Fender Japan is gone :(

[GG7]

In Customs at LAX! Now for the delivery guys to watch the house so they can bring it when no one is home! Or is it just UPS that does that? :LOL:

LOL! Excellent news my friend! Should not be too much longer now!

When mine landed at SFO, it arrived here at our rural post office the next day. That last leg of the journey all hinges on WHAT TIME the bass arrived at your Int. Airport. Mine got there early in the AM (Just before 4AM PDT).

 

[hypercarrots]

Outstanding! WOW I guess these are REAL CLOSE in size to the mini P Bass as some around here have mentioned! Never seen them side by side until your photo, and they are really close! I guess the mini P is ¾ scale too?

I'm really happy for you that you were able to score a 62SS in the end! I'm thinking of starting a JB62SS owners club here with another TB member just as soon as his BLACK one arrives from Ishibashi! Should be very soon now, so if you are interested, let me know and I can send you a PM when I have posted the first JB62SS Owner's Club post in this new Club thread!

Not sure how many of us there will actually be on TB, but that will be part of the fun! Seeing how many JB62SS owners are actually out there and active on TB!

thanks! i was hoping for a black one to match my many black jazzes but i don't have any white basses since my mustang and mim jazz left so in the end it's nice that i got a white one. i had to ask ishibashi many times if they could find one for me. persistence paid off.

 

[JonW]

Well, I am pretty tired this morning. I had to get up very early… to have a work teleconference with people in… are you ready?… Japan! No discussion of Fender Japan on the call though.

I'd like that 70s jazz bass in cherry sunburst with a maple board, but I wonder if they have '70s spacing or '60s spacing. If it is '70s, it may be worth the extra money beyond a Geddy Lee jazz.

The “light amber sunburst” color of the 70’s jazz bass is particularly good looking.

Here it is! I love the high contrast between all that white and the ultra-black of the ebonol fretboard.

That is one sharp looking bass! No pickguard and 5 strings, not to mention, as you say, the black and white contrast. Looks very modern.

thanks! i was hoping for a black one to match my many black jazzes but i don't have any white basses since my mustang and mim jazz left so in the end it's nice that i got a white one. i had to ask ishibashi many times if they could find one for me. persistence paid off.

OK, you are off the hook now, having provided the required photos. Looks very nice. Glad that you like it.

 

[GG7]

Thats awesome!

You should get hold of Johan when you get over there and take him to lunch! He did do a great job of scoring some excellent instruments for both of us!

 

[Malak the Mad]

Speaking of Ishibashi, they have their own YouTube channel. I remembered seeing a vid of Alex Lifeson visiting one of their stores and that he was being led around by a gaikokujin working there. I was hoping it was Johan, but it is not. Still, it's a neat vid, especially if you're a RUSH fan. (What did Colbert call us…"Rushians"? )

Speaking of Johan Lindh, after I got my JB62 "All Black", I wrote him this email as a big-ass-thank-you to him and the Ishibashi staff.

Greetings Johan and everyone at Ishibashi!

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who helped me so much
with my first purchase through Ishibashi. From my initial contact, to
day-to-day correspondence, and to the final shipping and
receiving…everything done was top-notch! (I've held a few shipper/receiver
jobs in the past, and your shippers do great work!)

I'm equally thrilled about the JB62 "All-Black" I purchased! I'm not only
amazed at the great condition it was in, but the sound, tone and feel are
incredible. This could end up being THE MOST comfortable bass I've ever
played, and I've owned more than a few!

And lastly, the price. All told, it feels like I robbed someone, getting
such an excellent instrument for such a price…even if it is "used". What
really amazed me was the research that followed. I was trying to figure out
exactly which year this model came from. Based on the serial number, it
could have been from 1994-1995 or somewhere between 2007-2010. Ultimately,
I was able to backtrack old archives of Fender Japan's website. My mind was
almost-literally blown when I discovered it was a LIMITED EDITION 2008
model! So, the only word I have left about it is "Wow!" ;D

If you'd like, I posted a glowing review about it, along with plenty of
pictures taken the day it arrived, on my bass guitar forum, Talk Bass.

Unveiling III: Fender Japan JB62 ~ All Black | TalkBass.com

So, once again, many heartfelt thanks to each and everyone who participated
in getting such a lovely instrument halfway across the World to me. Know
that I'll be singing your praises for years to come!​

…and this was his response;

Dear Brian,

Thank you for your e-mail. That just made my day! I'm really glad to
hear that you are happy with your new purchase. I was also surprised
when I saw that the previous owner had left it with an Undercover Case.
That's the brand of gigbags I'm using for my basses as well. The
standard Fender Japan gigbag is more like a sleeve than a case so this
was a big improvement.

Best of luck and much joy!

Please feel free to contact me again, should you haveany further inquiries.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Johan Lindh /International Sales Department

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Johan Lindh /International Sales Department​

Kinda warms the heart, ja?

