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I don't think this is a Fender Jazz... help?

Acoustic356

Acoustic356

Jul 3, 2014
3,505
6,519
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#1
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Came across this add in Craigslist. There are a few things that seem off about this bass.

  1. Are those passive Bartollini pickups? Have to be, this isn't an active bass.
  2. The bridge looks wrong to me as well
  3. The string trees look off
  4. The binding on the neck seems wrong
  5. The tuners are after market, which may not be a problem, same with the "Fathead"
 
#2
Looks like a frankenbass. Not from the early 70s.

I could be wrong ;), but I don't think Fender offered active electronics in the early 70s. Or a birdseye top... Those are Bartolini pickups and the controls indicate that it's an active preamp. Note the side jack.

A lot of the workmanship looks dodgy. Particularly the string attachment to the posts.
 
#3
NWB said:
Looks like a frankenbass. Not from the early 70s.

I could be wrong ;), but I don't think Fender offered active electronics in the early 70s. Or a birdseye top... Those are Bartolini pickups and the controls indicate that it's an active preamp. Note the side jack.

A lot of the workmanship looks dodgy. Particularly the string attachment to the posts.
Click to expand...

I don't see where you would put the battery...
 
#5
NWB said:
Looks like a frankenbass. Not from the early 70s.

I could be wrong ;), but I don't think Fender offered active electronics in the early 70s. Or a birdseye top... Those are Bartolini pickups and the controls indicate that it's an active preamp. Note the side jack.

A lot of the workmanship looks dodgy. Particularly the string attachment to the posts.
Click to expand...

I'm not a connoisseur of basses but I like what I am seeing. Look at the fit and finish around the pickups, there is a side view that suggests the isn't a top and back veneer but solid. The string installation means nothing, there of plenty of people with more money than brains; one could have bought that base and did a poor string change. They only thing I see wrong with the binding is that there seems to be a color mismatch with the inlay but, that could be lighting.
 
#6
Acoustic356 said:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Came across this add in Craigslist. There are a few things that seem off about this bass.

  1. Are those passive Bartollini pickups? Have to be, this isn't an active bass.
  2. The bridge looks wrong to me as well
  3. The string trees look off
  4. The binding on the neck seems wrong
  5. The tuners are after market, which may not be a problem, same with the "Fathead"
Click to expand...

NWB said:
Looks like a frankenbass. Not from the early 70s.

I could be wrong ;), but I don't think Fender offered active electronics in the early 70s. Or a birdseye top... Those are Bartolini pickups and the controls indicate that it's an active preamp. Note the side jack.

A lot of the workmanship looks dodgy. Particularly the string attachment to the posts.
Click to expand...
Bartolini made/makes passive pickups, no batteries or preamps required to make them work as intended. Even EMG pickups are passive, they just happen to have a preamp built in to them which is why you needs batteries for EMGs.
 
#7
The bridge seems to be after market. I have a 32" monitor and can see a name there the brand is not legible but says "*****th IV USA". If its an active pre-amp where are the electronics of '70s vintage? I zoomed in 500% and the best I could get off the bridge is "Sortch", I seems to be a very fancy cursive S.
 
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#10
The tunder / detuner hack job is all that looks really off to me. Yeah, someone didn't bother to trim the string ends, says nothing about the bass.
 
#17
I hate it when people don't install bass strings correctly, but that's not a big deal, just shows a total lack of knowledge by the owner. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say its definitely not a Fender body. I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish by covering the serial number, unless he is trying to hide something. That poorly installed detuner gives me a slight nervous tick by looking at it, and I am not a huge fan of that Smith Badass II knock off. But all in all, it doesn't look like a bad bass. I would guess it is either active or has a bunch of dummy pots.
 

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