Help me date this Fender Jazz

[iamnotabassist]

I bought a Fender Jazz bass off Ebay, I'm trying to determine if this thing is a piecemeal of parts of somewhat of the "real deal"

The guy did a homemade vintage "used" look to it. It's not all together awful, but he didn't bother taking any of the hardware off of it and used a really rough grit sandpaper to remove the clearcoat so it's covered in really unnatural scratches. I just did a quick test with 600 grit sandpaper and luckily it will remove the awful job he did and give the clearcoat a more even "not there anymore" old look. (actually looks pretty cool on the test spot I just did)

Wondering how much of this is the real thing though. He said it was Mexican, but no where on it does it say it's Mexican. (I was expecting the usual Made In Mexico stamp on the neck somewhere) It's a fretless, so it's quite possible he just put a fretless neck on it, but the neck does have a serial. Unfortunately he burned through the first part of the serial designation for a cigarette burn look (forgot to remove the strings too, good thing I planned on replacing those!), but the remaining digits are 0169776.

If it's Mexican, that's cool, that's what I bought it thinking it was. But the color is a color that only came on Jazz basses in the 90s and on current day Squires (I think, that's all I could find on the color). It LOOKS to be "midnight blue" - although, it is quite purple. That could be from the clearcoat removal though.

Anyway, if it's a Jazz bass fretless neck on a Squire body and electronics, thats not what I expected to get. If it's just an f'd up Mexican, that's fine, that's what I thought I was getting.

Can anyone tell me where I can look on the body to determine if it's Squire or Fender? I have to take the whole thing apart anyway to fix up the clearcoat sanding.

Here's a link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=250725829285&si=4Wo68yELER8qT9AiPXXWfyZO7kY%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT#ht_500wt_1019

 

[Pilgrim]

With a MIM bass, it really doesn't matter much whether every part is factory original.

I have a 2000 Midnight Blue MIM Jazz, and at least in the auction photos, to my eye the color on yours is more on the purple side....but who knows? Others may see them as a match. The MIM origin on mine is indicated by a prefix of MZ in the serial number decal on the neck, not by a separate stamp or marking.

Here's the best pic I have of mine - I added covers later. This was shot in daylight.

 

[iamnotabassist]

Is there anywhere else I can check to see if the body is Mexican? I don't care if it's not 100% original, just don't want it to be a Squire because I didn't buy a Squire... Mostly concerned about the electronics. (haven't even plugged it in yet though)

Was there ever a purple offered at any time? It definitely looks more purple than yours. I've seen the Squire blue in person which is also much more blue than this one too... It almost looks as though there was a black underspray on the guitar too, I don't know if that's a primer or what.

 

[Pilgrim]

I'm not aware that the MIM bodies were marked. For that matter, I'm not sure that the MIM bodies are different in any way from Squier bodies. If the body isn't "original", it could be from Squier, Warmoth or any number of other builders.

IMO the only way in which there could really be a difference is if A were laminate and B were not. Most bass bodies aren't made from one piece of wood anyway - they're often 3+ pieces glued together.

I doubt that there is much difference in the electronics - pots are under $5 and easy to replace, so the only component that might be significantly different is the pickups. I haven't a clue as to whether there's a difference between Squier and MIM Fender pickups for the same year. Perhaps someone else will know.

Sounds like your base concern (pun intended) is whether you have a Squier or a MIM Fender. You evidently know the neck is MIM Fender based on the decal. I just don't know if any other part of the instrument would have markings to indicate anything.

BTW - it's spelled "Squier".

 

[Tampabass]

dinner and a movie? flowers?

 

[iamnotabassist]

I know, but iPhone keeps "correcting" it for me and I'm too lazy to "re-fix" it.

BTW, based on my serial on the neck, assuming it's original to the bass, any way to determine the date of the bass? The Fender guide seems to indicate MIM should have 5 digits - MN#-XXXXX. But mine has "something" (burned off) then 0169776...

 

[iamnotabassist]

Dinner and flowers not necessary, she's got a date with sandpaper later this evening!

 

[iamnotabassist]

not to beat a dead horse, but I just found this posted in another thread (also midnight blue). So mine doesn't have this "Made in Mexico" label under the Fender logo.