Is this a real 66 fender jazz?

I'm no expert but I don't think it's a 66. That ashtray cover looks new.

 

I saw it in person yesterday and while I'm no expert, I believe at least the neck,tuners, and neck plate to be real. Serial number was correct. I couldn't give it a real intense study as I didn't want to alert the sellers as to what they had(they know NOTHING about musical instruments.)

Whether or not it is worth what it just ended at is another story. It had some issues. Lots of changed screws,TERRIBLE repaint. It was hard to really tell about the body or pickups. The electronics were a mess, so I couldn't really get a feel as to the actual sound. The neck felt GREAT!

I just bid on it, at the max I was willing to risk with all the unknowns, and obviously didn't win....

 

Yep, the pics being so bad were what made me think I had a chance to win it, as I had the advantage of playing it.

I forgot to mention, nut was definitely not original and broken on the E string side. Still playable, but would need to be replaced.

 

Why the hell is everything sanded off the headstock?

 

That....is a gooood question....and why did someone take a can of spraypaint to the body??? It wouldn't surprise me if it was stolen and defaced at some point.

I searched around on some stolen instrument logs to see if I could find it, but didn't run into the serial number or description that matched. Oh well....

 

Did the OP win the bass?
The winning price seems outrageous for such a flaky bass.

 

Oh man, it sure doesn't look real to me...especially that neck. If I was gonna shell out that kinda cash for a bass, I'd make SURE everything that identifies it as a 66 is dead on...

 

Definitely.
I wouldn't have even considered buying that bass at all just upon seeing the sanded headstock.
Big red flag.

 

Actually, I'd say there is a good chance that that is not an outrageous price. I can almost guarantee you that whoever won it was buying it to restore it, or part it out. They might be able to spend another $1000 or less and end up with a KILLER 66' jazz. If I had money to spare I would have bid higher than what it went for, based on seeing it in person.

As far as the neck being a fake, I really don't think it was. If someone is going to fake a vintage jazz, this is one of the most difficult ones to do(binding,oval tuners,etc.) And remember, the decal in this era didn't really tell the story. The visible serial number was on the neck plate(and was correct on this bass). The real story is under the hood, checking the dates on the bottom of the neck,pots,pickups,etc.

Consider that Fender Custom shop reissues of that bass go for around $4500. Whoever won this might have the real deal for far less then that.

 

I thought exactly the same thing seeing the pics, but in person it seemed right to me.

 

Looks real to me. The binding/dots neck dates it pretty precisely.

 

Nobody has answered why the headstock is sanded.
Does that seriously not seem flaky to anybody else?

 

Of course its flaky. Why is it sanded? When I saw it up close, it didn't look "sanded", that's just what they said in the ad. It just didn't have the decals. God only knows why. Could be a million different scenarios.

My point earlier was that the decals not being there isn't what would identify the bass as "authentic" or "fake", or worth what it went for.