Help with identifying this Fender Jazz Bass?

[Fender_Bender]

Can you tell from these pics if it’s bowed? Or is it something you have to really see in person?
View attachment 3469114
View attachment 3469115

I can’t really tell from the pictures other than if it is it doesn’t look too bad. Tune the strings up to pitch and depress the top string at the first fret and somewhere around the 17th fret simultaneously. Then look at how much of a space there is between the string and the 12th fret. This will give you an idea of the “relief”. Anything more than say 3 mm means the rod needs to be tightened a tiny bit. Best to let a pro or experienced guitar person tackle this. A back bow (somewhat rare to see) would result in the string laying directly on the fret. That would require a loosening of the rod. This is a very nice bass and it deserves a little bit of love.

 

[jenij927]

I can’t really tell from the pictures other than if it is it doesn’t look too bad. Tune the strings up to pitch and depress the top string at the first fret and somewhere around the 17th fret simultaneously. Then look at how much of a space there is between the string and the 12th fret. This will give you an idea of the “relief”. Anything more than say 3 mm means the rod needs to be tightened a tiny bit. Best to let a pro or experienced guitar person tackle this. A back bow (somewhat rare to see) would result in the string laying directly on the fret. That would require a loosening of the rod. This is a very nice bass and it deserves a little bit of love.

Thank you so much for the great advice. We are looking into repair places near us.

 

[jenij927]

^^^^^^^I think it looks fine and pretty flat, it'd be a concern if there was a lot of space between neck and strings (like bowed out 1/2" along the neck). Since you took the neck off and verified it's a legit MIJ, only issue is the grounding strip and it's a minor repair. Any repairs for scratchy pots or wiring would be minimal.

The bass is playable as-is, the broken grounding strip could make it have some hum/buzz issue until it's fixed.

@RyanOh Thanks!!

 

[Gunga Din]

The scratchplate looks like nitro. Which it isn't but it sure looks like it.

 

[MisterFabulous]

I have one of these, an I-series (1989-1990). OP's bass is in much better condition than mine. From 1985 to 1989 most of Fender's basses were in fact these Japanese ones. Checking under the pickguard, you may even find that they are Fender USA pickups.
My MIJ Fender Jazz bass also had the broken wire thingy and my tech replaced it with some copper shielding tape. Works fine and is a simple fix. A more elegant fix would be to shield the control cavity and run the ground to that. Then the ground would not be visible outside.
After some basic setup and cleaning, plus grounding, OP's bass looks ready to rock

 

[MisterFabulous]

Oddly enough, the bass above was gifted me in 2009. I had to do a lot to get it playable as it lived in a wet basement for 10 years....

Black MIJ Jazzes are first choice gift basses I guess

 

[jenij927]

I have one of these, an I-series (1989-1990). OP's bass is in much better condition than mine. From 1985 to 1989 most of Fender's basses were in fact these Japanese ones. Checking under the pickguard, you may even find that they are Fender USA pickups.
My MIJ Fender Jazz bass also had the broken wire thingy and my tech replaced it with some copper shielding tape. Works fine and is a simple fix. A more elegant fix would be to shield the control cavity and run the ground to that. Then the ground would not be visible outside.
After some basic setup and cleaning, plus grounding, OP's bass looks ready to rockView attachment 3469181

Sigh...someday

 

[Malak the Mad]

What do you recommend to clean it with safely/properly?

This has served me well over the past handful of years. Just be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

• https://www.guitarcenter.com/Dunlop/Body-and-Fingerboard-Cleaning-Kit.gc

 

[leftyjohn]

If the controls are scratchy you could spray a little contact cleaner on them. This has worked most of the time for me. When it doesn't work it is time for new variable resistors. These can be purchased at any good music store. If no one has mentioned this yet.

 

[LHbassist]

Thanks for the welcome! What do you recommend to clean it with safely/properly?

That depends on the level of oxidization of the finish. Try a good commercial guitar polish, like Dunlop first. Use a clean t-shirt, or microfiber cloth/ towel to polish. If there's gunk buildup-
I use, Mother's Aluminum wheel polish, yes, it's NOT known as a guitar or finish cleaner, but it is THE BEST compound I have ever used in my 45 years of repairing/ finish work. Two, or three levels of Meguiars was my go to. This Mother's wheel polish, is a fine compound, that works great either with a small buffer, or by hand with clean cloths- NOT paper towels. I just use it after wet sanding a finish, and it does the work of two old compound steps, and no new scratches. I go right to standard guitar polish after that.