 

[hypercarrots]

your thank you letter makes mine look like poop. that is to say, yours is very good.

 

[hypercarrots]

Outstanding! WOW I guess these are REAL CLOSE in size to the mini P Bass as some around here have mentioned! Never seen them side by side until your photo, and they are really close! I guess the mini P is ¾ scale too?

the p bass jr is a little bit of a shorter scale : SCALE LENGTH 28.59” (726.18mm)
but the strings run through the body.

 

[JonW]

Thats awesome!

You should get hold of Johan when you get over there and take him to lunch! He did do a great job of scoring some excellent instruments for both of us!

Yep. I’ll look him up if I’m in the area. He sure got me a gorgeous bass. Although I think that he’s in Tokyo. And that’s not where I’ll likely be. I would like to see Tokyo, though. It sounds like a crazy place. Plus there is that neighborhood with all the music stores. Ishibashi has stores all over Japan. So if I go, the worst case is that I visit an Ishibashi outside of Tokyo and bring back something boring like a standard P bass. Not a bad worst case, eh?

Speaking of Ishibashi, they have their own YouTube channel. I remembered seeing a vid of Alex Lifeson visiting one of their stores and that he was being led around by a gaikokujin working there. I was hoping it was Johan, but it is not. Still, it's a neat vid, especially if you're a RUSH fan. (What did Colbert call us…"Rushians"? )

Speaking of Johan Lindh, after I got my JB62 "All Black", I wrote him this email as a big-ass-thank-you to him and the Ishibashi staff.

Greetings Johan and everyone at Ishibashi!

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who helped me so much
with my first purchase through Ishibashi. From my initial contact, to
day-to-day correspondence, and to the final shipping and
receiving…everything done was top-notch! (I've held a few shipper/receiver
jobs in the past, and your shippers do great work!)

I'm equally thrilled about the JB62 "All-Black" I purchased! I'm not only
amazed at the great condition it was in, but the sound, tone and feel are
incredible. This could end up being THE MOST comfortable bass I've ever
played, and I've owned more than a few!

And lastly, the price. All told, it feels like I robbed someone, getting
such an excellent instrument for such a price…even if it is "used". What
really amazed me was the research that followed. I was trying to figure out
exactly which year this model came from. Based on the serial number, it
could have been from 1994-1995 or somewhere between 2007-2010. Ultimately,
I was able to backtrack old archives of Fender Japan's website. My mind was
almost-literally blown when I discovered it was a LIMITED EDITION 2008
model! So, the only word I have left about it is "Wow!" ;D

If you'd like, I posted a glowing review about it, along with plenty of
pictures taken the day it arrived, on my bass guitar forum, Talk Bass.

Unveiling III: Fender Japan JB62 ~ All Black | TalkBass.com

So, once again, many heartfelt thanks to each and everyone who participated
in getting such a lovely instrument halfway across the World to me. Know
that I'll be singing your praises for years to come!

…and this was his response;

Dear Brian,

Thank you for your e-mail. That just made my day! I'm really glad to
hear that you are happy with your new purchase. I was also surprised
when I saw that the previous owner had left it with an Undercover Case.
That's the brand of gigbags I'm using for my basses as well. The
standard Fender Japan gigbag is more like a sleeve than a case so this
was a big improvement.

Best of luck and much joy!

Please feel free to contact me again, should you haveany further inquiries.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Johan Lindh /International Sales Department

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Johan Lindh /International Sales Department

Kinda warms the heart, ja?

Good man! Decorum and etiquette are not dead. (Yet!) I also dropped him a thank you note after my bass arrived. And I gave him the link to my “new bass day” thread in which I said how happy I was dealing with Ishibashi. He seemed to be pleased hearing about it all.

 

[hypercarrots]

which area of japan are you going to? johan is in shibuya and the neighborhood with all the music stores is ochanomizu which is not far from shibuya.

 

[JonW]

which area of japan are you going to? johan is in shibuya and the neighborhood with all the music stores is ochanomizu which is not far from shibuya.

Not sure if I'm going, but it's more likely that the trip will happen than not. Nagoya is where I'd probably end up. I checked and Ishibashi has a store there that is a 25 minute subway ride away from where I might be. I was curious.

 

[hypercarrots]

Not sure if I'm going, but it's more likely that the trip will happen than not. Nagoya is where I'd probably end up. I checked and Ishibashi has a store there that is a 25 minute subway ride away from where I might be. I was curious.

hopefully you get to go check that ishibashi out. tokyo is quite a few hours from nagoya.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

I'd like that 70s jazz bass in cherry sunburst with a maple board, but I wonder if they have '70s spacing or '60s spacing. If it is '70s, it may be worth the extra money beyond a Geddy Lee jazz.

I think you are talking about my bass. It does in fact have the 70s spacing.

 

[80jazz]

Do you have pics? Yes, I am asking because it looks like a good-looking bass!

