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A jazz bass with curved front and back contours is specifically called an aerodyne jazz. The slight deviation from the original jazz body spec gives it its unique aerodyne name.
I gigged with this bass in the mid aughts so I could get both Precision and Sting Ray sounds. It had a Fender Jazz Bass Neck on it. What should I have called it then?
View attachment 1006533
A Fendman Jacision
Hopkins
Commercial User
A seance with Leo would be the only reason I think. One has to ask "which came first?" between
a) the Jazz Bass name
b) the Jazz Bass pickups (single coils)
c) Jazz
d) Usage of a) and b) in playing c)
e) Chickens
f) Eggs
a) the Jazz Bass name
b) the Jazz Bass pickups (single coils)
c) Jazz
d) Usage of a) and b) in playing c)
e) Chickens
f) Eggs
Back to the sixties....
Women cooked.
Men worked for $50 a week.
Life was simpler, then...
Everyone smoked cigarettes.
TV was not yet affordable.
Musicians could barely afford musical instruments. They had pawnshops for that.
Sixty watt (peak) amps were standard and you got it from a Radio Repair Shop.
The upright doghouse ruled the stage.
Rock did not exist. Leo Fender made basses for C&W, R&B and R&R.
People who bought an electric bass guitar were into the music of the time. That's why the Telecaster Bass and the Precision Bass are the way they are. But there grew a number of folks who wanted a jazzier sounding bass, similar in tone to the upright and with a fast action neck.
So, Leo designed the Jazz Bass. You had to make a choice... J or P, what's it gonna be?
With the advent of affluence, ordinary musicians could order customized basses or commit DIY mods. It started with Badass Bridges. Then Jaco got everyone to dump the ashtray covers.
Then PUP swaps became the rage. Boutique suppliers popped up. Now in the age of Frankenstein, one can own a P/J or a J/P. And all manufacturers have followed suit; every one of them plagiarizing Leo Fender's toy bass.
The tampering started with Dick Dale and ended with Jaco Pastorius. Now, a fellow living in his mother's basement can dream up any combination and add the expense to his mother's mortgage. The notion of mis-naming referred to in this post is due to a lack of knowledge of history and common sense. Just as fifty's kids hot-rodded the ol' jalopies, kids today drive the post-retail market for the same reasons... identity, novelty and "look at me - I'm different!" Nothing wrong with that, eh...? We all want to look different!
Women cooked.
Men worked for $50 a week.
Life was simpler, then...
Everyone smoked cigarettes.
TV was not yet affordable.
Musicians could barely afford musical instruments. They had pawnshops for that.
Sixty watt (peak) amps were standard and you got it from a Radio Repair Shop.
The upright doghouse ruled the stage.
Rock did not exist. Leo Fender made basses for C&W, R&B and R&R.
People who bought an electric bass guitar were into the music of the time. That's why the Telecaster Bass and the Precision Bass are the way they are. But there grew a number of folks who wanted a jazzier sounding bass, similar in tone to the upright and with a fast action neck.
So, Leo designed the Jazz Bass. You had to make a choice... J or P, what's it gonna be?
With the advent of affluence, ordinary musicians could order customized basses or commit DIY mods. It started with Badass Bridges. Then Jaco got everyone to dump the ashtray covers.
Then PUP swaps became the rage. Boutique suppliers popped up. Now in the age of Frankenstein, one can own a P/J or a J/P. And all manufacturers have followed suit; every one of them plagiarizing Leo Fender's toy bass.
The tampering started with Dick Dale and ended with Jaco Pastorius. Now, a fellow living in his mother's basement can dream up any combination and add the expense to his mother's mortgage. The notion of mis-naming referred to in this post is due to a lack of knowledge of history and common sense. Just as fifty's kids hot-rodded the ol' jalopies, kids today drive the post-retail market for the same reasons... identity, novelty and "look at me - I'm different!" Nothing wrong with that, eh...? We all want to look different!
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Yes, true that.
Regardless, that is how TB works, anyway. 
I can make almost any bass do what I need (except for a P Bass with a tortoiseshell pickguard and LaBella JJ flats on it, that is just too limiting for me. 
) The Versatone was the key to his sound.
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