 

[jenij927]

That depends on the level of oxidization of the finish. Try a good commercial guitar polish, like Dunlop first. Use a clean t-shirt, or microfiber cloth/ towel to polish. If there's gunk buildup-
I use, Mother's Aluminum wheel polish, yes, it's NOT known as a guitar or finish cleaner, but it is THE BEST compound I have ever used in my 45 years of repairing/ finish work. Two, or three levels of Meguiars was my go to. This Mother's wheel polish, is a fine compound, that works great either with a small buffer, or by hand with clean cloths- NOT paper towels. I just use it after wet sanding a finish, and it does the work of two old compound steps, and no new scratches. I go right to standard guitar polish after that.

@LHbassist thanks for the link and info. Gonna look into that

 

[jenij927]

If the controls are scratchy you could spray a little contact cleaner on them. This has worked most of the time for me. When it doesn't work it is time for new variable resistors. These can be purchased at any good music store. If no one has mentioned this yet.

Thanks @leftyjohn

 

[jenij927]

This has served me well over the past handful of years. Just be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

• https://www.guitarcenter.com/Dunlop/Body-and-Fingerboard-Cleaning-Kit.gc

Hey thanks! Gotta check out this Dunlop cleaner

 

[Fender_Bender]

I have one of these, an I-series (1989-1990). OP's bass is in much better condition than mine. From 1985 to 1989 most of Fender's basses were in fact these Japanese ones. Checking under the pickguard, you may even find that they are Fender USA pickups.
My MIJ Fender Jazz bass also had the broken wire thingy and my tech replaced it with some copper shielding tape. Works fine and is a simple fix. A more elegant fix would be to shield the control cavity and run the ground to that. Then the ground would not be visible outside.
After some basic setup and cleaning, plus grounding, OP's bass looks ready to rockView attachment 3469181

I believe that they deliberately went with the external ground in an effort to be more “vintage” in appearance. It would have been really cool had they gone the whole nine yards and made it a stack knob. I suspect Fender was only too aware of the Japanese quality and didn’t want too much of good thing.

 

[Fender_Bender]

Hey thanks! Gotta check out this Dunlop cleaner

I’d go with plain soapy water or something like simple green first before plunking down money for a specialized cleaner. Work a small area at a time first and be careful not to get any water into any exposed wood such as screw holes and pickup routes etc. Exposed wood could absorb the water and lift the finish up. As mentioned, clean cotton cloths are the way to go.
For polishing I’d try a bit of a toothpaste/water slurry along the bottom and see how that works. Again, trying to save you money by using what you have on hand.

 

[jenij927]

I’d go with plain soapy water or something like simple green first before plunking down money for a specialized cleaner. Work a small area at a time first and be careful not to get any water into any exposed wood such as screw holes and pickup routes etc. Exposed wood could absorb the water and lift the finish up. As mentioned, clean cotton cloths are the way to go.
For polishing I’d try a bit of a toothpaste/water slurry along the bottom and see how that works. Again, trying to save you money by using what you have on hand.

Thanks @Fender_Bender good advice

 

[LHbassist]

This is from March, 2013. I love that bass. It's a lefty- I'm a lefty bassist. It has since been modded with EMG pickups, and a BTC circuit. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way it sounded with the original pickups, I just love EMG's. I did replace the stock pick guard with one I made from a more red tortoise shell blank. It also has American '62 reissue parts- left handed reverse wind Kluson tuning machines, an all thread bridge, and a tug bar thumb rest in the 'vintage' location.

 

[leftyjohn]

This is from March, 2013. I love that bass. It's a lefty- I'm a lefty bassist. It has since been modded with EMG pickups, and a BTC circuit. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way it sounded with the original pickups, I just love EMG's. I did replace the stock pick guard with one I made from a more red tortoise shell blank. It also has American '62 reissue parts- left handed reverse wind Kluson tuning machines, an all thread bridge, and a tug bar thumb rest in the 'vintage' location.

So what year is your lefty jazz (LJ)? I have a 68 but it doesn't have the brass grounding strap that your bass seems to have. It has always been noisy.....I use the volume and tone controls mostly to minimize the noise. Didn't know there was supposed to be a grounding strap.

 

[Malak the Mad]

So what year is your lefty jazz (LJ)? I have a 68 but it doesn't have the brass grounding strap that your bass seems to have. It has always been noisy.....I use the volume and tone controls mostly to minimize the noise. Didn't know there was supposed to be a grounding strap.

If you feel a little daring, you could take a peek under the bridge to see if there is a grounding wire. If it has one, but is still that noisy, the wiring and/or shielding may need some work.

 

[leftyjohn]

If you feel a little daring, you could take a peek under the bridge to see if there is a grounding wire. If it has one, but is still that noisy, the wiring and/or shielding may need some work.

Yeah, I should do that. The pick guard has been off but that event took place years ago, many many years ago. Thanks!