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

Do you have pics? Yes, I am asking because it looks like a good-looking bass!

Here is a link.
NBD: Fender Japan 2013 75RI (Many Pics) | TalkBass.com

I think the 6th pic down shows the pickup position the best.

This is a 2013 Japanese Domestic SN bass (JD13xxxxxx), meaning it was not to be exported out of Japan. This is probably the reason that it has the 70s spacing opposed to the 60s.

 

[80jazz]

HA! That may have been the one I was eyeing on eBay. If so, congratulations to you on the score!

I wonder if these basses are sent over here with the '60s spacing then. Bummer if so.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

HA! That may have been the one I was eyeing on eBay. If so, congratulations to you on the score!

I wonder if these basses are sent over here with the '60s spacing then. Bummer if so.

More than likely mine might be the one. I was eyeing it for a couple of weeks before I pulled the trigger.

Glad I did. It is essentially brand new. The only other ones I saw the past few years with the light amber sunburst color had rosewood boards and were around $1000 usd.

What's very interesting is that all of the JD serials numbers from Fender Japan that I have seen for the 75RI have 70s spacing.

 

[GG7]

I FOUND ONE! (JB66-WVH) ​

Paid a little more than I wanted to, but this baby is MINT with a HSC! After doing a significant amount of research as well as searching the web for any of these for sale either brand new or used but MINT condition, I was starting to have my doubts whether I was every going to find a nice one for a decent price! (Between the inflation happening with ALL Fender Japan instruments as a result of their recent demise, AND the limited edition aspects of the JB66 itself, prices are going through the roof!) I told myself that I was not going to pay more for a used JB66 than they originally sold for in 2013 ("Street" = $1349.00 USD with gig bag), and I was going to stick to that resolution no matter what!

Well, when this one appeared this morning on one of the musical instrument selling sites I have been checking multiple times per day, I immediately contacted the seller and made an offer, but they were firm on their price. By mid day today, the bass was seeing a lot of views and I was getting worried that if I didn't pull the trigger on this thing soon, someone else was going to beat me to it!

So... After checking my PayPal Credit line available balance, and seeing that I could throw this on the 6 Months No Payments/No Interest promotion, I bit the bullet and bought it!

$1200.00 including shipping and insurance. (I know... A bit steep, but if you have been following any and all JB66 activity over the last 6 months up to today, I think you would agree that what I paid was actually a pretty decent deal. Lets not forget that this bass is truly in MINT condition. Every one of these that has sold here on TB has had its share of encounters with mic stands, drunken band mates, the floor, just to name a few of the points of contact with the beautiful Antique White Finish with Matching Headstock! lol!

So anyway... I am very pleased with my purchase, and I was willing to pay a premium for a really nice one, which are much harder to find for sale than any specific used bass model I have wanted in recent memory!

Check it out! (Listing photos from "Original Owner")

Last photo showing the included HSC interior

The bass still has the protective plastic coating on the pick guard, although it looks to me as though it was reapplied by the owner, since the factory fresh PGs have no wrinkles/waves in this peel off coating.

No biggie for me, since that is getting peeled off and tossed as soon as the bass arrives.

So... What do you guys think?

Did I do good?

 

[JonW]

GG7-

Wow! That's a stunner. I can see why you were going through so much effort to find one. A nice white with a rare matching headstock, binding, blocks, an unusual pickguard, and the rosewood goes well with the pickguard and pearl blocks. It looks really cool! And quite unusual. I've not seen a bass quite like that one before. You landed something really unique. And really nice.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

GG7, you did very well!!

 

[GG7]

Thanks guys! Glad you approve of the deal!

In the end, securing a JB66 in this condition was more important than saving a few bucks on the purchase price. Especially considering that thanks to the PayPal promotion I have, I won't have to worry about paying for the bass until December!

It is a really cool and unique Fender Japan offering. I have also read a lot of rave reviews from owners about how good a player these are. Have yet to read a negative opinion on this model.

I still can't believe I actually bought one. My morning routine for the last several weeks has been checking all my sources for a new JB66 listing, and this morning when I was about to hit my eBay JB66 bookmark, it hit me that I don't have to do that anymore!

Now all I am waiting for is the seller to get back to me with a shipping confirmation and a tracking number.

I find it interesting how some people handle their eBay deals. When I sell something, especially on the same day I listed it for my asking price, I am immediately in contact with the buyer to assure them that I am on top of the shipping stuff and will get back to them with a tracking number ASAP.

Looks like my seller for this bass is from that other camp. The "seller of few words" camp. Although they got right back to me on every question I had pre-sale, I never got much more than a single sentence out of them. Even after I bought the thing! Just as long as they get the bass shipped out to me sometime this week, I don't really care what type of social skills they have. lol!

I'll keep you guys posted!

Meanwhile... I wonder if R&B's Ishibashi Jazz Bass is going to arrive today? Sure sounded like it was going to be today based on his last tracking report. ??