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Girlfriend's Dad's Bass 62' Jazz

#83
n1as said:
Wow, that is very nearly the ugliest bass I've ever seen. Trashed. Desperately in need of some finish work to try to preserve the underlying wood before the whole thing just flakes apart.

Yea, I just don't get the whole relic thing. All I see is damage and careless handling on the part of the owner / player. Clearly others see it differently :-O
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The bass has played a minimum of two shows a week for literally the past 50 years. It is 100% honest wear. How may pickguards have you worn a hole all the way through with just your thumb placement? It's the real deal. And I will tell you from first hand experience it plays and sounds so amazing that if you had the opportunity to play just a few notes on it you would change your opinion. Because it is the best sounding and feeling bass I've ever played. The owner sees the bass as a tool and is clearly not concerned about aesthetics. Also bass is very far from flaking apart.
 
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#87
BadBobbyH said:
The bass has played a minimum of two shows a week for literally the past 50 years. It is 100% honest wear. How may pickguards have you worn a hole all the way through with just your thumb placement? It's the real deal. And I will tell you from first hand experience it plays and sounds so amazing that if you had the opportunity to play just a few notes on it you would change your opinion. Because it is the best sounding and feeling bass I've ever played. The owner sees the bass as a tool and is clearly not concerned about aesthetics. Also bass is very far from flaking apart.
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a few… (from orig owner) That's an awesome CAR '62 - looking forward to more pics! :thumbsup: (I grew up in South Omaha!)

IMG_7483_zpsinrs3clo.jpg
 
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#88
BadBobbyH said:
For the owners argument sake, for him the instrument is a tool and nothing more. When not in use he keeps it with the tools. When it breaks he gets a new one. It's just his bass has never broke and he can't find one he likes better. He told me the other day he's gone through 37 drummers, 4 of which are dead. Wow.
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Clearly Old Fender basses hold up better than drummers. Hopefully the 4 that are passed on died on the gig by spontaneous human combustion right on the drum throne.
 
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#90
So when did the Jazz's switch from two stacked knob to three knob? I don't know jack about vintage Fenders but I "thought" that the 62's had the stacked knobs.
I am bass-ing this on the Fender '62 RI.
My Dad has a 1926 Banjo he bought used in 1939, that banjo players go crazy over. Very ornate and heavy. Apparently it is worth about 10K. A Freeking banjo?.... Come on Dad, shesh! <actually it is kinda cool and at 93 he still plays the dang thing>
 
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#91
BadBobbyH said:
Last weekend my lady and I went to Chicago to attend the David Gilmour show at the united center, which was amazing and a life changing experience.

On the way home we stopped in Dubuque, IA where she was born/ raised. Her dad is a full time professional bass player and is actually in the Iowa Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. (I had no idea this existed prior to meeting her, I'm from Omaha)

Her dad and I always chop it up about basses, technique, talk smack on drummers/ prima donna vocalists, etc, and I usually talk about my latest requisitions. But this was the first time for me being on his turf. And I had forgotten about his #1.
He produced a 1962 fender jazz.
Back story: (all info below is a direct quote from him, I haven't looked up the serial # yet)
-1962 jazz with a late 60's refin to Candy apple red w/ matching headstock. Originally sunburst but appears to have been stripped prior to primer and new paint.
-he acquired the bass in the early 1970's, it was found behind a refrigerator in the basement of a bar in Dubuque Ia. He payed $170 for it
-no modifications of any kind besides the paint job.
- also apparently in the 1980's his band's van caught on fire and the bass and his weed stash were the only things he saved from the burning vehicle, so there is some fire damage to the back of the headstock around the tuning keys.

I will say this bass sounds and plays AMAZING. It looks like it has gone through hell but oh my god it is like a big ole stick of lazer straight butter. The neck is phenomenal, it could use a refret but it's straight as an arrow and with perfect action. The tone is out of this world and is truly beautiful.

He said he wanted to retire it 20 years ago but couldn't find anything that could touch it tonaly. The closest he could find in terms of playability was a stu hamm but it still didn't trip his trigger and he's just continued playing the 62.

Anyway I just wanted to share some pictures and the backstory of the bass with you guys here because I don't have a lot of bass player friends in general that would appreciate it.
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I'm not an expert, but I don't think 62 jazz basses had 3 knob control plates. Weren't they still stack knobbed?
 
#96
BadBobbyH said:
The bass has played a minimum of two shows a week for literally the past 50 years. It is 100% honest wear. How may pickguards have you worn a hole all the way through with just your thumb placement? It's the real deal. And I will tell you from first hand experience it plays and sounds so amazing that if you had the opportunity to play just a few notes on it you would change your opinion. Because it is the best sounding and feeling bass I've ever played. The owner sees the bass as a tool and is clearly not concerned about aesthetics. Also bass is very far from flaking apart.
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Milo Spleen said:
I would give anything to know what happened to my old 60 Jazz. It wasn't as "used" as this 62, but this is a good example of NEVER get rid of ANYTHING.
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Hmm. I have a basement full of motorcycle parts (and a few entire motorcycles in parts) and I'm sure my wife disagrees with you.:bag:
 
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#97
Milo Spleen said:
I would give anything to know what happened to my old 60 Jazz. It wasn't as "used" as this 62, but this is a good example of NEVER get rid of ANYTHING.
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It's a different world now - back then only (furniture/vases etc) "antiques" were looked at like that. Only professional players who used these instruments for years understood the real worth of their tool, and even then would have never thought they could be worth so much over time.
 
#99
NightCat said:
So when did the Jazz's switch from two stacked knob to three knob? I don't know jack about vintage Fenders but I "thought" that the 62's had the stacked knobs.
I am bass-ing this on the Fender '62 RI.
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Laklandfan said:
I'm not an expert, but I don't think 62 jazz basses had 3 knob control plates. Weren't they still stack knobbed?
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Was about to post something along the lines of "KILL ME NOW!" when I saw these posts.

NightCat said:
As usual TB has a great thread on the whole topic. why-when-did-fender-stop-using-stack-knobs-on-their-basses
In short, in 1962 you could have bought one either way.
EDIT: Yea, what DerikW said.
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But then saw this.

Whew!
 

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