Yep i've seen a few of them ('75s) with a 3xxxxx serial number stamped on the 3 bolt neck plate.
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Is this a 72 Jazz?
- Thread starter RickyTee
- Start date
And I believe that the plate my have been switch. So why would some take the plate from a 72 tele bass and put it on a 75 jazz? It probably would have been done years ago, not like it took it to pre cbs pricing seems like a lot of work for really no gain.
My bass is almost exactly like this one: For Sale - Final drop: 1973 Fender Jazz, natural, all-original, complete, excellent.
Except of course, you can see in my avatar it is black, not natural.
Serial numbers in the 500K range. I dated it as a 73 as did the guy above selling his. (I bought mine in 79).
The two weird things as pointed out elsewhere:
Looks like a parts bass or some sort of one-off from Fullerton. rtslinger is right - why would someone go to the trouble to convert from a 4 bolt to a 3 bolt?
Except of course, you can see in my avatar it is black, not natural.
Serial numbers in the 500K range. I dated it as a 73 as did the guy above selling his. (I bought mine in 79).
The two weird things as pointed out elsewhere:
- Three bolt did not start until 74 or 75 or so, when serial numbers were way above 300K
- bullet truss rod: also later (mine doesn't have one).
Looks like a parts bass or some sort of one-off from Fullerton. rtslinger is right - why would someone go to the trouble to convert from a 4 bolt to a 3 bolt?
and why did Fender put the finger/thumb rest under the g string back in the 60's to early 70's? incase you played it up side down?
Check out Flaked Beans answer above looks like Fender pulled a fast one on people
Well, Flaked Beans has given an eye witness testimony that he's seen a few 75 Jazzes stock with 72 plates, so I'm going on his story.
That said, In the 60's/70's there was no such craze about "what year of Fender is it?". They were just Fenders. No regard to vintage at all. If a repair shop had a spare plate laying around that worked, they'd use it. Why not? Totally plausible.
And I forgot, that black pickguard definitely says 74/75 or later, too. Flaked Beans is probably correct, and here's another data point for his observation.
But regardless of the nit-picking, that is a beautiful bass!!
I showed in my post that 3 bolt F series actually started in 65' it seems to have been change to 4 bolt along the way and then back 3 bolt in
After the CBS purchase of Fender in 1965, the factory switched to a new serial sequence with numbers that continued the same general format used prior to the takeover. These are generally referred to as F series due the large Fender branded F on the neckplates of the era. This period also saw a switch from the original four-bolt neckplate of the '60s to a three-bolt neckplate in just one example of cost-saving costs introduced under CBS.
100000 to 110000 late 1965
110000 to 200000 1966
200000 to 210000 1967
210000 to 250000 1968
250000 to 280000 1969
280000 to 300000 1970
300000 to 340000 1971
340000 to 370000 1972
370000 to 520000 1973
500000 to 580000 1974
580000 to 690000 1975
690000 to 750000 1976
This makes the most sense. I didn't know '72 Tele basses were 3-bolt. I don't think this suggests that anyone including Fender "swapped" the plate, just that it was used much later than '72.
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okay I found this now which let's me know what you really may have there
A number of cosmetic changes were made to the instrument when CBS purchased the Fender companies in 1965. During 1965/66 the Jazz Bass received bound rosewood fingerboards with pearloid dot position inlays (which replaced the older "clay"-style of the early 1960s) and oval-shaped tuning machines. Block-shaped fingerboard inlays and an optional maple fingerboard were introduced after 1966/67. At first necks with rosewood fretboards received pearloid blocks/binding and maple fretboard necks received black. Fender switched to pearloid blocks/binding on all necks in mid-to-late 1974. Fender also switched to the three-bolt neck "micro-tilt adjustable" neck and the "bullet" truss rod in mid-to-late 1975 before reverting to the more standard four-bolt neck fixing and dot-shaped fretboard markers in 1983. White pickup covers and a pickguard/control plate were introduced the same year. In 1986 Fender introduced the Japanese-made Fender Performer Bass, also with micro-tilt neck, designed by John Page and intended to be an Elite version of the Jazz Bass
So yeah 1975 with a 72" tilt plate shame
A number of cosmetic changes were made to the instrument when CBS purchased the Fender companies in 1965. During 1965/66 the Jazz Bass received bound rosewood fingerboards with pearloid dot position inlays (which replaced the older "clay"-style of the early 1960s) and oval-shaped tuning machines. Block-shaped fingerboard inlays and an optional maple fingerboard were introduced after 1966/67. At first necks with rosewood fretboards received pearloid blocks/binding and maple fretboard necks received black. Fender switched to pearloid blocks/binding on all necks in mid-to-late 1974. Fender also switched to the three-bolt neck "micro-tilt adjustable" neck and the "bullet" truss rod in mid-to-late 1975 before reverting to the more standard four-bolt neck fixing and dot-shaped fretboard markers in 1983. White pickup covers and a pickguard/control plate were introduced the same year. In 1986 Fender introduced the Japanese-made Fender Performer Bass, also with micro-tilt neck, designed by John Page and intended to be an Elite version of the Jazz Bass
So yeah 1975 with a 72" tilt plate shame
Excellent catch! Bullet truss rod and pickguard notch! And nobody has noticed it before you! Maybe an older stock pickguard too ?
well im going to throw my hat in the ring. I may be able to get it for $1000
That is the original neckplate. No one would swap a 75
serial # for a 72. It just happens that this '75 Jazz ended up with a 72 serial #.
serial # for a 72. It just happens that this '75 Jazz ended up with a 72 serial #.
I don't think this is accurate. From what I recall, they only started the 3 bolt/bullet neck system in '72 on the Tele Bass, then gradually introduced it into the Jazz series in late '74. I'll double check in my Fender history books when I get home to be certain.
Fender wasn't all that concerned about dating continuity, though, and these weren't built with the collector market 41 years hence in mind. There's lots of examples of mix and match instruments from lots of eras, especially in the CBS transition. It's not like they were going to throw out a perfectly good component because the dates didn't match. It wasn't until the 80's (coincidentally when vintage value started to go up) that they started to be bothered about precise dating on their gear.
