up? The upper set of four look like they have never had a screw in them.

 

[JIO]

No way of guessing w/o more pics.

 

[The Bass Clef]

It’s common in this era. I’ve seen dozens of them like this, sometimes with only 2 extra holes, sometimes with 4. If you look closely, the extra holes probably aren’t even threaded, just pilot holes. Seems Fender had a loose jig at this time and messed up the hole placement when the necks were being built, so they re-drilled them during actual assembly. Too bad you canceled the transaction over it before researching/asking, it’s legit.

 

[Biffa]

Confirmation of what people thought of CBS Fender in the 70s

 

[fretno]

Fender necks don't always match up with a MIA , MIJ or MIM , someone had that on another body at some point . That smaller hole is factory , they drill those for handling during the finishing .

 

[The Bass Clef]

Just to show some evidence of what I know from years of collecting vintage Fenders, here are a few shots of some vintage Jazz necks with this anomaly. I personally took every one of these pics. They are ALL pearl block Jazz necks from late 1973/74 (I’ve also seen these extra factory holes as late as even 1978, but ‘74 seems to be the most common by far). I also don’t recall ever seeing them on a P bass neck, only Jazzes. And notice how on one of the photos (2nd to last), you can even see the extra holes were never threaded, just drilled...

 

[bobyoung53]

It’s common in this era. I’ve seen dozens of them like this, sometimes with only 2 extra holes, sometimes with 4. If you look closely, the extra holes probably aren’t even threaded, just pilot holes. Seems Fender had a loose jig at this time and messed up the hole placement when the necks were being built, so they re-drilled them during actual assembly. Too bad you canceled the transaction over it before researching/asking, it’s legit.

That's exactly what I thought too. In fact I posted that right after the OP posted the thread, think I was the 1st reply.

 

[radvbass]

Wow, thanks for the feedback. The neck is very much like the 0203-4243 model above. In fact the one was I was considering is only a few weeks later at 0203-4942. Looks legit. Thanks for all the feedback. I got spooked too early.