Fender has responded to my email. As far as the serial number is concerned, it said the bass was made in 2000 and originally was painted Hot Rod Red. Now I'm curious to take the bass apart and check everything out and check if the neck matches the body and what not, because if the body has been painted over with the seafoam green, it's one hell of a paint job.
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Fender Jazz Bass
- Thread starter the general
- Start date
I'm guessing the neck has been replaced and not a fantastic paint job - (if it is a paint job, I'm interested in getting that person to repaint a bass for me at some point!)
The neck pocket on the body may very well have a stamp on it if the body is as old as I think it is.
... possible to get a pic of the body with pickguard off? .. pic of back of headstock would be good ... also, cant tell from the pic, but is the bridge drilled for top load as well as STB? .. wouldn't hurt to open the control cavity and show a pic of the pots, etc .... I was 99.9% sure bass was not original as pictured, and likely a parts bass, but now the intriguing part of figuring out what is what starts ... the few things I mentioned are the least invasive ... BTW, if neck dates to 2000, this would be an American Series, not American Standard, and a transition year for Fender ... ultimately, neck off, pup out, etc will tell you final details, but the few details I mention above could help until then ... what is the serial #, I can look in my files and see if I have anything too ...
@Maxdusty and @tjh, I will disassemble the bass after the weekend to look at everything. Since I don't want to possibly damage anything, is the safe round for detuning it to loosen the strings a little bit and then loosen the truss rod and kind of walk it down? I've never actually tinkered with anything like this. The serial number on the neck is Z0046571
.. that is correct, but a period correct bridge for that serial number would be STB only, NOT drilled for top load .. so if that is consistent, bridge matches serial # and is just one more item possibly identified ...
@general loosen the truss rod for? If it's to remove the neck and to check the parts - no, you don't need to touch the truss rod- just remove the strings. This is assuming you won't have the neck off for a long period of time. However, do take care not to crack the paint finish near the neck cavity when you disassemble and reassemble the neck to the body. Do not over-tighten the neck screws.
You may find you may have to tweak the truss rod upon re-assembly of the neck and tune the bass. Not likely if the neck is removed for only a short amount of time.
You may find you may have to tweak the truss rod upon re-assembly of the neck and tune the bass. Not likely if the neck is removed for only a short amount of time.
@Maxdusty, that's all I need to know. As soon as I can find any markings or stampings in the bass and write it down, that bass is going back together. Even though it's not an original, I paid good money for it and love that bass so I won't leave it apart for long.
... so from that serial #, we would know that the bass would have been made about mid year 2000 (June/July range), and original body wood would be alder (under Hot Rod Red) ... only White Blonde and Natural got the ash bodies that year ...
... to remove neck, you dont need to mess with truss rod, just loosen/remove strings (you can leave them strung through body if you like) and then remove neck screws carefully as not to strip heads (loosening screws each a little as you go is not a bad idea) ... I like to do it while laying flat on a heavy towel on a table ... seperate slowly as not to chip paint around neck pocket ... BUT, do the pickguard, control cavity etc (as mentioned above) first .. you might not need to remove neck to identify as you may be able to tell if body is refin in the channel routing or neck pup cavity ...
Edit to add: .. neck removal info was being typed same time as my 'dusty' friend was typing ... I like the way he thinks .. so, what he said ....
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If it's got a Fender body, a Fender neck, it's still a Fender.
I think it's worth the money you paid for it especially if you love the sound and look of it. Good advice above from tjh about checking the other areas first. Personally, I don't like removing the neck unless I absolutely have to (usually I only do so to put a shim). If I do, I pretty much do the same thing with the neck screws though. I do a little at a time and loosen evenly among the four screws. I also play some relaxing music in the background when dismantling a bass, especially a newly bought bass- helps calm the nerves. Jazz music works great for me.
Good luck and good holiday all.
@Maxdusty and @tjh, I took apart the bass and I honestly think it was painted. Here's a few pics with the neck removed.
It does look like a repaint- a very good one at that. So neck and body belong to each other with some parts modded.
Really like that color. Good job!
Really like that color. Good job!
Congratulations, the mystery is solved ... should you ever pull the pups, you may see white marker on the underside with part #'s 33746 on the bridge pup, and 33753 on the neck pup if stock, of course the pup covers are a replacement ... the body part # is correct for the model (#956191, which ientifies it as a body for solid color paint), and part # 56226 identifies it as the maple fretboard neck for this model .. so part #'s are matching by date and model for this first year American Series bass ... add that to the factory overspray (of the H/R Red) in the neck pocket, and a refin is accurate ... with the late May dates on neck and body, this would more than likely have been assembled and/or entered into the Fender system in June of 2000 ... you did well ... enjoy !! ...
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