Thank you for the correction, I thought they used the transition logo until 1970, not sure where I got that piece of misinformation into my head.
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Fender Jazz Pawn shop appraisal
- Thread starter palkom
- Start date
How can ANY proper assessment be made with those crappy pictures. Sorry but it is 2024 - not 1954. There is NO good reason for pictures like that unless the goal is to hide detail or confuse the audience. Based on the pics the safe assumption is that it is a $50 bass because that is the cheapest bass I can realistically think of that has all strings installed.
Pretty clean body for a "74". (air quotes intended)
That picture is in a kitchen, not a pawn shop. I hope you didn't "find" it already.
That picture is in a kitchen, not a pawn shop. I hope you didn't "find" it already.
Headstock shape looks wrong, though it could be the angle. Bridge cover is crooked and looks off. Fretboard is wrong. Knobs are wrong. No.
Can’t say it’s fake. Can’t say it’s legit. Need better pics and more of them.
What can be said for certain is the parts aren’t looking good. Tuner posts should be straight / flat top, not mushrooms, so those are wrong. Knobs are wrong. Guard, wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tugbar on a bullet truss bass, but I could be wrong. Decal looks a little too new. Shouldn’t be able to see the bridge pickup, especially from that angle.
I would definitely throw this thing a screwdriver party before shelling out.
What can be said for certain is the parts aren’t looking good. Tuner posts should be straight / flat top, not mushrooms, so those are wrong. Knobs are wrong. Guard, wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tugbar on a bullet truss bass, but I could be wrong. Decal looks a little too new. Shouldn’t be able to see the bridge pickup, especially from that angle.
I would definitely throw this thing a screwdriver party before shelling out.
I’m not 100% sure it’s fake. The pics appear to be some sort of wide angle lens (fish-eye-ish) which makes them even worse.
The neck itself is a candidate for “legit”. Tuners seem correct for a 74 (shorter shaft , chrome). The headstock has a different shade (nitro overspray ). Not all fender necks have a stamp at the heel or sometimes it’s very faint.
The body is a whole different story! It looks a lot like a squier silver series. They were made with some sort of “wood fiber “ body (cardboard ? Pressed wood chips ?) without any wood figuring… because they’re not wood lol
if I’m right , I’d say the bass as a whole is worth the price of the neck + 150 bucks for the body.
The neck itself is a candidate for “legit”. Tuners seem correct for a 74 (shorter shaft , chrome). The headstock has a different shade (nitro overspray ). Not all fender necks have a stamp at the heel or sometimes it’s very faint.
The body is a whole different story! It looks a lot like a squier silver series. They were made with some sort of “wood fiber “ body (cardboard ? Pressed wood chips ?) without any wood figuring… because they’re not wood lol
if I’m right , I’d say the bass as a whole is worth the price of the neck + 150 bucks for the body.
Those turners look more Squier than Fender. True short shafts and chrome, but rounded top post are not a feature of vintage 70s turners.
Well, the headstock is a definite matte finish..... Looks like a MIM bass to me. Most certainly 100% "Pawn Shop"! 
Not in a million years is that a vintage Fender bass. Don't walk, run from it.
Not in a million years is that a vintage Fender bass. Don't walk, run from it.
Along with all of the other observations, something about the wear on the top of the bass doesn't sit right with me. It's impossible to tell for sure from the pictures, but the discoloration of the wearing doesn't look right. Of course that wouldn't make it real or fake Fender, but it's just one more observation in a long line of things that seem rotten in Denmark.
It seems at best to be an authentic neck with a replaced decal, matched with a non-original body and a load of mismatched parts.
People used to do a lot of weird stuff to guitars and basses, and a player grade instrument of this age might be expected to have replaced parts, but the fact that virtually every part of this bass has red flags means it is most likely a rebadged no-name instrument or one cobbled together from a parts box.
Instruments like that seem to be more likely to end up in a pawn shop anyway, where the shop probably has much less ability to authenticate something before buying or giving a loan on it, whereas a music store might have spotted all the issues.
People used to do a lot of weird stuff to guitars and basses, and a player grade instrument of this age might be expected to have replaced parts, but the fact that virtually every part of this bass has red flags means it is most likely a rebadged no-name instrument or one cobbled together from a parts box.
Instruments like that seem to be more likely to end up in a pawn shop anyway, where the shop probably has much less ability to authenticate something before buying or giving a loan on it, whereas a music store might have spotted all the issues.
